Male nurse advantage?

[Ansumana]

I'm currently finished all of my LPN prereqs in 2012 and waiting for acceptance into the program this fall. But I've been reading about how new grads are having a difficult time finding jobs and I was wondering are female students that are new grads are at a disadvantage since male nurses aren't rare but aren't a vast majority have a better time getting a job as a new grad. I also live in Salisbury, MD (eastern shore) but I plan to move across be bridge to the Baltimore-Towson area.

[HouTx, BSN, MSN, EdD]

Beware - if your gender is preferred by a hiring manager it may be due to the fact that s/he sees you as a 'beast of burden' to do all the heavy lifting.

[NurseGuyBri]

I live in Hampton Roads, VA. Here, there is a good mix of male and female nurses. I dont think one has a harder time than the other, it all comes down to what you have to offer and how you present it. There is a high relative ratio of males at my facility but I believe that is only due to networking. Most nursing jobs grow from networking. I new a guy who knew another guy in nursing school and so on and so forth. Guys tend to network together more than the women do because we are fewer and far between, and that adds to the "hey man, got a job at xxxxxxxxxxxx, come apply we have an opening".

[Kiwiguy]

Gender shouldnt be an issue, at the end of the day you will be a nurse, and that is all that really should matter.

[vballtrumpeter]

thanks for the post, appreciate it!

[Fireman767]

In part it doesnt matter, but in another part it depends where you work. Im a male, and Id love to work on an maternity floor because of the overall nice feeling there. However I've been told there are male nurses that work maternity units but not many, and because im a male most patients would prefer a female nurse. So it does vary.

Plus I have been told by many doctors family friends and such that male nurses usually go to higher levels and sometimes higher positions (depends on the persons interest in advancing and such. but thats only things ive heard, i dont know if its true or not.

[Louisarlen]

We all should first understand that Nursing cannot be counted on gender, it is a profession that anyone can take up. I had read this article somewhere that says that the first nurses throughout the world were men. The first nursing school was in India and here only men were considered to be pure enough to be nurses. Today, among all the nurses in the US, 6% are men. In the early 1900's men in military were told to stay away from nursing. But, now at least 35% of the nursing staff in each branch comprises of men. Thus now we can say that both men and women can equally take up nursing and there is no job in nursing that men can not do. The world is in need of more and more nurses. and it doesn't say male or female, but just good, caring and qualified nurses.