NurseTomasAZ

There's something you're not telling us, Float Nurse. Something self-serving, I'd bet a paycheck. Please learn better teamwork, for your patients' sake, and maybe a little humility, too. I can think of several reasons why your fellow nurse wanted (or NEEDED) to know your patient load that night, and I truly hope that the reason you received no email response from the supe is that they were busy emailing YOUR supervisor. And someone wiser than me already offered you good advice: switch to decaf.

i'm halfway through nursing school, working as an lpn in a lt care facility. this being arizona, about 1/4 of the nurses here are male -- i know that ratio is higher in critical care and surgury, but, i yam where i yam at this current stage in my education. i've been an lpn for only a couple months, and i can already see the biggest benefit provided by my gender: i am almost automatically excused from participation in the personality wars that often rage around us. females are pretty much forced to choose sides. i'm hoping it's not just because i'm new there, because i often feel like i've walked onto the set of "heathers", or "mean girls", and yet i'm (thankfully)not in the script! i'd like to hope this benign exclusion lasts and lasts for me! these same snarky women turn around and treat us males quite civilly, and are almost always dependably helpful, to us men. so we males have made a pact --a man law, if you will, that we stay out of these female troubles at all cost! the longer to preserve this exceptionalism we enjoy now. i know other posters have expounded on the improved civilities that emerge when staffing becomes closer to 50-50. and maybe we'll see that someday at our facility. but for now i'm just happy to not be in the loop! i do feel sorry for my female school collegues, working there alongside us guys, and being dragged into the cliques very much against their goodwill, goodnature, and good sense. it's highly unfair to them. makes me tempted to where that t-shirt i bought years ago, to work: "i may not be bright, but i can lift heavy objects" :smilecoffeeilovecof

It's legal in my state -- AZ. I'm a new LPN, 2/3 of the way through an RN program, and I attended the inservice today. I'm also very glad to be reading up on the topic on today's boards. Despite the fact that I know, respect, and approve of the two CNAs who are being trained for the job, I'm a little worried. Reading some of your posts, I guess I should be. It's my brand new license, and AZ is a state well-known for looking straight down the totem pole to assign blame. Thanks for the posts. Color me watchful.

Hey Nurses, I'm one of three men in a small town junior college RN program, that totals eleven, in Arizona. We're also a rather old group -- this is the second career for most of us, and the median age is 40! So far, there haven't really been ANY awkward or uncomfortable moments... While we are very aware that we are entering a profession still dominated by women, that dominance is fast changing. I really think that within my lifetime a quarter to a third, or maybe even half the nurses will carry a Y chromosome. We have been welcomed warmly in clinicals, and by our patients, every time. Maybe it's just Arizona (where we have maybe the nation's highest percentage of female politicians), but people don't really register much surprise at seeing a male nurse anymore. They're just happy to have a nurse around! Second semester Maternity Nursing was a bit eye-popping for us three guys, but good humor and good sense made it all go smoothly. I have, however, decided that my male RN friend in Tucson had it right when he insisted that "a woman's fundus is her business!" :rotfl: In short, I haven't regretted this career change for a minute, and I think my male collegues would say the same. What an adventure!

Hey all, At age 40 I took some time off work to help take care of a close friend who was dying of lung cancer. The hospice nurse noticed that I had more than just a casual curiosity about the disease process, the nursing techniques, and healthcare in general. Our friend died, of course, but a week or so before he passed, his nurse took me aside and asked what my plans were when I got back home to Tucson. I told her I was thinking of a career change. She smiled and told me she'd been about to advise me to do that. So I guess you could say I "heard the call". When I got home I enrolled, and started my prereqs at Pima College, got pretty good grades, and today I'm halfway through a fast-track RN program in a nearby town. I'll be taking the NCLEX-PN in a week or so, which should make my weekend nursing home job a bit more lucrative for the next two semesters. I haven't looked back, or regretted this move, even once. I wish I'd done this at age 30, rather than 40 -- but hey, I figured it out when I figured it out! Nursing school is tough -- the ladies who designed it meant for it to be. But it's nothing you can't handle, if you keep your mind on WHY you're doing it. My advice? Don't look back, don't hesitate, and just accept that your bosses are going to be women while you're in school. They want you to succeed as much as you do; so just relax and learn. Oh yeah: pay attention in Organic Chemistry -- there really IS a reason you're learning it!