malenurse1

My experiance is that when you tell a Doc that you are going to chart that he said "don't call back" they generally back up and re-evaluate that particular order. I had a urologist who I called at 2230 about an I&O issue on a CBI patient. His response was "Idon't give a damn, there is no way to keep accurate I&O on a patient with CBI and if you had called me after midnight I would chew youur ass out!" I calmly said "Actually Dr _____ you kind of are, but I am just going to chart that I notified you and your response was Idon't give a damn." You could actually hear him start back pedaling when he realized that would place the burden on him and not on me. He then decided to give me a more appropriate order in a more polite tone.

The only Nurses on my unit that use PDA's are the 2 guys. One of the women has one, but she hasn't figured out how to use it for anything but solitaire yet. I have offered to help her with that. Usually when a patient can't figure out how to use the DVD player in their room (yes we have them) my co-workers ask me to come fix it. I say I don't know how cause I haven't read the manual (YES I actually read the manuals). Overall I think the women I work with aren't as into the technology as us guys are because they can't be intuitive with it. They do try to fix things though and they are pretty creative about their efforts too! When new technology is introduced to our unit, I do not see them shy away from it, they just don't seek it out. Fortunately most of the women on my shift are younger, so they are more tech friendly than the older ones.

Quite frankly, I think that it is a shame that any female has to miss school, or work for that matter (I worked with a CNA who left work early without permission because she had cramps), because of her peroid. There alot of place in Africa that require their females (school age and older) to go live in what they call a menstrual hut (I am guessing this may have something to do with the aformentioned homicidal tendancies). As I understand it, none of them are allowed to leav e the hut until their period is over (glad I am not incharge of ensuring that!). How would tampax giving a dollar per package to these women change this type of cultural discrimination? Do they think hey are going to change centuries of this behavior that is culturally ingrained and assimilated with a few bucks? They better sell an awful lot of those darn t-shirts!

Each man deal with his emotions in his own way. I was raised by a career military father and crying was not to be tolerated from a man. FORTUNATELY, I have grown past that! When my mother died, I cried, alone and in private, but I cried. When my wife of 16 years announced that she was divorcing me and all through the process I cried often ... yes publicly. I have wept with patients who were sick and afraid that they weren't going to get better and with families of patients who were dying and of those who had already past. I am what you would call a manly man. 6', 220 lbs, with a mustache and a deep voice. I have learned over the years that hiding from you emotions is unhealthy. There is ABSOLUTELY nothing what-so-ever wrong with crying with a patient or their family in a time of loss. It lets them know that they are being cared for by someone who genuinely cares for them. Well, I will step down off my soapbox now and just finish by saying let it out guys!

I would report the offender. Comments like that are way out of line and unacceptable in a professional environment, and it doenst matter if you are straight, gay or bi-sexual. That type of behavior should not be tolerated under any circumstances.

I always try to have a female present when I have to do anything that exposes a female patients genitalia. I always ask my female patients if they would be more comfortable with one of the female nurses doing things like catheter insertion, suppositories, etc. Likewise my female counterparts have asked me to to do the same with male patients, especially if it is a younger patient. I have had a couple of times when I have been asked to place a foley in a male patient who had gotten an eraction when one of my female collegues had tried. I guess that it is safest to give your patients the option to have a female RN perform these procedures. If they are comfortable with you doing it, CYA and have a female present in the room to assist. I simply tell the patients that the CNA is there to assist so I don't have to break sterile. Good luck with school, Remember that if you are putting your patients best interests in front of your own and remain professional at all times, this should not be a concern.

Congratulations! Now the real learning begins!

Wow, perhaps if more states did something like this, more of us guys would find our way into the best profession ever!

I have seen lots of these ones but usually they are covered in tats! LMAO!!!

- You know more about the monthly cycles of your co-workers than yours own spouse/girlfriend! - You know more about your co-workers sex lives than your own! LMAO these are all true!

Okay, not having to wax or shave my nether regions ... more reasons I am glad I am not a woman! Thanks for the laugh!

Ha Ha Ha! Too funny! I am a Packer fan!!!

Personally, I don't mind being treated like one of the "girls". I look at it this way, when they talk about their personal intimate things around me, I figure I have earned a certain level of trust with them. Even my Ex-wife didn't share some of the information with me that many of my female co-workers have. It kind of gives us an inside track to the female mind. That being said, I still don't know a darned thing about how they work, LOL!

Sorry about all the anger in my last post. This has been the most difficult time of my life and I was having a REALLY bad day with the Ex. I just kind of exploded. Please accept my deepest, heartfelt, sincerest apology. I AM SORRY!!!

