Male nurses dominate b/c they are Male?

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i work in an area where there are more male nurses then any other place I have worked. Don't get me wrong, this is not a bad thing. I just noticed recently, that the men are being chosen to supervise more often then females. Several months after being hired on nocs, a new male charge was hired. I didn't think anything of it as he did have many years of varied experience. And in the beginning he was good, then it turned. It turned out he had a Problem and was removed from the facility. So now his position was vacant. And even though there were at least three females qualified to do his position, the other male working this area(1/3rd the exp of his female counterparts) has taken over. Then as I look out further to other areas in my facility, i notice the same trend. Males with less experience are placed as leaders above their female counterparts with many more years experience. What gives? Do females need a male to lead? I wonder as the males were placed there by management that were mostly female. Just curious. What are your experiences?

Specializes in FNP, Peds, Epilepsy, Mgt., Occ. Ed.
Ok first question how many of you asked or applied for the position? I'm a male nurse

working for almost 2years. I have been asked to be a charge nurse which I turned down. Why was I ask? I think for speaking up about issues, not afraid to question people and being fair with all the people I work with. Some of the nurse I work with male and female have 20+ years and have no idea whats going on day to day and ***** about work and wounder why they can't be charge nurse.

On a upnote a fellow classmate from day one has been in charge of the hospitals med tech teaching all the nurse on the computer system and she is a female.

I think it comes down to Marketing yourself for the position nothing is free..

This was what I wondered about myself. It may have been that the males in question asked for the job, and the females just assumed that they'd be asked, or it would be given to them.

I have seen cases where someone expected to be given a position just because of longevity, with absolutely no clue that they had a snowball's chance of getting the position, often due to being inept, or just plain difficult to work with. Others have just assumed that they would be asked, then got upset when someone who let it be known they were interested, got the position.

I honestly don't think I've seen very many, if any, cases of someone being promoted just due to gender. Usually there were other factors involved.

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This post makes me think of my Mom's favorite quote:

"A WOMAN WHO WANTS TO BE EQUAL TO A MAN LACKS AMBITION."

She is the head of Radiology at a large level1 trauma center.

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Specializes in PACU, ED.

Personally I think the best applicant should be chosen for the position. Realistically, I know that friendships/favoritism/prejudices sometimes sway the hiring decision. It's not right but it does happen. I've seen it happen in favor of women and minorities when I worked in semiconductors. There was a female engineer who should have been fired for incompetence but wasn't due to fear of EEOC reprisal. I knew a male manager who also should have been fired but apparently had friends in high places in the company. He kept his job in spite of the company having to pay out a huge settlement.

Now, I'm happy to do my job and let others worry about managerial positions. I've done that job and frankly, I don't want it.

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Specializes in Jack of all trades, and still learning.

That's a pretty heavyduty comment "males dominate because they are male".

As a female, I cannot agree with this. Many female nurses love to play the domination game; how many times have we seen ppl talking about nurses 'eating their young' on this page? How many of the perpetrators are female? I don't think I have been 'ripped to pieces' by any male nurse, but ohhh boy, the number of female nurses who have done this to me...

I think nursing is a great levelling field. It is still a female dominated profession (no pun intended). The male nurses I have worked with are often very calm ppl. Has any one ever thought that maybe in nursing men have to work harder than women to be accepted not just by female nurses but by the general public?

I know of many female nurses who have received charge positions, over ppl who seem eminently more qualified.

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Specializes in Pediatric Intensive Care, Urgent Care.

I agree male or female, years of experience doesn't make you the best manager. People skills, leadership ability, etc... If it's the man who happens to have it don't chalk it up to a guy getting the job over a girl. Chalk it up to he was the best qualified for the job. If a woman fulfills this then she will ge the job. IMHO hires based mostly on experience tend to be the ones that don't workout so nicely...

Mex

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Specializes in Med Surg, Ortho, Tele, ICU, Hospice.

As a guy, you are hyper visible.

Last job, anybody who didn't know me knew "the light skinned tall guy".

This job (hospital, 230 beds and staff to go with) I'm the bald male CNA.

I think that supervisory positions should be given based on experience (obviously) and how willing you are to take on the responsibilities of the new role - it'd be unfair to ask a mother of three (ok, or a dad with equal parenting responsibilities) to be on call if someone else is qualified similarly and has no such conflicts.

