Less men in pediatric nursing?

[marinelayer]

Are there less men in pediatric nursing than other specialties?

[~PedsRN~, BSN, RN]

There are definitely less where I work!!! Currently out of our entire nursing staff, we have only one man. This includes both shifts! And it's sad, because WE NEED more men. Teenage boys need men. What 16 year old boy wants some woman in Bambi scrubs putting in his foley? :)

[marinelayer]

Thanks :)

[hiddencatRN, BSN, RN]

Not in my experience. The children's hospitals I've worked at have many male nurses on staff. Definitely still a minority, but a sizeable one.

[marinelayer]

Thank you

[KelRN215, BSN, RN]

On my floor, we had two men. The ER, the ICU, Psych and the PACU had significantly more.

[NotReady4PrimeTime, RN]

Men will choose areas like ER, ICU, PACU and psych because those are areas where nurses have the greatest degree of autonomy. In general peds, there's very little of that. If you're not being directed by more senior nurses and physicians, you're getting it from the parents. Men are also more solution-oriented and interested in seeing the effects of their actions right away, which are not readily apparent on general care floors. That's not to say that there aren't men who are quite happy on a general peds floor but they're not plentiful.

[marinelayer]

Very insightful. Thank you.

[RNinCLE, ADN, BSN]

There are definitely fewer men in peds, but they are out there! I've worked with some really excellent male nurses in pediatrics. And the previous poster is right - the younger boys really appreciate having a male nurse once in awhile.

[edimo]

This thread reminded me of a video for Johnson and Johnson's Campaign for Nursing's Future and I think it's fantastic if more men worked in peds...the guy in the video is not an actor but an actual peds nurse

[Gampopa]

I've always worked Peds. Love it. Adults are too whinny, too much poop, and too heavy.

[NCmcMan]

I've considered doing pediatrics after I graduate. I really want to "save the world" is my problem. I've spent so much of my life being useless, lazy and insignificant, that I feel like I have a lot to make up for. I considered an internship at St. Jude, initially. While thinking about it long and hard one evening after work, I had second thoughts about watching children pass regularly. I'm not sure that I could work somewhere where I had to regularly watch this happen. My heart goes out to all of you that work so hard to take care of the young ones, though. God Bless.