Male Nurses in Neonatal

[bigq2000]

Thoughts of going to nursing school have been weighing heavy on my mind for the past few weeks. I will graduate with a bachelors degree in management next year. I have been researching several Accelerated BSN programs for people with 4 year degrees. My question is "Are there male nurses that work in neonatal units?" I am not sure what specialty I would like to choose but I do like working with children. My sister was born 4 months premature and I spent many days visiting her in the NICU. That is where I get my interest from. If you have any advice for a male entering the nursing world, that would be greatly appreciated as well.

[aviator411, RN]

I, too, hope to eventually land in a NICU after graduation. Not only am I a male, but I'm a father and grandfather, so I think it'll be the perfect place for me. Can't wait!

Boratz,

Wow, a grandfather at 40; you've got me beat by 24 years at this point! I don't expect to become a grandfather before 70 or more. What state are you in?

I should caution you; you may find it difficult dealing with 19 y/o mothers with a history of 7 or 8 pregnancies and their entourage of boyfriends, etc. You'll probably be contributing heavily (& involuntarily) to their hospital bill!

Good luck; you'll be a great NICU nurse!

John

[Bortaz, MSN, RN]

Ha, yeah. Imagine how my 43 year old wife feels about it. We have 2 beautiful granddaugters, ages two and one. Live in Texas.

To make it worse, I spent 15 years or so working for the State of Texas Dept. of Corrections as a correctional officer and supervisor, so I'm constantly fighting against my loathing of people who lack personal responsibility. Ha ha.

[Nepenthe Sea]

When my daughters were in NICU, there were several male nurses in their unit. Most of them were floaters, but there was one who was permanent. He loved the babies! He and another nurse were talking about how they kind of liked it when the parents didn't come to visit the babies, so that they got more time to snuggle the babies (oviously, the ones that weren't too ill). He was great...

[Joeybob]

Yes, come work with us!

We just hired another male RN, so I won't be the "token male" much longer.

[RISC601]

I joined the staff as an RN in a Level III NICU in Atlanta. Initially I was the only male RN in the unit, but since that time one of our male respiratory therapists has graduated from nursing school.

At this point, we have one male RN working 7a-7p and one male RN working 7p-7a.

It's nice to "stand out" among your peers. As one of only two males nurses in the unit, you stand a better chance of the families calling you by name as opposed to simply being called "the nurse".

Go for the NICU and find an academic/teaching institution if possible. It makes for a better learning environment for you to build your skills.

[NICU_babyRN, BSN, RN]

There are four male nurses in my unit plus all the RTs, Xray techs, neos, residents...and...best of all a MALE LACTATION PEER COUNSELOR!

You wont be alone and the women will welcome ou!!!

[littleneoRN]

There are four male nurses in my unit plus all the RTs, Xray techs, neos, residents...and...best of all a MALE LACTATION PEER COUNSELOR!

You wont be alone and the women will welcome ou!!!

So I'm very in support of men working in the NICU, and I like our male nurses a lot. But I'm little curious about the lactation peer counselor. Isn't the definition of a peer counselor that they are a peer that has personal experience with lactation? Not that a male is incapable of assisting with breastfeeding. Just curious. :)

[ilstu99]

Male nurses in the NICU are more than okay by me. I have heard some VERY strong opinions against them by other staff in my unit, though. We currently don't have a single male RN amongst our 100+ RN's.

For the male NICU RN's....have you ever had a negative reaction from a breastfeeding mom, or her partner? I would imagine that there would be some of the same responses that male RN's receive in L&D, but I don't know...since we don't have any. :/

[huntfishrn]

[huntfishrn]

sorry forgot my text before the image, basically i was 37 before i finally "caved" and "settled" on being a nurse... i thought the "manly" thing to do was be a doctor, man am i glad i am a nurse.... i get to go home and forget the day....doc's are always on the job

[PacoUSA, BSN, RN]

Love this thread, had to resurrect it. NICU is what I want to do when I become an RN. I was a preemie and even though I don't recall (obviously) the care I received in my own NICU, I can only go by my mom's words who for years had always recalled how well my nurses took care of me during my 2-week stay in the unit. I want to be just like them, except that I would love to remain a male

[aviator411, RN]

Hi Paco,

Haven't seen activity on this thread for some time. Enjoyed reading your post and looking at your background here, etc. Not sure if you're in nursing school yet but you will certainly prevail if you haven't already. Thought I'd offer some perspective on NICU work, not for the purpose of trying to discourage you (which probalby isn't possible; and that's good) but for the sole purpose of "perspective".

A "very close" member of my family has been a NICU nurse since almost the beginning of the specialty; practicing NICU for 40+ years now. Gotta tell you he/she is getting very burned out. In the beginning NICU was new and exciting, forging "new frontiers", etc.. A high proportion of the parents were average folks who just had extremely rotten luck. Saving their kids was both rewarding and exciting. Things have changed over the last 40 years. Yes, there are still very good parents who are the victims of "rotten luck" and those are the clients who continue to inspire NICU nurses. That bad news is that a rapidly growing proportion of NICU neonates are in NICU because their parents should never have become parents and their kids are there because their parents have discovered the benefits of hatching babies at public expense. For these parents, often well-known to the police and other authorities, often addicted to every known illegal and legal drug and for whom the best service is not good enough bringing another infant to the NICU is an annual event and, why not, after all this "fun" is "free" (except for you the nurse who will be contributing their support with every paycheck).

But of course, few nurses are wont to punish the infant for the sins of the parent (or "parents" in those instances where the mother actually has a clue whom the father is).

As a new nurse you are sure to find the work inspiring. As a taxpayer nurse you are likely to eventually come to appreciate the futility of this moral societal dilemma. And with your legal expertise you will quicky recognize the abuse of our system which takes place in this environment many times daily.

By all means, new nurses are as entitiled to enter this nursing specialty with enthusiasm and excitement as seasoned veteran nurse/taxpayers are to see disillusionment.

I can only hope that your legal perspective may someday inspire you to help our society find remedies to the abuses inherent in the moral dilemma so often observed in the NICU.

And I've only shown you the proverbial "tip of the iceberg. Feel welcome to PM me if you would like further insight.

Best of luck to you. Please keep us posted about your progress with nursing education and your observations from the NICU or else where. Thanks for your own insightful contributions here! Go for it!