I have a question for all of you that is along the lines of this thread. There is a woman whom I have started seeing romanticly. Her insurance requires that she come to the Hospital where I work if she ever needs it. She asked me if she was ever admitted to my floor (Med/Surg) would I be her Nurse. I jokingly told her that I wouldn't cause I didn't think it would be appropriete for her Nurse to be walking around with an erection. My question for you is, would it be inappropriate or a conflict of interest for me to be her Nurse, since we are becoming romanticly involved?

Unless I am mistaken he wasn't talking about just medication induced arousal. He was talking about getting an erection while working with a female patient that he clearly found attractive. The further implication is that women deal with non-medication induce arousal when working with an attractive male. It just isn't evident to anyone but her. We can speak frankly here, after all we are professionals. While this has never happened to me, (maybe I am too old or dead, lol), I think it helps to wear tight underwear (no boxers guys) and my scrub pants are loose fitting. I also wear my shirt untucked should this problem ever arise, (pun intended). I would recommend seperating yourself from the causitive agent and recomposing yourself. Distraction is as always an effective technique for alleviating excess blood flow.

Thank you from all of us disfunctional, damaged men. Please remember that some of us are that way because of the women in our lives. I was less educated than my wife when we got together. I graduated from Nursing school this past December. I guess some of us do follow the dream and go back to school. My reward for all of that hard work, graduating with high honors, passing my state boards, trying to make a better life for MY family ... In June she tells me that after 16 years of marriage she is divorcing me. Why, I wonder, what have I done, or not done? We haven't been communicating she tells me ... ***!?! That certainly isn't reason for a divorce. How about counselling, or a trial seperation, I suggest, ANYTHING to fix this! Absolutely not she replies, I am divorcing you and that is that. Life sucks! Women suck! I mean, I never cheated on her, I never raised my hand to her, hell, I barely ever argued with her. I haven't had a drink of alcohol since before we got together. Now she is running around telling everyone that I was abusing alcohol, cheating on her, and always picking arguments with her. She was in charge of the finances because I was adult enough to know that she was way better at managing them than I was. Now I find out that all of the bills are months behind. So, forgive me if I fail to see the "HUMOR" in you Grandmothers so called "wisdom". I am damaged and disfunctional because of the woman in my life. Now whos "picker" is broken? This thread is sexist as are so many other things in Nursing. I am tired of instructors, and other nurses refering to nurses as female. For example, at a recent staff meeting, my manager was presenting scenarios for the Nursing staff to work out, "The nurse is assigned to such and such patient who is presenting such and such symptoms. What should she address first?" You started this thread but saying this applies to so many Nurses, then you finished by asking the girls to have their pickers tuned up. But I digress, so I will step down off my soapbox.

WOO HOO!!! CONGRATULATIONS!!! Now the real learning begins! Welcome to the club! :welcome: :groupwelcome: :smiley_aa :yelclap: :w00t: :roll

mmmm...wear a tool belt...LOL!!! I have worn a fanny pack, but i don't now. You tell us what is in your purses and we will tell you what is in our fanny packs...lol.

I was a Phlebotomist before becoming an RN too! Often after I finished drawing a nervous patient, they would say I do okay with this if I look away. I would respond, "I tought you were looking! I wasn't, I can't stand the sight of blood!" Glad to know that I am not the only one who has said this!

Try this site: http://malescrubs.com/ They have some decent patterns.

Ben, my experiance is that when these female patients, (usually older women, I don't mean to generalize though), ask for a female, it is often for toileting and or hygenic purposes. I simply go get one of the female staff to assist the patient with this issue. Funny though, when I need to assess them, they don't mind me looking at their body parts. I too present myself with authority and as a knowledgeable, caring RN. This seems to help. I have alos learned not to assume that just because they are female, thay want a female to assist them with these issue. Occasionally, when one of them say they need to go to the bathroom, I will ask if they want one of the female staff members to assist them. I do this out of respect to their privacy, but I am often met with "There is no reason you can't help with this." I guess what I am trying to say is not to take it personally if they want another female to help. While I do run into those who want a female to assist with their personally hygiene, I have not yet had a female (or male) patient who did not want me to be their nurse. Good luck in school and hang in there.

Welcome back!!! It is never too late to start. I graduated this past December and passed my boards in February. I just turned 41 this past April! I agree with the comments about going straight for your RN. You can do it.

Are you talking only school related expenses? Otherwise I bought a house during my senoir year!

HA HA HA! I didn't see that ending coming! Too funny!