Marginalization of Male Nurses

[Spidey's mom, ADN, BSN, RN]

Hey there,

Don't worry so much about the idea of marginalization unless that's just code for self-isolation. If the personality is in check and you have a good care-free attitude the women will come around. A few points of concern for women in the profession is that either the male could present any one of these three areas: gay, sexist, or threat. If a man is gay that could work either his advantage or disadvantage (reasons should be obvious). If a man is sexist (and not in the strictest sense) then a woman could feel a bit on the defensive. And last if the man is a handsome, intelligent, on-point, go-to, hands-on, johnny-on-the-spot sort the she's if for a run for her money. Either way, your knowledge of your profession and the skills you bring to the table will work for you in school or in the field.

Mthood :rotfl:

Or maybe we (women) just accept people for who they are and appreciate it when they are good at their jobs and enjoy being part of a team that embodies what "patient advocate" means.

Maybe some of you (men and women) are just hanging around the wrong group of people.

There are "un-nice" folks in every group . . . . ignore them

steph

[Tweety, BSN, RN]

Or maybe we (women) just accept people for who they are and appreciate it when they are good at their jobs and enjoy being part of a team that embodies what "patient advocate" means.

steph

Aren't you forgeting that female nurses are catty? Yours can't be an accurate discription.

[Spidey's mom, ADN, BSN, RN]

Aren't you forgeting that female nurses are catty? Yours can't be an accurate discription.

Oh my gosh you are right - oops! Sorry about that.

I'll fix it . . .

"Some" women just want to work with "people" who are focused on being patient advocates and team members without all the B.S.

steph :)

[nursemike, ASN, RN]

Aren't you forgeting that female nurses are catty? Yours can't be an accurate discription.

Again with the c-word? And let's not slander female canines, either. Can't we just say, I don't know--porcupiney?

Don't make me call Sylvester.

[menetopali]

being a male in nursing field, sometimes i feel like being marginalized.

female nursing students help each other and have a great support base to get through the nursing education. anybody had such feeling about being marginalized?

i wonder it would be really tough to work with several girls around. what if i will be miserable every day in my work with female nurses who don't like male nurses?

i would like to hear from you about how i can be more acceptable to female dominated profession. what kind of people skills should, male nurses develop to work effectively with female nurses?

to answer your original question...yes i have felt marginalized.

i felt it every time the female nurses started to talk about 'american idol' or 'desperate houswives'. i felt it every time i was tasked with particular patients (notably prisoners and those prone to violence) because 'there should be a man in there' during an egd or colonoscopy. i changed states and fields and felt that marginalization from my boss (a female nurse) when i reviewed and rewrote a health promotion brochure [sexual assault prevention on campus] that included actual facts (as in evidence based practice) instead of the standard diatribe and was questioned about my 'entry into a caring profession'.

as a male nurse you will be treated differently, told that you "aren't a real nurse", and margialized by the women around you and that you work for. some places are worse than others and that is the plain and simple truth. often i suspect that the people who act like this have no clue that they are doing anything wrong and when i have addressed it they seem genuinely suprised that i have a problem with being treated that way. the response to my concerns at my last job was 'nursing is dominated by women, get used to it' and this job was 'perhaps this isn't a good fit'.

as long a tacit support (and overt support in some places) is given to male-nurse bashing few men will brave the insanity to become nurses and once nurses those few men will continue to leave the field in greater numbers than any other segment of the nursing profession. kudos to those who stay and try to change the working environment for men, but i became a nurse to make a difference in patients lives not to be an equal-rights-for-men-activist. i'm actively working toward closing the nursing chapter of my life and opening a new chapter in medicine where hopefully i can make a difference in people's lives without being stabbed in the back by coworkers that believe men don't belong or being treated like a freak when i acknowledge that i don't really care what happened on the latest fad tv program.

when you find yourself working in places that belittle you, abuse you, or otherwise treat you poorly...get out and find another position. other male posters were fortunate enough to find positions where the sexism was tolerable...i hope you can do the same.

