If Nursing were a Male-Dominated Field

Nurses General Nursing

Published

There would be business done on the golf course

There would be thoughts on how innovative one could get

There would be zero tolerance for abusive patients

Maid service? What's that?!!

If Nursing were a male dominated field...

There would be respect for hierarchy

Being snarky? We would duke it out where it really counts...the bar!

There would be organization... there would be a constant think-outside-the-box

Just because it has always been done that way,

Does not mean it should stay that way!

Change is a constant in life...embrace it.

If nursing were a male-dominated field...

Martyrdom would die...a thousand deaths

They would be paid every cent of their worth

Press Garney be darned

Show me the darn money!

If nursing were a male-dominated field

There would be deals and a lot of networking

Hey, mi casa, su casa!

There would be more of open communication

Less of passive aggressive behavior

Trust me, you won't need a code to decipher what they meant

If nursing were a male-dominated field, there would be less of this

After a fight, misunderstanding...anything

(Female Version): "I am never going to speak to that female dog again"

And more of this:

(Male version): "Dude, still meeting up tonight right?"

If nursing were a male-dominated field

No work would get done...because the nurses would have been appropriated by the female patients who just want a listening ear and the males nurses who just.can't.say.no!

But nursing is not a male dominated field, so we live on...

The End

By The Optimist

The comments are the best.

Specializes in CVICU.

As a male nurse it can be difficult dealing with the emotional aspects of female nurses...sometimes being more sensitive. But all in all men can be the same way when it comes to a lot of the things posted.

Specializes in CDI Supervisor; Formerly NICU.

Individual men can be as catty as any woman. Groups of men at work, however, are far less catty/backstabbing than groups of women. I've worked in male dominated careers (cop, prison) and now in a female dominated career (NICU nurse), and this has been my experience. Not sure what it is about the group dynamic that changes people so.

Specializes in SICU.

Brace yourself for the politically correct wave of responses. I can hear it now... "Just because we're different doesn't mean we're different!" ...Uh... yeah it does! lol. It's okay to recognize and embrace differences. It's even okay to paint vague generalizations as long as one realizes that not everybody fits the mold.

The cattiness/passive aggression is the biggest one I've noticed. Every time I hear the story of "So and so treated me like dirt and acted like I didn't know anything when I gave them report" I think to myself, "That's nursing!" I think back to the old line, "The best thing about being a man in nursing - all the women you get to work with. The worst thing about being a man in nursing - all the women you've gotta work with."

I will say this - if nursing were a man-dominated field, there wouldn't be nearly as many unit potlucks. Thank you ladies!

I LOVE male nurses!! I met my boyfriend in nursing school and we are always talking about how awful women are to each other. I can't stand the drama, gossip and backbiting. Men are so much easier to work with in my opinion. You can have fun and joke with them and not constantly worry if they are going to take offense to something. They are also much better at letting stuff go and moving on. Appreciate the men in your lives ladies - at home or on the floor!!!

Specializes in Hospice.

If there were more men in nursing my back wouldn't hurt so much. :roflmao:

Specializes in burn ICU, SICU, ER, Trauma Rapid Response.

Male nurses already make more on average than female nurses, about 16% if I remember correctly. I know for sure that if nursing were male dominated we would all make more money. There was a big article in AJN about that a couple years ago.

I also believe that physicians would not be nearly as fast to treat nurses in a condescending or abusive manner. I often read stories here of physicians abusing nurses or treating nurses like children. I am always amazed. That never happens to me. I a large man and physicians are almost always respectful to me. I try to give off a vibe that says "Hey treat me with respect and as part of the team and I will do the same for you, crap on me and I will catch you alone in the parking lot and teach you a lesson" when dealing with physicians. Seems to work very well.

I also think management would be more careful about how it treats nurses.

Men and women are different. I totally agree with that. And there probably is more likely to be a certain attribute in one sex vs. not so much in the other sex. Like, physical strength for one.

If you look at other male dominated fields - NFL and NBA for starters - you see quite a bit of juvenile behavior; maybe even more criminal behavior. That probably has more to do a lot of things though - not just maleness.

If I remember correctly, the reason males are paid more is that they go into the riskier fields like flight nurse or ER nurse that pay a higher wage regardless of sex of nurse. A med-surg male nurse and a med-surg female with the same experience and # of years being a nurse most likely get paid the same.

Specializes in CDI Supervisor; Formerly NICU.
Brace yourself for the politically correct wave of responses. I can hear it now... "Just because we're different doesn't mean we're different!" ...Uh... yeah it does! lol. It's okay to recognize and embrace differences. It's even okay to paint vague generalizations as long as one realizes that not everybody fits the mold.

The cattiness/passive aggression is the biggest one I've noticed. Every time I hear the story of "So and so treated me like dirt and acted like I didn't know anything when I gave them report" I think to myself, "That's nursing!" I think back to the old line, "The best thing about being a man in nursing - all the women you get to work with. The worst thing about being a man in nursing - all the women you've gotta work with."

I will say this - if nursing were a man-dominated field, there wouldn't be nearly as many unit potlucks. Thank you ladies!

Great avatar, Mully!
Specializes in CDI Supervisor; Formerly NICU.

If I remember correctly, the reason males are paid more is that they go into the riskier fields like flight nurse or ER nurse that pay a higher wage regardless of sex of nurse. A med-surg male nurse and a med-surg female with the same experience and # of years being a nurse most likely get paid the same.

This is, of course, the case.

Specializes in SICU.

If I remember correctly, the reason males are paid more is that they go into the riskier fields like flight nurse or ER nurse that pay a higher wage regardless of sex of nurse. A med-surg male nurse and a med-surg female with the same experience and # of years being a nurse most likely get paid the same.

I've never even worked for a place where I get any say in what I make. The 3 different places I've been a nurse at (one LTC and 2 hospitals) have all equated my wage based on experience (adding certain modifiers like nights/weekends/float pool etc.)

I try to tell them, "Hey! Can't you see I'm a man?!" but no one ever seems to care...

Specializes in ICU + Infection Prevention.
If I remember correctly the reason males are paid more is that they go into the riskier fields like flight nurse or ER nurse that pay a higher wage regardless of sex of nurse. A med-surg male nurse and a med-surg female with the same experience and # of years being a nurse most likely get paid the same.[/quote']

It's more that men are VASTLY more likely to negotiate their salary and ask for raises than females, and leave their positions for more lucrative ones if they aren't appropriately compensated. Males also tend to work full time, work more overtime, and not go out on unpaid maternity/childcare leave. That is true in all fields.

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