Out with "Nurse" In with...?

Alicia18 · Mar 17, 2005

Maybe I didn't go back far enough. Wasn't nursing primarily done by men in Catholic orders? Of course, if one goes back too far then the whole role of nursing disappears, and all you have is doctors coming to people's houses and putting leaches on them and letting the family care for them.
I guess what I would like to know is when were the first hospitals established and were the nurses male or female. And what about psychiatric hospitals? Weren't they traditionally staffed by men?
The Veridican

Uh... I don't know about psychiatric hospitals, but I know that in Catholic orders, nuns took a great part in the nursing care. There were (and are) whole female orders devoted to nursing, and for quite a while there, you couldn't go into a Catholic hospital without running nuns who were nurses.

Alicia18 · Mar 17, 2005

Grow up! It is a very important part of society being a NURSE. Accept it and be proud of it.
Well! I have been nursing some 36years plus and am proud to be a NURSE. I expect to be called a nurse and call all the male species of nurse NURSE! All the female species of nurses I also call NURSE. If they are wearing a long gown/robe/and a veil of some sort, I will call them SISTER, or ask "how do I address you?"
I have no problem being called NURSE. I had been called (when I started nursing) a cissy or gay, and a couple of times from some so called "real men" have been told to get out of the women's business and get a real job!
I do a REAL JOB as a NURSE and I am proud to be called NURSE. Yes I am male, married and children and now grandchildren - and loving it. I am a RN and RMN and now have specialised in terminal care/aged care and hospice work. I have been given many names here are some of the better ones -
Mister sister
Male nurse
Hey you
Screw
Shrink
Sister
Brother
and finally from some chldren in the paediatric hospital in UK -
Mister Chris

:chuckle Giggle. :chuckle I LOVE the title Mister Sister and just plain Sister. That's always gotta be good for a laugh on a busy day! :rotfl:

For me, I love the idea of nursing and would be highly disappointed if that title would be denied to me after I go into nursing. When I finally finish going for my RN I want what I worked so hard for -- the title of nurse! Of course, I'm an old-fashioned kind of girl who sees wearing a nursing cap as a right earned that should cherished and worn. :nurse:

My first few days as a CNA, I was walking on air because an elderly patient called me "nursey"! :yeah: It was like a dream come true to me; there's no way I'd want to be called anything else. I'm sure that any man who goes through the whole rigorous process of becoming a nurse would feel the same way! :)

Kingbandit · Mar 17, 2005

I work at a hospital in Columbus Ohio and all us male nurses refer to ourselves as "Falkers of Murses" Falker from Meet the Parents and Murse from Male + Nurse.

allamericangirl · Mar 17, 2005

Come now, do you really think baby boomers, (the generations that brought about free love, free sex, open life styles, coed college dormatories, and are the peppy, sassy, vibrant people who proclaim age 60 to be the new age thirty and age 80 to be the new 50), to ever allow themselves to be segretated into all male and all female units in nursing homes?! :rotfl: We're the guys dominating the plastic surgery, exercise, vitamine, hormone replacement, and Viagra markets! I, for one, am going to be active sexually till I croak! The only way you'll get most of us into a gender segregated faciity is FEET FIRST! :lol_hitti

I want only to attract people who want to be nurses to our profession. As the babyboomers age and become nursing home patients we might consider 'all male' units and 'all female' units. There are nursing homes now with staff and residents all of the same background and who speak a different language than english in New York City. My dream is to open a nudist nursing home in the future, not realistic but hey, dreams do become reality.

nursemike, ASN, RN · Mar 17, 2005

So, I was driving to work, the other day, and saw a car with a sticker on the rear window that said: "Lady Firefighter." Got this sudden urge to pull up beside her at a stoplight and hit on her, but I was running late...

All of these writings on the History of Nursing are fairly interesting, and amazingly consistent with what I've learned in school (amazing, since they are directly contradictory, in some instances). But I think it would be a pity to get so caught up in arguing about the past that we lose sight of the future.

