Jasano

But not at all for the reasons implied. Men make more only when these other factors are taken into consideration. These articles are misleading in a number of ways. 1. They point to nursing as a high growth and high employability career, and yet so many nurses (even male nurses like myself) go unemployed. 2. These articles declare that men make more in nursing than women, but do so while implying that men have some sort of unfair advantage. The only advantage men have is due to the choices that they make versus their female colleagues. Should we pay men less because they don't leave work to raise children quite so often, or because they tend towards higher paid specialties (probably the only way to secure employment)? 3. They play into the myth that 'men are more hireable' than women in the nursing profession. Well that is not the case as I noted above - I am now going on for 6 months unemployed and I am a 'much sought after male nurse'. There are many areas of nursing which are more or less still closed to men: pediatrics was a very difficult field for men to enter - it has opened up somewhat in recent years. Maternity and obstetrics are still largely closed, and male nurses in homecare will find the hours lacking versus their female counterparts to a large degree. There are no quotas whatsoever to increase the number of male nurses that I am aware of, either in Canada or the United States. So, the bottom line is, these articles are being dishonest with men regarding the opportunities which exist in nursing. That's not to say that there aren't any - they're just not nearly as lucrative, or plentiful, as the media would have you to believe.

Here are a couple of articles from US sources telling men what lucrative profession nursing is and that male nurses will make more money than their female counterparts - ya right, discrimination lawsuits galore would be filed if that were true: Male Nurses Becoming More Commonplace â€" and Higher Paid | The Exchange - Yahoo Finance Male Nurses Make More Money - Real Time Economics - WSJ Here's one from CBS telling us how nurses are in high demand and how lucrative it is for men: Number of male U.S. nurses triple since 1970 - CBS News

Well, I'm not a new grad, I have over a decade of experience working the nursing field, but I have to say, I would not recommend men getting into this field - not at all. What irks me about all this though, is that the lies continue, and the media seems to be on a campaign blitz to encourage more men into a field already, as you say, 'saturated'. They seem to be trying to tell young men that a member in nursing equals a job - the opposite is a truer statement, but neither would be correct.

This is an ad I ran in Kijijii. I have been an unemployed nurse here in the province of Ontario now for going on 6 months. Prior to that I was employed at two seperate part-time, temporary jobs. I left one temporary job for another that promised I could stay on past the contract, but in the end, when the nurse on pregnancy leave came back, I was let go. I have sent out hundreds of resumes and have heard nothing. Meanwhile, we hear all about how male nurses have some sort of advantage. This is clearly a joke. The job I was laid off from was in mental health nursing (an area you might expect would be giving preference to men - wrong). I was the only candidate in my hiring group who in fact was male, and, moreover, was the only candidate hired on a 'temporary' basis. All of the female nurses in the room were hired on a 'permanent' basis. So much for this supposed preference. Now, I have applied for hundreds of jobs, in all areas, (minus some areas of nursing like labor and delivery, where men aren't hired anyway) and nada. A couple of months ago, I stopped applying for jobs just in nursing, but, unfortunately, everyone sees nurse and thinks why would this guy want to work at a gas station? Well, I'll tell you why: that job ad has been the only source of interviews in the 6 month period (2 total) with neither one leading to a job. For all the resumes I have sent out, I've heard nothing. I am sure that there is discrimination against men in nursing, because I've been told up front by employers in the past that I couldn't be granted the same number of hours in homecare for example, as my female counterparts - not even half as many hours in fact. However, I think there is a bigger problem here in the province of Ontario - the new grad guarantee. The government has stepped in and basically made it more difficult for older nurses like myself to find work, by agreeing to finance 6 months of full time work for all new grad nurses. What this means is, there is an absolute dearth of employment opportunities left over. I upgraded last year with a coronary care course to find those temporary part-time jobs, and this year, plan to upgrade with a critical care certificate in order to improve my chances, but I am really getting desperate as I burn through the last of my savings. Don't believe the hype guys. I talked to other male nurses (who will only talk about these things to male nurses) and guess what? They talked about massive discrimination and harassment - all of which they keep quiet to hold onto their jobs. I know the media is putting on a big drive to move men from the single digits in nursing to closer to the levels that women have achieved in medical programs (60%), but I think a lot of you will just end up like me, or like a lot of other men, who had to leave the profession to become truck drivers and construction workers for example.

