I'm a 46 yr old single dad of 3 daugters (that accounts for some of what's wrong with my brain).
I've decided to take the plunge and start the prereqs at my local community college with the intent to become an RN...hence, my presence on this board.
In the last couple of weeks, since I've been here, I've read alot of threads about men in nursing and some of the stereotypes (real or imagined) that go along with the term "male nurse". I, myself, will admit to feeling a bit of a feminine connotation associated with the term, probably due to the association with "nurse" and breastfeeding.
It occurs to me that if we put our heads together, we should be able to come up with a better term that we could then quietly promote in our day to day activities.
We've already heard "murse", RN with prostate and some others but I'd like to hear other ideas too. I'll profer a couple of suggestions of my own to get things started:
I could care less. I chose my user name here just to keep it lively.
Someone mentioned something about corpsmen, and I did the same damn job as a corpsman in an ER in Japan as I do in an ER here in the US. I wouldn't mind being called a corpsman again... but then you'd get some old marine who would continue to call you doc, and then the MDs would get their panties in a wad (male and female versions)....
Who cares? The majority of people who think male nurses are all gay are dying out. Just give it another decade and we'll all be set.
When I was in College, almost half of our BSN class (about 12) were males. We called each other "FOCKERS" from the ben Stiller movie "Meet the Parents"
Specializes in Peds/outpatient FP,derm,allergy/private duty.
Well? Let's hear it folks (yes, you ladies too!)
We're so rarely invited into the clubhouse I feel compelled to reply!
Midlife- this is actually one of the funniest threads I've read in a long time! No need to change the name. . . secretaries used to be primarily of the male persuasion. We've survived the transition pretty well so far. .:) and with apologies to the "murses" but that name makes me think of "smurfes" (that's pronounced smurf-ez 2 syllables) every time. I know there are those who disagree, but I don't think the guys have have been around here long enough to have your stereotypes become set in stone as the female "naughty nurse" and "battle-axe" images have.
For the love of God don't let a diminutive blue cartoon creature be part of the mix.
I worked 25 years ago with a colleague (RN) of the male persuasion who used to get asked a lot, "Oh, you're a male nurse?" To which he always replied, v. pleasantly, "No, I take care of females, too."
Was watching "24 Hours in the ER" on BBC recently, the female Nurses were called "sister", but I did not notice that the male nurses had any particular secondary name. They weren't called "brother"...
Specializes in Oncology, ID, Hepatology, Occy Health.
Was watching "24 Hours in the ER" on BBC recently, the female Nurses were called "sister", but I did not notice that the male nurses had any particular secondary name. They weren't called "brother"...
I just thought that was interesting.
The title "sister" in the UK denotes rank, a senior nurse, often the nurse who has ultimate responsibility for a given area. The male equivalent is "charge nurse" though in recent years the trend has been to call both sexes "ward manager"
ok, here's my two cents. I think all RN's should be called "Nurse Practitioner's" after all, we all practice nursing do we not??? and existing Nurse Practitioner's should be called "Advanced Nurse Practitioner's", so that they have rank. That should cover them all.
In Australia RN's were immediately given the title sister (same in Germany). Older people still use the term sister and I have even been called sister - not in any sarcastic sense but because people think that it's the proper respectful thing to all a nurse regardless of gender. I've been called nurse which is fine, sister which I also don't mind and an old guy once called me mister sister because he wasn't sure and that made me laugh! But generally I go with what the guy earlier said - just call me Christopher and we'll be just fine!
Seth O Scope
54 Posts
When people say to me "so youre becoming a male nurse" I say "well I applied to be a female nurse, im keeping my fingers crossed".