Generations of women have been able to earn a modest living in nursing when not many other options were available to them. Men were able to care for the sick and injured back in the Crusades. Everyone is able to give care to those in need, and some of us have chosen to make a science of it. Good for all of us, I say.

I don't particularly object to being called a male nurse, although I prefer simply, "nurse." I'm certainly not ashamed of being male, and I'm proud of the achievement of becoming a nurse (knock on wood--not quite there, yet).

Saw a couple of really cute EMT's the other day, too...

allamericangirl · Mar 17, 2005

Nursing has been dominated by women in the past century. The gen public thinks female gender when they think nurse. It is a natural thing, just like they thought male when they heard the word doctor, up until the past few years. Things change and people change with the times. This will seem like a silly discussion in a few years. Guys are great nurses. Give the generations time to catch up.

I belonged to the Women's Council of Realtors for years. There wasn't a Men's Council of Realtors and still isn't one. There was a women's council because it was a male dominated field. The guys didn't need one, they were the dominant. People used to think of Realtors as men. I was a saleswoman till the mid 60s when I became a salesperson. I was a business woman, not a business person. It was silly. Still is. What difference does it make? I'm a woman, so I can be a saleswoman. Just like the term Ms. Jones, instead of Miss or Mrs. :uhoh21: I also used to be Mrs. John Smith instead of Jane Smith. Women weren't even recognized by their first names publicly. They were Mrs. somebodies! That doesn't happen anymore.

Male Nurse? This too will pass! The more males that go into nursing, the more males will become nurses. You may dominate the field someday in number to female nurses. There are waiters and waitresses, Misters and Misses. It could be worse, ... there could be nursies and nursers! If I were a guy, I would rather be a nurse than a nurser. :chuckle

So, I was driving to work, the other day, and saw a car with a sticker on the rear window that said: "Lady Firefighter." Got this sudden urge to pull up beside her at a stoplight and hit on her, but I was running late...
All of these writings on the History of Nursing are fairly interesting, and amazingly consistent with what I've learned in school (amazing, since they are directly contradictory, in some instances). But I think it would be a pity to get so caught up in arguing about the past that we lose sight of the future.
Generations of women have been able to earn a modest living in nursing when not many other options were available to them. Men were able to care for the sick and injured back in the Crusades. Everyone is able to give care to those in need, and some of us have chosen to make a science of it. Good for all of us, I say.
I don't particularly object to being called a male nurse, although I prefer simply, "nurse." I'm certainly not ashamed of being male, and I'm proud of the achievement of becoming a nurse (knock on wood--not quite there, yet).
Saw a couple of really cute EMT's the other day, too...

kevagonia · Mar 17, 2005

It just strikes me as unusual that nursing would be a female dominated occupation, given what is required of a registered nurse. Obviously there are mostly female RNs, so obviously females are as capable as males in things such as scientific thinking, decision making, accountability, and apparently they have the physical strength that is required. That's my testimony to the facts.
...............
It doesn't surprise me that females are the default sex for this profession at all. It demands caring, motherly qualities that even us men have to learn or already be comfortable with before we even get to really join the club. Any profession where holding the hand of the client is a valid working tool, a treatment modality even, for some patients! I mean, at the risk of sounding like I am batting for some other team than my own, I simply am not suprised at all that the term nurse has a femenine connotation. Woman are great at it, they've revolutionized it, in some way it's theirs to brag about. I am just interested in making a little part of it my own, masculine even. I'll put it this way: when I have a female patient, I am a masculine provider who respects her as a mother, a sister... and can make her feel protected and safe (traditionally thought of as a trait of a father or husband, a man). When my client is a male I can be as a brother, a friend, even the role of a son or grandson in some ways. I have common interests and there is a connection there as well... Women have their gender related skills, I have mine. They are, by necessity, quite equal.
Anyway, the term nurse is a bit light, but if you name it "nonsex robot health missile" or something it's not going to help. I think it's far more important to revolutionize what it *is* than what it is called. That's exciting to me, and if that was not actually happening today, men wouldn't ever have wanted to join the party.
'Don't mean to be argumentative.
-k