jmho

[rogramjet]

Personally I have had very few problems with my female coworkers. There are a few man haters out there that are always going to cause problems. I have made some observations though. Before going into nursing I was a shirt and tie business type. I went from a "man's world" to a "Woman's world". This is just an observation, but women tend to badmouth their spouses and degrade men, far more often than men do. I would be charting and all of a sudden they would start male bashing and I would loudly clear my throat and go about my business. They usually got the point. Also they get away with things that I would get fired for. Calling me "Honey" and "Sweety". Giving other nurses phallic shaped suckers and nude male calanders for b-day presents at the nurses station. If I gave the other guy on nights a nude calander I would probably get fired, lets not even mention calling a co-worker Honey or Sweety.

[fab4fan]

At the risk of sounding cynical, take a look at the OP's post history. :stone

[z's playa]

At the risk of sounding cynical, take a look at the OP's post history. :stone

:chuckle

Z

[TRAMA1RN]

i work in an er and we have now had all of our male rn's leave, not due to treatment from co workers but lack of respectful treatment from mangement. all of us here loved our guys especially on night shift the presence of a male sure does help in the case of troublesome patients when security is not readily available. i see absolutely nothing wrong with males becoming rn's just as i see nothing wrong with females bocoming docs. :)

[nursemike, ASN, RN]

to answer your original question...yes i have felt marginalized.

i felt it every time the female nurses started to talk about 'american idol' or 'desperate houswives'. i felt it every time i was tasked with particular patients (notably prisoners and those prone to violence) because 'there should be a man in there' during an EGD or colonoscopy. i changed states and fields and felt that marginalization from my boss (a female nurse) when i reviewed and rewrote a health promotion brochure [sexual Assault Prevention on Campus] that included actual facts (as in evidence based practice) instead of the standard diatribe and was questioned about my 'entry into a caring profession'.

as a male nurse you will be treated differently, told that you "aren't a real nurse", and margialized by the women around you and that you work for. some places are worse than others and that is the plain and simple truth. often i suspect that the people who act like this have no clue that they are doing anything wrong and when i have addressed it they seem genuinely suprised that i have a problem with being treated that way. the response to my concerns at my last job was 'nursing is dominated by women, get used to it' and this job was 'perhaps this isn't a good fit'.

as long a tacit support (and overt support in some places) is given to male-nurse bashing few men will brave the insanity to become nurses and once nurses those few men will continue to leave the field in greater numbers than any other segment of the nursing profession. kudos to those who stay and try to change the working environment for men, but i became a nurse to make a difference in patients lives not to be an equal-rights-for-men-activist. i'm actively working toward closing the nursing chapter of my life and opening a new chapter in medicine where hopefully i can make a difference in people's lives without being stabbed in the back by coworkers that believe men don't belong or being treated like a freak when i acknowledge that i don't really care what happened on the latest fad tv program.

when you find yourself working in places that belittle you, abuse you, or otherwise treat you poorly...get out and find another position. other male posters were fortunate enough to find positions where the sexism was tolerable...i hope you can do the same.

JMHO

I think you make some good points, but I'd hate to have to feel like I was marginalizing female co-workers if a buddy and I were discussing baseball or football. In a social setting, it can be rude to carry on a conversation that doesn't include everyone, but work isn't exactly a social setting. If a conversation between my co-workers doesn't interest me, I start a conversation with someone else.

In a similar vein, we've been having an outbreak of pregnancies, lately, and some of the discussion surrounding this phenomenon can be off-putting. On the other hand, some of it is rather interesting and educational, or simply humorous.

I guess I'd feel marginalized if every conversation excluded me, but I enjoy gabbing, so if push comes to shove I'll just chime in with stories about my cat's pregnancy. It's all good.

Again, I'm sure there are some caustic environments out there, but I've really had nothing but encouragement in pursuing a nursing career, and while I'm comfortable believing my unit is better than average, I just can't believe there aren't many others just as good. So, yes, if you are in a bad place, voting with your feet is certainly one very good option.