Male and lazy?

[DapperRN]

I'm just curious. When I first started as an RN I worked in an ER of a smaller community hospital. I found a couple of the veteran nurses (female) didn't want much to do with me initially. I was one of two men working there at the time. After a couple of weeks one of these ladies finally said that she really enjoyed working with me and it was refreshing to work with a male nurse that actually worked. It wasn't until a while later that I learned that most of these veteran women truly believed that male nurses were lazy. I've worked various jobs since then and every now and then I come across the same, misconception (as I see it). So I'm just curious if anyone has come across the same label. I have never been called lazy by any of my colleagues (I've been called a few other things though.)

[NurseLatteDNP, MSN, DNP, RN]

I have never heard of that in my hospital. I know I enjoy working with male nurses. We only have about one per shift in each unit, but I like them all. And they do work just as hard as anybody else.

[dawg07]

I see that men are often trated as second rate nurses where I am. I graduated top of my class with a 4.0 GPA and glowing reports. The first hospital I worked in was a small 33 bed one and had no problems, after I moved to a 850 bed level one trauma center, well, suffice it to say that I found discrimination alive and well. I know it isn't everywhere, because I went to florida for 3 wks, and the atmosphere was unbelievable. the CEO and CNO came and asked me to stay..so why am I still at the level 1 trauma center? to be near my kids.

[Thunderwolf, MSN, RN]

so why am I still at the level 1 trauma center? to be near my kids.

You are a good man, my friend.

[karenG]

there are lazy nurses.....but I dont think your sex/colour etc has anything to do with it!! just some people are lazy... or maybe they just work at a slower pace than some of us!!

when I was a student nurse we always thought mental health nurses were lazy... mainly because we always saw them sitting drinking cups of tea..while we were running around like blue bottomed flies!! of course, now I know better! and there is no way I would do the job of a forensic nurse...

Karen

[GooeyRN, ADN, BSN, CNA, LPN, RN]

Male and female nurses both can be lazy, as both can be hard workers. I think that was an unfair thing to say.

[imenid37]

I work w/ all females right now. I am female myself and assure you, no one gender, ethnic group, hair colour, weight, or age has a monopoly on laziness. You've gottta meet someone and get to know them before leaping to that assumption. Chair warmers come in all varieties, but are relatively few. Nurses are mostly well-intentioned hard-working people. Many times, the rotten apples are so rotten they take the shine off the rest.

[RosesrReder, BSN, MSN, RN]

Like everything else........you cannot categorize someone solely on their sex.

Good luck

[Chaya, ASN, RN]

Haven't seen that perception where I work. All of us regardless of sex, color, ethnicity give 100% + and run our butts off; unfortunately that is the basic level of expectation!

[piper_for_hire]

I work in a busy inner city ICU and everyone is running around. Still - there are a handfull of nurses who say that men are lazy and will all end up in management. Oh - and my favorite - "they can't multitask" - which is the dumbest thing I've ever heard. It's sad because I'm sure they wouldn't want to be stereotyped like that. I mostly ignore it, although lately I've been debating with them - which I think is new for them.

[Crocuta, RN]

Think of it in terms of raw percentages. Men currently account for only 15% of the nursing workforce. If your ER nurses have worked with two male nurses and one of them was lazy, then 50% of the male nurses they know have been lazy! Odds are, they've only worked with a relative handful of male nurses in their careers, and it'll only take a couple lazy ones to get the whole lot of us painted with a broad brush.

It's just like anything else though - go the extra mile and they'll end up loving you.

[tes85]

I did a project in school on regards to gender issues in nursing and I read that a stereotype within nursing is that men are lazy... I do not believe this to be true at all I'm not even practicing yet I'm still in school and I see the way the guys in my class work and the amount of effort they put into their assignment and projects just to prove "they are worthy" and if men in the nursing profession even put half the effort in their job as the guys in my class do I would not even remotely consider or think they were lazy