Considering nursing as a career change

Son Tava · Mar 13, 2009

i am about to give you some very good advice. assess your personality type. i mean what kind of guy are you? are you a man's-man ... whatever that is ... or are you effeminate? how do you relate to women? no, really, how do women relate to you?

seriously, nursing is a women's world; like it or not and no matter what the egg heads say. women are the nursing circus and men are the stage crew. you'll get a mention in your obit. otherwise, it's all about the flower power.

perhaps, it's likely that your woman supervisor is dissatisfied with men. she will run your ass ragged and then put you out... with deep self-regard for that matter.

if the women in your workplace are balanced, good natured and not men haters (deep down most of them are), then you have a chance but, good luck finding your comfort zone.

if you think your competence and skill will help you to hold your own, think twice. it'll be a big fat bulls-eye. you will suffer snipers and rumor mongers all your day.

the only hope appears when you are the relative or friend or stool-pigeon of somebody(s) in the organization. if you're street, you could impart that your 'street affilliated'; works in our city. most employers in our area would hire a gang member before a cool, compassionate, competent white male.

you must learn to triangulate and manipulate and play the women's game. after your wrist goes a little limp and you begin to speak with a lisp and you become patently non-threatening, overindulgent in inane banter and, devote every waking moment helping your women coworkers feel superior will you survive.

best of luck amigo.

RJ---RN · Mar 13, 2009

I am going to take issue with your reply. As a nurse with many years experience, I have worked side by side with EXCEPTIONAL MALE NURSES. The nurses I worked with never SAW men or women. We are professionals doing a job. No male was "effeminent" nor any female "butch". We are professionals doing a job.

Sounds like you are the one that may need to take a look at your self. Sounds like if you have that kind of problem with the profession of nursing maybe you need to find another career.

Maybe being a coal miner or a construction worker would be more "macho" for you!

Good luck in your career, sounds like you need a change. I am sure the nurses both male and female you work with will not be unhappy to see you leave.

I will stand up for my profession, and unite with nurses, and I hope other nurses will give a shout out for the same.

Good luck Bubba.

Valerie Salva, BSN, RN · Mar 13, 2009

To the OP- be sure to check the employment prospects for RNs in your area- some places are saturated with nurses and many are having trouble finding employment- especially new grad nurses.

Valerie Salva, BSN, RN · Mar 13, 2009

i am about to give you some very good advice. assess your personality type. i mean what kind of guy are you? are you a man's-man ... whatever that is ... or are you effeminate? how do you relate to women? no, really, how do women relate to you?
seriously, nursing is a women's world; like it or not and no matter what the egg heads say. women are the nursing circus and men are the stage crew. you'll get a mention in your obit. otherwise, it's all about the flower power.
perhaps, it's likely that your woman supervisor is dissatisfied with men. she will run your ass ragged and then put you out... with deep self-regard for that matter.
if the women in your workplace are balanced, good natured and not men haters (deep down most of them are), then you have a chance but, good luck finding your comfort zone.
if you think your competence and skill will help you to hold your own, think twice. it'll be a big fat bulls-eye. you will suffer snipers and rumor mongers all your day.
the only hope appears when you are the relative or friend or stool-pigeon of somebody(s) in the organization. if you're street, you could impart that your 'street affilliated'; works in our city. most employers in our area would hire a gang member before a cool, compassionate, competent white male.
you must learn to triangulate and manipulate and play the women's game. after your wrist goes a little limp and you begin to speak with a lisp and you become patently non-threatening, overindulgent in inane banter and, devote every waking moment helping your women coworkers feel superior will you survive.
best of luck amigo.

dude- are you for real?

WarrenpeaceRN · Mar 13, 2009

I am a 48 yr old man who left Wall Street (I also managed a call center a few years back) in August 08 to study nursing. It's a little complicated how I came to the decision, but part of it had to do with caring for a family member with Alzheimer's on weekends for over a year.

I'm not sure if job security as the primary motive will get you through.

I'm completing my pre-clinical pre-requisites this semester and am studying for the NLN in May. Anatomy and Physiology 1 & 2 are very tough! You will be astounded how much you will need to learn just in these.

Be prepared to probably be the oldest person in the class, including the professor! It felt strange at first, but that disappeared pretty quickly. Also be prepared and willing to be completely baffeled, lost, and confused.

I think you should honestly consider if you are curious enough about the body, medicine and people to spend many, many hours studying and memorizing...for a few years. I am astounded already how much nurses must know, and I'm not even in a clinical program yet. But, I'm even more motivated than when I started.

Good luck!

tferdaise · Mar 25, 2009

As a male nurse who has been stabed in the back many times by female nurses who felt threatened by me, I learned quickly to not trust my female co-workers for a while. Its VERY sad to say this but its true, a couple of female nurses had it out for me, and would make up lies about my lack of commitment towards my patients. After being "coached" by my boss on this, I had a long talk with my boss about this, and the logic that was coming from these co-workers. I figured out a way to disprove everything they were saying. Basically I kind of lied to my patients, at the end of the day I would have my patients rate my service and they would sign the forms. I was brought back into my boss office because of concerns she had from some my co-workers. When I showed my boss the form I had my patients rate me on and some of them added thier own comments. That is when the light bulb went off in my boss's head. Of course I could no longer work on that floor because I had out smarted the RN's (BTW I'm a LPN) Currently I work on a great unit, there are only 3 males on the whole unit, but it took a while for me to lower my guard but things are going well...

Nursing is also the only profession in which the older nurses will eat the young, then ***** about the new grads....

Bill E. Rubin · Mar 25, 2009

To the OP, you'll find a number of people on this forum who have done similar thing. I was a software engineer for over 20 years before switching careers to become an RN. I've been at my job for between 7 and 8 months. It has been challenging at times, but I sleep easily at night knowing that I have a job and will have one tomorrow. I also enjoy work that involves helping people and making a positive difference in peoples' lives. Some have mentioned that it can be difficult for new grads to find jobs in the current economy. This is true, especially in certain saturated markets (I live in Boston, one of the most saturated markets for new grad nurses in the country).

That being said, if you have lived through the downturns in the tech economy, nothing you will face in nursing will compare to that, even as a new grad in a market like Boston. In the early years of this century, the unemployment rate for software engineers and IT workers was over 20% in tech-heavy areas like Boston and Silicon Valley. People were out of work for a year or more, even those with highly desirable experience. Many techies changed careers after looking for two years or more for a job. There are tips to being able to land a nursing job once you graduate nursing school that can help. (Ie. get a job as a nurse's aide/PCA/CNA at an institution you'd like to work, then network your way shamelessly through that institution, while showing up every shift with a good attitude and a clean uniform). It may take months, but you will find something eventually, and once you do, you will likely have a job that lasts.

As others have said, you have to consider the job itself and see whether you would like to to the work. You may be able to shadow someone on the job to get an idea. Talk to others you know in the field. Try not be discouraged by naysayers if it is something you really want to do... and good luck!

emtb2rn, BSN, RN, EMT-B · Mar 26, 2009

I switched to nursing after a 1st career in telecom. No regrets. Lousy places to work and some lousy co-workers are not unique to nursing. And nursing performance evaluations don't lead to ranking & rating sessions either...

I would suggest contacting some local hospitals and asking if you could shadow an RN for part/all of a shift. Most guys (myself included) seem to gravitate toward emergency or the unit (ICU/CCU). See if you can shadow in those units. While shadowing only gives you a glimpse of the job, you'll get a better idea of the day-to-day realities and responsibilities.

Let me sum up my feelings about my change from telecom manager to RN with this statement - "I can't believe they actually pay me to do this stuff".