I would tell anyone thinking of getting into nursing, to pursue something else. I've been a nurse for over a decade and after 9 months of searching, all I was able to come up with was a part-time casual job in pharmacy - I'm not even working as a nurse! I have the BscN with honors, years of experience, and nada. It's impossible finding work in nursing. I would like to retrain for another field where there are actually jobs available - nursing was a bad choice for me. (RN, Ontario, Canada)

I likely won't get any response, but you're right, at this point, I've exhausted all other options - maybe I should try it.

I have applied to every area of nursing, from homecare, to retirement homes, to nursing homes, to telehealth, to mental health, to hospitals - acute and chronic. I have been extremely flexible - it is just impossible for me to find a job in nursing. I have no restrictions on my license, have a decade + of experience and a Bachelor of Science Degree in Nursing (with honors) from Ryerson University. I applied for hundreds of jobs and I'm lucky to get a no thank you, or a form letter - I almost never rate an interview. What I would like is retraining for another field.

Just as an update: Well, it is now February, 2013 and I have been unable to find work in my profession. I am now working outside of nursing, in a pharmacy related job, for casual-part-time hours. I have a degree in nursing, and over a decade of experience and nada. I'm lucky if I can get an interview. My advice: don't go into nursing - the hype about shortages is just that - hype. All of the jobs are being snapped up by new grads under the Ontario government's new grad initiative, or by RPNs taking over what were once RN jobs. I'm looking for retraining to get out of this 'much sought after' profession.

I'm a male nurse who's actively been seeking employment for several months in my home province of Ontario, Canada. It's been extremely difficult and discouraging. I would not recommend the nursing field to other men, as I have always had a more difficult time than my female counterparts, in finding work. With the economy in the state that it is, career change would be ill-advised; even if your job entails watching paint dry - keep it.

I'm thinking of running this as an ad in my local newspaper as I've been out of work for 2 months with only one phone call in all of that time. I have approximately 10-15 years of experience in various areas of nursing, but there is absolutely nothing for me in Durham Region (Ontario). I do see positions posted now and again, but I never hear a word when I apply for them. Maybe it's a male nurse thing, but I find it extremely difficult to find work in this field. Any suggestions on an alternative career path - one where I might find a job?

Well, I disagree with you completely. There is no justification for discrimination against men or against women. You seem to be quite willing to overlook some rather blatant discrimination against men, because of some hardship that women have had to endure. Wrong is wrong in my view, irregardless of genitalia. ;in this, at least, women have the government, the media, all the king's horses and their little men on their side. I think it's funny that when men are discriminated against in fields like nursing, that no one bats and eye, but when some woman somewhere feels someone 'might' have treated her unfairly, the entire press gallery shows up with government officials in tow to right the 'perceived' wrong. Let me tell you boys, there are quotas for medicine, paramedics, policing and dozens if not hundreds of other professions, but there is not one quota, not one initiative, not one comittee, examining issues related to men in nursing.

These are actually falsehoods that you're spouting. Dollar for dollar, women and men make the SAME amount of money. Hour for Hour women CHOOSE to work more part-time and therefore lose out on some of the career advancement. In fact, studies have shown that men and women MAKE PRECISELY THE SAME AMOUNT of $, when allowances are made for women who've chosen to stay at home with their families. Women who've chosen career over families, make the same dollar for dollar amounts. Morever, women are earning considerably more university degrees than men, living considerably longer, and enjoying government quotas for jobs, education and promotion in a variety of fields. Even young boys are not immune to the discrimination and are doing much more poorly in language and reading skills than ever before, (in fact in terms of achievement in general) and are far more likely to flunk out at both the elementary and high school levels - these conditions the direct result of feminist changes to educational curriculum favouring young girls. (oh and these statements are true north and south of the border strangely enough) Now a few items which make this a personal issue for me (aside from the fact that I'm a male nurse). #1. Before I knew what I wanted to do for a living, I thought about being a police officer and foolishly invested thousands of my own dollars in a Law and Security program. I thought at the time, well yes, there are quotas, but even if I can't get into policing, there are other avenues. WELL, one day, a representative from a major bank came into class to speak ONLY to the females of the class regarding a $50, 000. credit card investigation job. Males taking law and security would not be eligible for the position because they were males. Bee in my bonet # 1. #2. I later thought I would try my hand at automechanics (turns out I like cars, but not getting dirty), but anyway, my brother and I each paid over a $1000.00 tuition for the program. When we completed the program, we found that no one was taking apprentices - there were no girls in our program. Now before you get excited and go off on a feminist tirade, that's because there was a separate FEMALE ONLY program being run alongside ours wherein the women paid $0.00 for tuition, and recieved job placement assistance upon completion. #3. I was in a government office, looking for jobs in nursing - I was working with several agencies, but because I was a man, was not being offered very many hours. In fact, applying to one agency I was told that I could not be given 30 hours a week, even though they had just finished telling me that their entire staff was overworked - doing upwards of 60 hours a week in many cases. The problem? They couldn't offer as many hours to a "man". But I digress, so I was in the government office, looking for additional part-time and casual jobs to supplement my income when I came across a document entitled - "doctoral programs for women". Thinking I might like to advance my education at the university level (I was only an LPN at the time), I noted that the government was willing to pay all expenses for university attendance - the catch>? It was a program only open to WOMEN. Oh that's two bees in that bonet. So yes, I think feminism has progressed well past any concept of fairness, into what I would term, "the preferential me first, give me.. give me.. mode".

