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I'm interested to read the comments of colleagues half way round the world - especially when they don't appear to be a great deal different than the "lunch room" or "water chiller" conversation that crops up from time to time where I work. As a male nurse, I have worked in elder care as well as the larger tertiary hospital environments, and must say I have never encountered any adverse situations. I have been asked by a very small number of female patients if they could be attended to by a female nurse - and that has been absolutely fine by me. In my experience the only consensus view relating to gender issues - in both directions i.e. male nurse v female patient and female nurse v male patient should focus on safety. If you are feeling uncomfortable about a situation, or sense your patient is; then it is probably a darn good idea to get the support of a colleague of the same gender as the patient, and to offer support for the patient, such as having a family member present. Heaven forbid the day that we as a profession forget the care and support we have all undertaken to give, forgets that care is supposed to be "patient centred". We should never become that immuned to our working environment we forget that gender can be a issue for some patients and to respect their needs. :balloons:

:wink2: As a male, I couldn't be more proud of the profession I work in. Though I had wanted to take up nursing when in my twenties, it wasn't until nearly thirty years later that I completed my Bachelor's degree and have since worked in the area of palliative care. Nursing the terminally ill through to the end of their life is not everybodies "cup of tea", but I have found it very rewarding. There are many different aspects to nursing though, so there may be one, such as psych' or surgical, medical, community or armed forces that you could be suited too as a male. If you want to take up nursing - go for it - but don't take it on if you think it will be the panacea for any gripes you have against IT. Nursing can be plain hard work much of the time, and, if you work in a facility that operates a roster system - you will almost certainly have to do your share of night duties. Good luck Stephen

I'm not a young nurse, and I'm not female, but I do have an absolute passion for nursing. My specialty choice is in palliative care, an area of nursing I would suspect to be almost impossible to work in without being very, very commited to "caring". However, there is what I feel to be an almost universal reality, the public and healthcare industry demand nursing staff be highly skilled and professional people. In this country at least (New Zealand), minimum entry qualification is at degree level. Not only does that cost in terms of commitment and money (in an environment where women finally have much greater choices of work than previously), but so does the requirement to maintain a portfolio of continuing education, with further study to Masters or PHD to achieve specialisation. It should not be expected nurses (male of female) meet these standards without expectation of financial reward. It seems rather ironic healthcare bosses will openly boast at the need to pay top $$$ to attract the "best" specialty physician, but not use the same rationale when recruiting nurses. There is no incentive for that philosphy to change though, when they can see such statements "bobnurse" has made. The profession as a whole needs to stop being its own worst enemy, be proud of who we are and the skills we possess. Stop underselling us all....

Interesting topic - nurse dating a patient that is. Had that happen to me. I was the patient, in a British, Royal Navy hospital back in the 70's. At the time I was being admitted on to the ward, other patients - all sailors - were playing the games that sailors do - asking the on duty nurses for a date. I joined in the "fun" Thirty two years later, our family is well grown up and we - one of those sailors' and nurses', have two lovely grandchildren. My wife retired just over a year ago. I'm the Registered Nurse now, and the law today would have prevented us - legally, if not morally - from dating. I guess I'm glad the whole world hadn't quite gone to hell in a hand cart all those years ago, but in this day of safe professional conduct, I'd want to be pretty sure of my relationship with "the patient" before "risking" a date with a patient.