Murses

[danu3]

What is your reaction toward the term "Murses" for male-nurses?

[danu3]

Is nurse even really a "female" term? Stewardess obviously is and therefore there is a steward. Why should nurse represent just females? dumb! This whole thread is one of the most ridiculous I have seen.......

The thing is, this whole issue is not logical. It is cultural because the term "nurse" is female for part of our cultural and for other part of our culture, it is not. We are probably in some sort of transistion in terms of its gender association.

Just look back at history in the US (not way too far back since nurses were men if you look too far) far enough and the word "nurse" is female because we have close to 100% females in this profession.

Now, as more males are entering the profession, it will probably eventually change to a more gender neutral connotation. That has happened within the profession for the most part in the US, but not too much yet in the general culture (we see some changes now however, slow though).

I am, however, a little bit surprise to see the emotion generated by this poll. After some thought, it seemed that this poll is not clear. Actually definitely not clear.

It seemed most people thought this poll is suggesting we have an official term "murse" for male-nurse. That is not the intent of this poll (although it could be a separate poll).

The intent of this poll is to see how people feel with the already in existing slang term "murse" being used. The poll is interested in the slang context, what are people reactions? I was hoping to see if there are differences in reaction through the discussion of this thread, if any, of the use of the term, depending on the context of how it is used.

-Dan

[leslie :-D]

just because nurses were all female is not the same as it being a feminine term.

why confuse things.

[danu3]

Here ya go Dan...now you can really practice being a male nurse...not a murse.

You might have to wait a bit cos I'm not sure if it is released yet but it's a

real bargain at $9.99. OK...go play.:chuckle

Wow! Where did you get that set?

You know, I don't think I'll go into nursing... I think I'll go into sales in selling these things... I mean as more men going into nursing, there will be more and more demands....:)

-Dan

[danu3]

just because nurses were all female is not the same as it being a feminine term.

why confuse things.

Hmmm... that is true. At least at a definition level. But at a cultural level, it is feminine and a lot has to do with females are the overwhelming majority in nursing. Maybe the word "term" is confusing. How about the "connotation" of the the word "nurse" instead? The "connotation" is female for a long time. Right now, it is changing, at least in the US.

-Dan

[danu3]

Here is another angel picture

[danu3]

Just thought I want to summarize the poll so far with a different view. I reworked it to show the percentage base on the gender, not the total number who voted (what the poll does automatically).

As of now, we have 84 females and 19 males who voted. That is the number I'll be using for this summarization.

Here goes:

53% of the male voters find the term offensive or irritating

61% of the female voters find the term offensive or irritating

16% of the male voters find the term funny

19% of the females voters find the term funny

0% of the male voters have no opinion

6% of the females voters have no opinion

11% of the male voters find it ok if the intent is good

4% of the female voters find it ok if the intent is good

21% of the male voters has other reactions

11% of the female voters has other reactions

-Dan

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

i SO agree kimmy.

Me too.

My husband drives a logging truck and he is a truck driver. So is the female who drives a logging truck on the same job.

Truck driver, nurse, mortician, grocery clerk, ship captain, CEO, etc . . .

Silly .. . . there will not be a need to change the term nurse. I do not see it ever happening. A nurse is a nurse is a nurse.

steph

[leslie :-D]

Me too.

My husband drives a logging truck and he is a truck driver. So is the female who drives a logging truck on the same job.

Truck driver, nurse, mortician, grocery clerk, ship captain, CEO, etc . . .

Silly .. . . there will not be a need to change the term nurse. I do not see it ever happening. A nurse is a nurse is a nurse.

steph

simple concept, yes? why fix it when it's not broken?

[FranEMTnurse, CNA, LPN, EMT-I]

Yup, it always was, and always will be sacred to me.

[Hellllllo Nurse, BSN, RN]

As people have gotten used to more women becoming physicians, the term "female doctor" is pretty much obsolete. As more and more men become nurses, the same thing will happen to the term "male nurse."

There is no way I would ever even consider the possibilty of abandoning the word nurse.

No way.

[Hellllllo Nurse, BSN, RN]

Here are some interesting male nurse related items.

[Energizer Bunny]

Firefighters are mostly men so does that mean that term should be changed now that there are many women in the profession?

Police officers are mostly men so does that mean that term should be changed now that there are many women in the profession?

Nannies are mostly women but men are breaking in, does that mean we should change that term?

Do you see where I am going? the whole thing can get out of control and is ridiculous!!!!