I'm in my second level, (graduate Dec 5!) and right now i can't help but wonder if i made the right decision to go to nursing school.
A little about me; i played football for 13 yrs (including 3 in college), I was a premed student and i loved the sciences, but after re-thinking my life goals being a doctor didn't really fit in with them. A doctor i shadowed turned me on to nurse anesthesia, and since anesthesia was one of the areas of medicine i was already interested in, it seemed like a great fit.
So here i am currently, doing nursing, which is consisting of making beds, changing dressings and pushing a few meds. While i see the med students walking around on my floor doing rounds and actually discussing how to treat the patient, i'm in my pt's room making a bed while my teacher blabs on about what this person "really" needs on a holistic approach.
I don't know if i'm retarded in this area or if it is just more difficult for guys than girls to think this way, but my teacher is always over emphasizing the family needs, patient needs and discharge planning. Stating the obvious is never enough for her, she gets extremely in depth on with the whole emotional and psycho-social aspect of things. I feel more like, whats the problem and i'll fix it, i'll leave the rubbing your back and saying sweet comforting and encouraging words to someone else.
Now i'll probably get flammed by some of you and thats ok. But i just feel like this whole nursing profession is super feminine is all aspects. Literally our job is to "care" for the patient. In scottland, nurses are called sisters and one of their duties is to serve tea to everyone at a certain time. I just feel like there is a reason most nurses are females, because females are naturally more intuitively caring individuals, most likely due to their maternal instincts. Plus what we learn in school is soooo boring. It's all memorized facts with none of the in-depth concepts, and its more gray than black and white. More of the "art" and less of the "science." So i told my teacher that i feel as if i have to endure bedside nursing until i can apply for CRNA school, NP school or Med school.
Maybe i just havent found my niche in nursing yet, maybe it is the fact that i'm the only guy on the floor who is a nurse, idk exaclty what it is, but i was just seeing if anybody else had similar feelings and if things got better or what they did.
Also, did u guys join the nursing profession to be a bedside RN, or did u have other plans. Do you really love the nursing model or is this sort of a back door route to practice medicine (NP, CRNA) without the life commitment and having a comfortable salary and great job?
Anyways, just wanted to get some other guys perspective on this subject. Shoot out your thoughts and feelings of being a male surrounded by (ofter bitter old) women.
P.s. not sure if i have to clarify, but no i'm not gay. I'm not some dumb insensitive jock (even tho i admit i might come across that way in this rant), i am caring and i do want to help people, i just want to help them things i think are important. I didnt go to school for 6 years to make beds and wipe butts, i could be room service in a hotel if i wanted to do those sort of things.
p.s.s. sorry for the long rant, and probably sloopy writing. I'm too tired to edit this
Ive stopped coming here after my semester started partly because Im busy again and partly cause Im tired of seeing sob threads. This is the most refreshing post I have read here in awhile. I am still waiting to start my nursing program, but I can see myself in your shoes. Im not the touchy-feely type at all, and I do hope to be a CRNA one day (for the money). But if that doesnt happen, I hope I can find a niche where I am comfortable. Nursing is a very broad field, so I havnt given up hope yet. I just hope I can get through the program.
I've been lucky in that I've had some instructors that are not namby-pamby. I've also encountered men on staff at the various sites I've done clinicals at. Roughly have of the nurses on the cases I do for my agency are men.
That all said, I can see where some of you are coming from, and I am extremely grateful that I've been spared the brunt of it. I assure all of you that it is worth it to put up with some of the silly crap to make it through. It gets better once you're working, at least if you pick the right job. And if you pick the wrong one, you can always find another.
I'm gonna go ahead and agree with what most these people are saying... I am not currently a Nurse, but in most hospitals I've been in Nurses do much more of the "important" work. Bed changes and wiping butts may be something that you will need to do at times, but a lot of hospitals have other people who do that for the RN.
I feel the same way with most of the posts in this thread. I am also hoping that it changes by the time I am done with my BSN program. I do plan to go to grad school. If I like being a nurse then I'll do MSN/DNP otherwise I'll go PA.
I am sure there are many others (male and female) that feel exactly the same way. I am currently a programmer, I take problems and fix them, or create new solutions. Touchy feely really aint my thing but I'll try the best I can because thats what I do.
First of all, ANY nurse with "Crossfit" in his (or her) name has no grounds to complain about anything at all. I would rather clean up 5 soiled patients than do Fran.
But the simple truth is that all nursing school students put up with their teacher's crap. It's a rite of passage. You've gotta suck it up and work through it. And keep your head down and your mouth shut. Nothing makes a nursing school instructor more annoyed than a student with an opinion or personality.
And you need 1 to 2 years of clinical experience in an ICU to apply to CRNA school, but you don't need to complete that experience before applying, (I know this, because I'll be attending a CRNA program in the fall, and I'm currently finishing my RN to BSN program, with 2 years of clinical experience).
