RNstudentBrian

In 1991 when my DW was sitting for her exams, I made a tailgate lunch on both days for her and her buddies. I could see the strain on her and am so glad that I was able to test on the computer in just 1 hour and ten minutes. And only had to answer 75 questions,AND knew the results in just 48 hours.

On tonights "ER" episode they have hired a new nurse into the unit. He is a "MURSE" or so he is referred to by the "Doc's". He very confidently subdued a pt out of control and attacking a female intern. Upon witnessing this the several male residents/attendings were remarking how they were just shown up by a "murse". Oh, "but isn't he macho" observes one of them. They just stare at this persons comment and walk away. Grrr.... aren't there any nurse consultants on this show? I'll bet that that ANA doesn't touch this one with one of their famous letter writing campaigns.

Check out the Landau scrubs for men line. I got them at my local uniform dealer. They had to order them. Made for Men. Nice shirts with vents. Pockets and belt loops on the pants. Really worth it. IMHO

I am a new grad and just received an offer from the LDRP and Nursery unit at the teaching hospital I did my clinical in. I had a wonderful clinical rotation there. I have not decided yet. I would be the only male on the staff in many years. Hmmm..... I can tell you that when I did career day at my daughters elementary school and stood next to the physician who happened to be female. You could almost feel the air sucked out of the room for a moment when I said I was a nurse and she said she was a doctor. The silence was deafening. These attitudes begin at such a young age.

OK, I have admit that I have not read every post. However, I have followed many such posts on other forums. AAMN, etc. and have but one question. Do the female nurses require a chaperone for certain procedures like men do, as has been insinuated by some of the posts? If not, then neither should the men. A nurse is a nurse is a nurse. I did not become a "male nurse". I checked the license in my wallet just to be sure on this one. Funny, but it just says Registered Nurse. Nurses who happen to be of the male gender should/ do have all of the same rights and responsibilities as nurses who happen to be of the female gender. Exluding a group due to their gender/race/creed/orientation etc. etc...is illegal in most cases. In school the only issues that I had regarding gender were discrimination by nursing staff and mostly instructors. The patients had did not say anything to nursing or my instructors, they took it upon themselves to create an issue. With the great shortage and the fact that nursing was for hundreds of years up until Florence, a male only profession, why can't we just all get along and do what we were trained to do? Thank you

HI, I am in the day program. Graduating in May of this year. (8 weeks!!) Email if you wish. Brian

Hi, Just thought I would offer my .02 as well. I am currently in my last semester iin my ASN program. I have a rip roaring case of ADHD. That being said, I thought that I could add a little to this thread. I am 42 years old. I was finally diagnosed at 37. After 2 failed mariages and 21 jobs! My answer was MEDS. I hate to say it but I do love my medicine. I take Adderal and I can say with great confidence that I would not be where I am today without it. Finally, lost 45 extra pounds, am on the deans list and will graduate with honors in May. I can say that the old behavior patterns are very difficult to unlearn. Socially I am very retarded in my development. I have learned to keep my mouth shut most of the time. To stop just blurting out whatever I thought of. The nursing class is very close. And being only one of 4 remaining males, this has been very challenging indeed. I have never known what to say around women. But I am coming around. I can say that having ADHD correctly diagnosed is the very first step. You should also be aware that if you in fact do have ADHD then you are in a class protected by the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). The ADA offers protections in the school environment in college and in your career as well. HOWEVER, you need to be very careful to whom you disclose this diagnosis to. There are many nursing instructors who believe in only the "best of the best" being allowed into their nursing field. As if they are the gatekeepers. They often are the ones who wish to keep out the men as well. In my program, no one knows of my diagnosis. Three people who were open about their diagnoses early on and requested untimed tests are now gone. I casually made this observation in passing in the hallway once and was overheard by a first year nsg. student. In no time at all, I was in one of the professors offices defending myself. This probably doesn't happen everywhere, but it has been my experience. Hope this helps.

wait, i just thought of this. what about a female with chest hair? should she be required to wear a t-shirt.

