leatrn44

Good advice. I'm not an ER nurse but assume it must be very frustrating at times. Speaking as a psych nurse I can tell you becoming jaded is not uncommon. We get a lot of seekers and many borderlines/axis 2's that will do just about anything for attention, including claiming to be actively suicidal/cutting on themselves etc knowing that will increase their stay with us. Like most of you, I find it draining at times and find more satisfaction when helping the pts who are more critical. But, job security I guess!

May not have been the best way to say. But in general, I think women are more sensitive than men, I think woman are more gossipy than men, I think men are physically stronger, I think woman cry more than men. Just a few silly examples of how I believe the sexes are different and not the same across the board. So while I did say I don't think they are equal I don't believe one is lesser than the other.

You bring up many good points, for the most part I agree. What I'm getting from the OP is that, while gender discrimination is not ok, it's still a part of reality. I understand others comments about why this is even a subject in this day and age but lets face it people...big or small it is. I actually enjoyed the discussion. And really, honest discussion, in part, is what helps us to understand the problem, as big or small as it may be, which we need in order to correct the problem. I disagree, in part, with your comments about what you get,male or female, is what you get. What I mean is, I try to make my patients as comfortable is possible. I am female and work in psych. If I have a male pt and I have male staff available, I will utilize male staff in assisting my pt, for ex, with using a bed pan or urinal if say the pt is in restraints. If male staff is not available I have no problem doing this myself. And let me say, doing it myself was the norm for me until I just got used to the males around me saying they would do it in order to make the pt more comfortable. Many times I was grabbing gloves and heading into a pts room when I was stopped for this reason. Personally, I don't think men and women are equal....however I believe they should be treated equal. If I have a pt that is aggressive and has assaulted staff I may feel a tad safer with a male around. However, I work with males who are so oblivious to what is going on that I may feel safer and more comfortable with certain females. When it comes down to it, yes, males in nursing are the minority but that doesn't mean any given female rn is better than any given male. Like any situation you have bad and good on both sexes. I have no problem seeing a male provider for female issues and feel it should be the same for nurses. My point is ...is this a problem the profession still faces? Yes. Is it justified? No. But open, honest discussion is appropriate to me for trying to understand and improve on the problem.