Though if you're asking for management to make sense, your logic falls flat right there :trout:

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Whoa! I didn't think I would get such wonderfully varied responses! NYAPA-I guess I didn't feel the same about this title as you did. Was looking to be more precise in my posting. STEVERN21-this is not a posted position but decided upon by the current unit manager. Interest and DISinterest were expressed from what I know about filling in as charge nurse if needed. KLEINBBC-no one asked for it because it was so sudden. One day the old charge(with the Problem) was charge and next it was the male nurse previously mentioned. No asking, no interviews, etc, just done. I didn't clarify that this male is better as a charge than a bedside nurse(take it as you will on WHY). And recent events have him and another nurse sharing the role(him more often then her as she wanted from what I heard). In the long run this should work as there is at least a backup when he needs to be off. I didn't want to stir controversy just discussion!

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Specializes in home health, peds, case management.
- it'd be unfair to ask a mother of three (ok, or a dad with equal parenting responsibilities) to be on call if someone else is qualified similarly and has no such conflicts.

ok, i know this is ot, but i just can't help but comment....

just because i am unmarried and childless, that does not make my time away from work any less valuable than that of my married, parenting colleagues. if you take a job, you take all the related responsibilities.

that being said, that does not make me insensitive toward the demands of balancing work and family, and have, and will continue to, help those colleagues who have conflicts when my schedule permits.

thanks for letting me get that off my chest! now back to your regularly scheduled thread...

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Specializes in Med Surg, Ortho, Tele, ICU, Hospice.
if you take a job, you take all the related responsibilities.

agreed.. but can you tell me you've never overestimated yourself before.. especially if it means more pay? kids are a labile commitment - as years pass, they may want and need more or less of your time. this applies equally to mothers and fathers, if both are present (the nuclear family model is becoming increasingly irrelevant, i'll admit) and the structure of the relationship dictating who does was re: parenting.

that being said, that does not make me insensitive toward the demands of balancing work and family, and have, and will continue to, help those colleagues who have conflicts when my schedule permits.

your freedom from parenting/marriage commitments gives you more flexibility with your time. all other things being equal between you and another candidate, i'd pick you for that reason.

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Specializes in home health, peds, case management.

didn't mean to imply that i am some sort of time-management goddess (far from it!)

looking back, i think i misunderstood your original post....sorry about that...

your freedom from parenting/marriage commitments gives you more flexibility with your time. all other things being equal between you and another candidate, i'd pick you for that reason.

i understand to a point what you're saying, and where you're coming from. however, the fact of the matter is making a hiring decision between two equally qualified applicants that is based soley on maritial or parental staus is discriminatory and illegal.

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Specializes in Med Surg, Ortho, Tele, ICU, Hospice.
your freedom from parenting/marriage commitments gives you more flexibility with your time. all other things being equal between you and another candidate, i'd pick you for that reason.

i understand to a point what you're saying, and where you're coming from. however, the fact of the matter is making a hiring decision between two equally qualified applicants that is based soley on maritial or parental staus is discriminatory and illegal.

woo, dria i think we beat the drift problem right there :lol2:

there is a lot that goes into eligibility for a position. preference based on sex or race is discriminatory and illegal. preference based on marital or parental status is definitely discriminatory, but seems to sit in a slowly filling legal vacancy.

maybe someone who knows the laws would be better off explaining this, but from what i've read (remember that the internet is not your lawyer) there is no law that explicitly prohibits discrimination based on marital or parental status. the family and medical leave act has protections for people caring for their families and taking leave in doing so, and there are provisions about keeping your job as a new mother, but that seems to be the limit of it.

on the upside, it seems that individual lawsuits pressed by smart lawyers have seen a lot of success, though lawsuits aren't the greatest vehicle for social change..

so while it's not fair to say men dominate because they're men, there are ancillary qualities inherent to the male role in our modern culture that appeal them more to employers.

i don't mean to drive everyone off this thread, and i would love to be proven wrong (it would mean things aren't quite so lousy as i imagine them to be.)

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Specializes in home health, peds, case management.

we're both right on this one...

it's correct that there is no sweeping federal law similar to the ada that prohibits this practice. however, laws have been enacted at the state level in approximately 50% of the states, and the civil service reform act of 1978 prohibits this practice among federal (civilian) employers. there has been some talk of amending title vii of the civil rights act of 1964 to protect against marital status discrimination.

i'm not even to get into how hard i think it would be to prove such a claim...

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