Men vs. Women

JennieBSN · Aug 31, 2001

Well.....my take, speaking as a female, non-ER nurse of course, is that men gravitate towards these areas for several reasons:

1. not all 'touchy-feely.' I believe the phrase is 'treat 'em and street 'em?' most men don't like all that hold-your-hand kind of nursing care that you get by 'bonding' with patients on the floors.

2. very slanted towards the quick-thinking, technical side of nursing. yeah, yeah, all nursing requires quick thinking and technical skills at some point. HOWEVER...flight and ER nursing requires it more often, and men are more inclined to enjoy areas where these skills are needed more frequently.

3. independence. in critical care, you are more independent and your input is more valued (in most instances...). you are treated as a physician's peer, not servant. this is attractive to men also.

Yeah, I know I'm a chick and don't work ER, so could be way off base, but these are some of the reasons I think they may gravitate towards those areas. So that's my opinion....

Mijourney · Aug 31, 2001

Hi. Very excellent, valid points, kday. Independence is also important to many women, ergo, home health. In fact, I went from critical care to home health. Of course, the pace is variable which is fine for me. I believe I've gotten too old to keep the pace of an ER or critical care unit.

Let me add that I feel that work in LTC requires a great deal of independence. If any LTC nurses or nursing staff know or feel differently, please correct me.

NinaC · Aug 31, 2001

originally posted by kday
well.....my take, speaking as a female, non-er nurse of course, is that men gravitate towards these areas for several reasons:

1. not all 'touchy-feely.' i believe the phrase is 'treat 'em and street 'em?' most men don't like all that hold-your-hand kind of nursing care that you get by 'bonding' with patients on the floors.

2. very slanted towards the quick-thinking, technical side of nursing. yeah, yeah, all nursing requires quick thinking and technical skills at some point. however...flight and er nursing requires it more often, and men are more inclined to enjoy areas where these skills are needed more frequently.

3. independence. in critical care, you are more independent and your input is more valued (in most instances...). you are treated as a physician's peer, not servant. this is attractive to men also.

yeah, i know i'm a chick and don't work er, so could be way off base, but these are some of the reasons i think they may gravitate towards those areas. so that's my opinion....

i agree with your post. you're right about the independence and er nurses in general feel that their opinions are important to the doctors.

debbyed · Aug 31, 2001

I agree with the reasons stated. They also happen to be the reasons us "tomboys" tend to be attracted to ER's. And by the way, Hopefully I'll never get to old for ER.

Wildtime, Where do you find an ER with a 3:1 ratio???

CEN35 · Aug 31, 2001

Our ER has 21 rooms, and averages 4 hall patients. 9 RN's and a medic........don't forget triage who has more than enough to do.........so lets say 8? 3.125 with 4 in the halls......and 2.625 wehn the halls are empty.

frustratedRN · Aug 31, 2001

this may not be a poplular opinion but its what i believe.

its going to take men to change our profession.

as more men enter the field i think the pay rate will go up (after all THEY have families to feed) and the working conditions will improve.

male nurses are treated with more respect and professionalism than the female nurses. i never hear docs talk down to them like they do us.

CEN35 · Aug 31, 2001

OK here's the whole layout........

1,2,3 - are one assignment (1RN)

1 eye/ENT/negative pressure room

2 and 3 Trauma rooms anything goes.

4 - float nurse room (ortho stuff/crotch/ whatever- closed room) (1RN)

5,6,7 - OB/GYN/ anything else (closed room) no spacelab in 5 - one more assignment. (1RN)

8,9,14 - one closed room, two open anything goes (1RN)

10,11,12 anything goes (1RN)

15-18 - non monitored non gyn stuff (most of the time) (1RN)

19-22 fast track.........but sometimes a few more in the halls. (1RN or medic)

1 - 2 triage people (RN and medic)

1-2 techs

1 charge person.

When really packed..... A, B, C, D, E, F...........guess where those are? lol

there ya go.

me

BrandyBSN · Aug 31, 2001

the ONLY two places that I enjoy are the ER and the ICU/CCU. I guess i liked the nursery too... but i hated postpartum. I do not like med-surg nursing because I am more of the "treat 'em and street 'em" type of person. I like tubes, needles, cracked chests, head injuries (fresh, not post op). I am not that great with geriatrics on a long term basis... but I like them for shorter periods. Med Surg is not a good fit for me. I have seen little kids have very painful and involved surgical problems, stay in bed for maybe 2 hours, and then THEY WANT TO GO THE PLAY ROOM! Tough little kids! Then I see adult patients that have minor surgery and you have to about light a match under their butts to make them TCDB.

i LOVE the ER. The people in there really need you, and they know it. I have never had a patient in the ER say that I am "just a nurse", and they never come across as thinking that I am just a glorified chamber maid. I love the autonomy (and even as a student, i get more than enough of that). I love the fast pace. I love real trauma! Gets my heart going, my brain flying, and I have never had a Doc in the ER treat me badly (several on the med-surg floor have). I dont like seeing the same DX all the time, as it gets repetitive and boring. My hospital is pretty small, so the M-S floor is full of COPDer that complain that they cant smoke in their rooms, and hip patients. I mean NO offense to any med surg nurses out there! I am not saying that med surg is easy! actually it is much harder to me then the ER, just because I get soo bored! Census is usually really low, and there is not that much to see.

I like ICU too, because I love monitors, tubes, vents, and the like. And I like supporting the patients families.

The only part of the ER i DONT like is the people who come in at 2am with a problem that they have had for months. What about TONIGHT AT 2AM MADE YOU THINK IT WAS AN EMERGENCY??? Drug seekers, and mean drunks (but i like the funny ones).

yup, im a student, lost to learn, lots to see, probably niave, but i know when I see something that I like :)

Plus, I like the guy nurses in the ER. I have always gotten along better with guys than gals. Is that wierd?

yellow rose · Aug 31, 2001

Just thought I'd add my"student two cents"

Someone mentioned that nurses have a great deal of autonomy in LTC. I have spent the last three months on an extended care/rehab unit, and this is definitely true. In all but the most serious of cases (which usually end up transferring to acute care) the charge RN will tell the doctor what the pt. needs, and he will give a telephone order. Most of the time, this works very well. :)

JillR · Sep 1, 2001

The autonomy I get in the ER is that I order it, do it and then tell the doc, now that is autonomy.

I don't see any less respect coming to to female RN's than to the male RN's in our ER, but I think that is because we work so closely with them. It is a really good relationship back there.

But then again maybe I like it so much because of all of the testosterone.

Jill

CEN35 · Sep 1, 2001

LMAO@JILL!