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
It may just be your hospital. Everywhere I go, the nurses are always very busy doing medical things and the CNAs do most of the stuff you're describing. The foundation of nursing does come from a foundation of that type of "caring" you implied. Really, I'm thinking you're on a lousy floor. Try working in an ED or ICU and you'll be doing more "manly" things. Or better yet, apply now to MSN/DNP programs and get where you want to be.
I'm in the same boat as you, but attending a NP program. But, you must realize that in order to be a NURSE practitioner, you must engage yourself in the entire NURSING experience. Why didn't you apply to PA school to get a more medical practice approach to health care?
BTW - You don't have to worry about making a point to assert your heterosexuality as a p.s., you already went out of your way to do it at the beginning (football, premed). But, I have to tell you that from your writing, you come across like you're about an inch away from dotting your I's with a little heart!
; Dave (Queer dude.)
LOL I have to agree with Dave here.
You knew you sounded like an insensitive jock when you wrote that, it's called overcompensation.
Oh, and 9 times out of 10, when people emphatically imply that they are "not something", they usually are that thing lmao! Just sayin.....
I am a male LVN working towards BSN and when I was about a third of the way into LVN school I realized I had made a HUGE mistake in thinking I wanted to be a nurse. It was a devastating realization. At the time I had no choice but to continue on. I was totaly miserable. Nine months later I realized that starting nursing school was one of the best moves I have ever made. Today I love nursing. Wish I had done it years earlier.
Lala27poodles
66 Posts
LOL I have to agree with Dave here.
You knew you sounded like an insensitive jock when you wrote that, it's called overcompensation.
Oh, and 9 times out of 10, when people emphatically imply that they are "not something", they usually are that thing lmao! Just sayin.....