IMHO you're one hundred percent right - we have become a gender fixated society, and we owe much of our plight, from broken families, to broken marriages, and yes even gender-fixation in areas like nursing to our rampant and (quite rabid), feminist underpinnings. That said, I wouldn't blame the ANA in particular - believe me, the same biases exist here in Canada i.e. here in Ontario under the CNO - "College of Nurses of Ontario" and probably every westernized nation. I love reading through sexist nursing literature written, not 10 years ago, but last MONTH, stating things like a nurse shall provide professional care and "SHE" will adhere to... blah blah blah. But I digress to say this... We might as well just forget about it guys, because no one is listening to men in nursing, (or men in general for that matter). There aren't any commissions studying the special difficulties that men face in female-dominated professions and there never will be! In many respects, I see that the gender balance has totally flipped. Speaking of flipped, with quotas out the wazoo for every supposedly male-dominated profession under the sun and no consideration whatsoever for men in fields like nursing, I would say that we can safely declare this society "done".

Ha! An excellent post! I too suffered discrimination while undergoing my nursing training and can empathize with you - I rarely suffer such discrimination from members of the public or from my female colleagues, but nursing school was hell - you could tell us guys weren't wanted and that the course was not designed with men in mind AT ALL. My license also says registered nurse strangely enough and I go out of my way to preserve the modesty of all my patients, both male and female. I think that discrimination against men is now much more prevalent in society and that it is made worse in that we men, nurses in particular, can't get the slightest ounce of either media or government attention for our plight. Better to be discriminated against and have hundreds if not thousands of government agencies on your side and an open line to the media! Great post once again, Jason RN

This is NOT a problem with male nurses most likely, but rather a problem with public perception of males in nursing. I doubt very much that it is the case that your male colleagues are 'trying' to offload their work onto you, as much as it is likely that the female patients specifically requested a female nurse. It's discrimination that men face, that women do not and could not ever hope to understand. A male nurse walks in to care for a patient, and the patient is quite okay with him looking after her, until of course, lo and behold, she discovers that he's NOT a doctor! (shudder). When this occurs, suddenly the male nurse is no longer fit to render care. Yet, when a female nurse, or doctor renders care, she rarely finds the same opposition. Again, it is discrimination, and our society is rife with it. Women receive the benefit of quotas to enter fields ranging from policing to engineering to medicine and yet no such quotas exist to get more men into female dominated professions like banking and nursing. Even when, as in the case of medicine, there are a disproportionate number of females being enrolled in medical school, (as is the case across the country here in Canada and in Britain - where it's 60%+ female enrolment) there is no effort to rescind the quotas or to create quotas in the reverse. In short, it sucks to be a man in today's society! Admittedly, most female patients I have encountered, do not have a problem with me administering their care, but a small number do. I try to assist in other ways when this occurs, and like many male nurses, do a lot of the heavy lifting to compensate. If your male colleagues are asking you to look after a patient's personal care, ask if this was the patient's request - 9 times out of 10 it was. If that is the case, have your colleague give out some of your meds, or assist patients with ambulation etc. while you're busy; I'm sure they'll be only too happy to help. Jason RN