Oh Yeah, How about when the instructor is teaching cardiology and has the interventions from like 5 years ago that have changed twice! I teach ACLS and when I mentioned after class that some of her treatment algorhythms were way out of date she challenged me to bring in anything printed showing. She said that is a wealth of info and she would incorporate it for next years class! Hrmph..... Brian May 2006 can't get here fast enough

This is a great thread! I see now that I am not alone in my observations at school. Here’s a few of my peeves. How about the woman with the masters in biomedical engineering who is changing careers and knows EVERYTHING. I mean come on. Why are you even here then? She is also the one who complains about every minor time change or syllabus change. Many of us have kids/transportation issues. We ADAPT. This is one of the hallmarks of an effective nurse. The LPN’s who are allowed to join the class in the 3rd out of 4 semesters. Poor folks. They have no idea what is expected of them on tests/clinicals and take quite a while to get up to speed. There should be some kind of transition class for them. The gabby gang/ the sniflers/ the bottle opening, food crunchers/ the experts/ the cell phones/ the pen, foot taping during exams. The immature girl who actually said in clinical procedures lab while reviewing catheterization “you mean we actually have to touch the dick? Can’t the patient just hold it up for me?” (she’s gone) The Dean of the program who, on the first day of the program, stood before us all and asked who the paramedics in class are. I was the only one to raise my hand. She looked right at me and said, “YOU are going to have the hardest time here.” How about the people who argue every test question they got wrong. I mean you got it wrong, learn from it. How about the clinical instructors who always side with the staff nurses on all issues of dispute. Or the psych nurse who fills in as a med/surg clinical instructor. Lost the entire time. Whew…. That was scary. That was very cathartic. Thanks, Brian May 2006 can’t get here fast enough!

Sorry for the late (months) reply. School you know...:) All of the faculty and staff of my school are female.https://allnurses.com/forums/images/smilies/frown.gif

Just a couple of observations here. In the poll , the word "required". How can such a thing be required? Requested maybe, suggested yes, required? Can such a "requirement" be considered discriminatory? Seems so to me. One could make a lot of money sueing over such a requirement (According to a civil liberty lawyer friend of mine).

I had a man refer to his genitalia as "Wedding Tackle" & member= "Who Who Dilly" & lady parts = "Cha Cha" My four year old daughter started calling it her "bum bum" at two. Couldn't figure out for a bit. But we taught her that her rear end was her bum. She took it the next step. Ahhh.... Kids.

I had a friend that graduated this past may from my ASN program start at New England Baptist hospital at $24.95/hr + 7% shift diff. for nights/11% weekends. I work at Metrowest Medical Center in Framingham (20 miles west of Boston) They start new grads at $23.85 + 5% night diff. Hope that helps.

This was when I worked on the north shore. I am in Framingham now.

Funny I am in my second year in an ASN program. Up until today I would have said that I have never had a problem with any assignement. Today I had two patients that were in their 30's (I am 42). They were both in for peri area procedures. One was no problem at all. The other seemed to be no problem. I worked with her all morning. Set her up for ADL's and then assisted her with back and peri care. She had a significant loss of blood and ended up staying for a 23 hour obs. Her H&H was 26.4/8.1. So I did not get her out of bed. Then, when it came time to remove her foley and vag. packing I asked the RN if she minded if I observed. SHe told me to get the patients permission. Which she gave. No problem. Then the RN went in to the pt. room and came back a moment later. She informed me that the pt. indeed did not wish for me to observe. This is strange for me because I have been working as a paramedic for over 20 years and have always found that attitude and profesionalism seemed to overcome any type of concerns. I later was told by the pt's roomate that the RN came in and said to my pt. something to the effect of, You don't want a man to watch me do this, do you? Of course the pt. is going to agree with her nurse. My instructor was not supportive at all stating, "I don't believe it". I have had men students here for the past couple of years and have never run into this. You must have misunderstood the situation. Well, as they say. Live and learn. Brian

This one happened many years ago when I was working as a paramedic in a really awful city in Ma. We responded to a call for a sick infant. I was met at the door by a man holding a gun to the head of a 7 month old. He demanded our narcotics. I told him that they were in the locked cabinet in the truck. My partner turned to return to the truck. He said "awe f**k it". He pulled the trigger and then turned the gun onto himself. I caught the baby before it hit the ground but he was gone. It has been over 14 years and still haunts me sometimes. Brian