kevagonia · Mar 17, 2005

I'm still in nursing school but my size and gray hair have prompted frequent questions as to my job title. With my best Arnold Schwarzenegger voice impression,.......]
Nice! haha.
I work with a big gray haired guy with a beard, arguably the best nurse on the unit. He's probably proud to be called a nurse and I don't think anyone would be brave or dumb enough to argue it with him.
No real point here, I just thought I would mention it. Some big tough, manly nurses out there, y'all.

CHATSDALE · Mar 17, 2005

I personally abhor the terms male nurse, woman pilot etc....i would hope that the time has come when we can work in chosen field w/o being shoved in a little cubby holes

i have heard people say that they wouldn't mind a female pedi md but they wouldn't want a surgeon...

and the op: isn't that a nasty little remark about the old ladies in ana...these are the giants that you are standing on the shoulders of...show some respect

nursemike, ASN, RN · Mar 17, 2005

Nursing has been dominated by women in the past century. The gen public thinks female gender when they think nurse. It is a natural thing, just like they thought male when they heard the word doctor, up until the past few years. Things change and people change with the times. This will seem like a silly discussion in a few years. Guys are great nurses. Give the generations time to catch up.
I belonged to the Women's Council of Realtors for years. There wasn't a Men's Council of Realtors and still isn't one. There was a women's council because it was a male dominated field. The guys didn't need one, they were the dominant. People used to think of Realtors as men. I was a saleswoman till the mid 60s when I became a salesperson. I was a business woman, not a business person. It was silly. Still is. What difference does it make? I'm a woman, so I can be a saleswoman. Just like the term Ms. Jones, instead of Miss or Mrs. :uhoh21: I also used to be Mrs. John Smith instead of Jane Smith. Women weren't even recognized by their first names publicly. They were Mrs. somebodies! That doesn't happen anymore.
Male Nurse? This too will pass! The more males that go into nursing, the more males will become nurses. You may dominate the field someday in number to female nurses. There are waiters and waitresses, Misters and Misses. It could be worse, ... there could be nursies and nursers! If I were a guy, I would rather be a nurse than a nurser. :chuckle

Nurseman?

I agree, though I'll be surprised if men in nursing outnumber women anytime soon. From what I've read, new males burn out and/or move on more quickly even than females. Hoping real hard not to be one of them, and since I've worked in healthcare, I think I know what I'm getting into. Still, I think we are gradually moving toward a time when people feel free to pursue whatever excites them, without concern about stereotypes. It often seems like the operant word is "gradually," but we have made a good deal of progress over the past few decades.

kevagonia · Mar 17, 2005

anyone notice in nursing textbooks where they refer to nurses as she or her, as in "the nurse should then tie a touniquet around the patients medulla oblongata and use her syringe to..." or "nurse should be professional and curteous when she is working with..."

etc...

I noticed this many times, even when instructors were speaking. I took it personally at the time, it gave me a twinge of... (oh you don't recognize me, do you?) kind of a feeling.

The times, though, they are a changin'

TX_ER_nurse · Mar 17, 2005

Why change the title? The nurses that are working today reguardless of sex have had to work hard to acheive that title.

As today's culture is changing so much in the health care feild,leave what is left of our title alone.

I know that the addage "if you don't change you are not learning" is a very good consept for nursing because we learn every day. But what about our history, the reason we are called nurses. How are we to keep that and still change our title.

Did male nurses (or even female nurses) go into the nursing feild for the title, or a job, or for what is in your heart to help others. Yes many are in it for the job, but many are also in it for the helping others and fullfilling the heart felt tug inside us.

There are female Doctors and they don't complain about their title that started out as a male dominated carreer.So why fix something that isn't broke.

Need a new title? No I don't think so. But I guess I am in the minority.