There are all sorts of advanced degrees in health care, but nursing gives you quite a lot of options. If you can grit your teeth, and make it through school, you will have all sorts of doors open up to you. Being a physician can be a rewarding job, but the longer I watch them as a nurse, the more sure I am that it wasn't for me.
Lmao... going into "CRNA (for the money)" as one guy said is the stupidest thing I've ever heard (ok... the stupidest thing you can say). Healthcare in our lifetime is going to change dramatically, and very soon. It won't matter if you are an MD, LVN, CRNA, or CNA... we're all about to be in the same boat. I feel that if you are chasing something for the money, you will not be happy in the long run- not because of this "money can't buy happiness" BS, but Doctors and the field of anesthesia are not going to be the same in 20 years as what they are now... probably not even in 10 years. You realize that CRNA pay has already started to level off, right? Guess what happens next? It goes down.
You can't base your life around hunting for money, it's not reliable. You could lose it all in a second [insert your own scenario here]... I know RN's making the same as a new grad CRNA's, and they've only been working for 3 or 4 years.
Not going to turn this into some sort of debate... that one comment just urked me, so really... everyone else can ignore this if they want; except for that person... he'll probably be the only one I reply to again anyway.
As for OP... all you can do is be knowledgeable about the body, but be an expert on "The Bachelor" and "Nancy Drew"... lmao.
Ok, it was a bit of an over-simplified and naive statement. I tend to use the term "hope" the way 8 year olds do, in that I hope to get superpowers and my own rocket ship. Sorry that it bothered you so much, but please dont think that I'm totally serious about that.
That said:
I'm pretty sure you are right that the medical field is going to change drastically in the coming decades, and my plans (if you can even call them that) now are going to be drastically different when the time comes to make the decision. But im a college student and having the typical financial woes of a college student, a fat paycheck certainly entices me. Im not saying that my sole purpose in life is the pursuit of green, and I hope to be in a position one day where I am not forced to make decisions based on financial constraints. But being where I am now, I would be lying if I said money is not an important concern. Chances are I will be perfectly happy with a typical RN's pay, but as long as I am in debt and jobless, what harm is there in dreaming big?
Don't worry, I will never tell anyone to become a CRNA "for the money".
The post-grad job I have researched most extensively is being a PA, and I would say the odds of me trying to do that is far higher than CRNA.
Lack of male role models huh? As a student myself, I personally look at this as a challenge to be a role model for the males entering the profession. I was also pretty discouraged about nursing (especially during my OB rotation), but doing a couple of rotations in the ER was like a breath of fresh air. Sure I do have my days where I feel like some of the things that we are taught is a joke, but I try to keep all of the options we're going to have in in the back of my mind. Whether it be CRNA, NP, ICU, ER, administration, etc., we'll always have options, along with job stability, and financial security! I definitely understand where you're coming from as a former football player and pre-med myself. At first, It was extremely hard for me to adopt a "caring personality." I tried to act like someone I wasn't. I later learned while interacting with patients that being myself (even if I have a jock-ish personaity), and humor can go a long way with patients.
As far as the estrogen goes, again, all you can do is be yourself, whether they like it or not! Be respectful, but still, be yourself. This profession needs more men and efficiency! I guess I'm fortunate to be in a program with quite a few guys, but I feel your pain! stay strong!
Good thread. Might I suggest looking to the docs for role models / testosterone? Ha, joking.
I felt the same way all through nursing school and still feel that 3 years out. I get through it by keeping the end goal in mind. Also, I do not engage in the mindless banter that goes on at the front desk. I find a computer in the back and stay near my patient's rooms unless I need to check charts. I am polite to all, but there to do my job.
Bottom line, just get through it. If it's really not for you then cut your losses now and get out. Life's to short to do a job you don't want to do. A friend of mine left mid way through our program and has never regretted it. Only you know what is best for you. Good luck.
As stated before, in most hospitals CNAs or maybe even LVNs will do the dirty jobs before you will. Also there are many jobs that you can have as an RN that have little to do with direct patient care if it's not your thing. I felt the same way in the beginning of the school but then as I had more rotations at different hospitas the "unsure" feeling has gone away.
Wow. You could not be more wrong in the info you gave him about LVNs doing his dirty work. Are you a nurse in the USA?
I tend to use the term "hope" the way 8 year olds do, in that I hope to get superpowers and my own rocket ship. Sorry that it bothered you so much, but please dont think that I'm totally serious about that.
AragornSkywalker
212 Posts
Ive stopped coming here after my semester started partly because Im busy again and partly cause Im tired of seeing sob threads. This is the most refreshing post I have read here in awhile. I am still waiting to start my nursing program, but I can see myself in your shoes. Im not the touchy-feely type at all, and I do hope to be a CRNA one day (for the money). But if that doesnt happen, I hope I can find a niche where I am comfortable. Nursing is a very broad field, so I havnt given up hope yet. I just hope I can get through the program.