Males working in the NICU?

Specialties NICU

Published

Hello!

Although I know that nursing is the path I want to take, I am torn as to what area of nursing I want to go into. I'm so interested in everything medical that it is hard for me to imagine picking one area and hopefully making a career out of it. I've always been interested in trauma or cardio/CVICU but I recently started working as a unit secretary in the NICU at one of the larger hospitals in Southwest Missouri. As a male I never thought I would find this area to be as fascinating as it is and can possibly vision myself working in this unit if the opportunity were to present itself. I have already accepted the fact that being a male nurse already makes me a minority in the field, however in a field considered to be as feminine as working with babies I am extremely outnumbered by women haha I am one of only 4 guys who work in the unit. (One is a one of the Neonatologist, the other two are RT's). I already plan on becoming a NP after nursing school. I was just wondering what everyone's thoughts are about whether there is any place for a male nurse to be working in a NICU either as a nurse or potentially even as an NNP?

Specializes in critical care, ER,ICU, CVSURG, CCU.

thanks, I feel better, heck I like a little sarcasum myself :)

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Specializes in NICU, PICU, PACU.

We have 8 guys on our unit...we

lobe them, the dad's love them...someone to talk sports with lol and they even out our estrogen overload lol

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Specializes in Psychiatry, Oncology.

I am a new grad and I had a few male classmates. They were all dads. And during the pediatric rotation they were just so good (not to mention so touching) with the kids/infants/newborns! One of them was very interested in critical care and after the Peds rotation decided he wanted to work in the Pedi ED. Anyway, I think a male nurse in the ICU would be absolutely wonderful.

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I think as a male you can help to relate to the dad's in a completely different way than the female nurses do during an overwhelming and stressful event like the birth of a fragile child. We were in the NICU for 69 days with my son. I know my husband felt out of place and almost useless as both a new dad and father of a NICU baby, and being able to talk with the male nurse helped him gain confidence. Additionally, the nurse also was able to talk to him (after my husband opened up the conversation) one on one about his role as father and husband in a way that really helped him emotionally, something that I don't think he would have talked about with a female nurse and most likely would have just kept to himself and let fester. You could bring a much-needed male perspective to this nursing specialty.

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I never thought this would be something a guy might have concerns about. All of the men in my life are so nurturing with their little ones, it seems as natural for men to work with babies as women.

i work in a completely unrelated field but I have had a very positive experience with men as caregivers. I've had many women who were too squeamish or whatever to get in there and do some of the care but hands down, I've been able to count on the husbands of all ages to get in there and do things they never imagined doing. So to me it's a given that a male would be interested in NICU/peds.

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OP, you might also look into a pediatric CVICU if you like babies but are looking for a more critical area. Even the level IV NICU at my hospital is mostly feeder/growers. Most of the CV kids are infants, although we do see all ages up to even a few adults. Anyway, when our census is low we all get pulled to NICU anyway, hah.

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Specializes in NICU.

We have one male new grad starting this month. He will be the first male on our unit in a few years. I don't think it should have too much bearing on how he does, but I'm not sure.

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OP, you might also look into a pediatric CVICU if you like babies but are looking for a more critical area. Even the level IV NICU at my hospital is mostly feeder/growers. Most of the CV kids are infants, although we do see all ages up to even a few adults. Anyway, when our census is low we all get pulled to NICU anyway, hah.

Which hospitals in the Midwest would would specifically have a pediatric CVICU? That actually sounds really interesting

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Cincinatti Children's Hospital has one--their website has a lot of information about all the different heart defects.

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Specializes in Community, OB, Nursery.

Have worked with male RNs and NNPs many times over the years. Would not trade any of them in!

Go for what you're passionate about and it will show in your work. :)

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Specializes in Neonatal, NICU level IV.

I think you should follow what you are passionate about. I never hesitated pursuing NICU because I knew it is what I wanted to do and the fact that i was the only male on a very large unit didn't bother me.

Like others have said, almost every experience someone has had with a male in the NICU setting has been positive. Good luck in your pursuits. :yes:

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OP, you might also look into a pediatric CVICU if you like babies but are looking for a more critical area. Even the level IV NICU at my hospital is mostly feeder/growers. Most of the CV kids are infants, although we do see all ages up to even a few adults. Anyway, when our census is low we all get pulled to NICU anyway, hah.

How is it possible that most level iv NICU babies in your hospital are feeders and growers? Why would your hospital give them a distinction of level 4 instead of 2? This is a genuine question, I've never heard of this.

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