As a male, the term "nursing" has always been an obstacle to me. The concepts of "nurse" and "nursing" come entirely from the feminine - breast feeding, and wet-nursing. The rather modern concept of a "male nurse" thus carries a self-contradiction that is preserved in the language and the culture.
So it seems quite natural to find that the term "male nurse" carries its typical stigmas, that males are dwarfed by females in pursuing work in the nursing field, and that nurse shortages continue to exist around the world. It seems quite a logical concept to consider changing the common institutional name of the nursing profession itself from "nurse" to the more inclusive "medic."
Such a change is likely to have an positive impact on the nursing field, making it less of a woman's role, and opening it up culturally and socially to young men seeking to be of help in the role of medicine, but whom are not endowed by nature with exclusively feminine capabilities.
I think maybe you watched "meet the parents" one too many times. I work with a nurse, who is a male, and he has "Focker" in big letters on his clipboard. Everyone gets a kick out of it. I never think twice about men being nurses. I find them to be caring human beings just as us nurses who are female.
Who was that person, talking about medical assistant and such; and, where does he get off referring to nurses as "she"? I believe the people butting in are not nurses, for if they were, they would understand what it means to be a nurse and the education it takes and the pride one has from graduating and passing the NCLEX. We, whether male or female, are nurses-plain and simple. We are part of an honored and respected profession that does more than take dr orders. If this person wants to be a medical assistance, let him go to a trade school for that certification and leave the professionals to do their higher calling. I am a man and I am proud to be a nurse, an RN for 21 years
I agree that 'male nurses' should be refered to as 'medics'.
The word 'nurse' is a gender-specific term, it's a feminine word, like 'actress'.
To say 'male nurse' is like saying 'male actress' - the two words don't go together.
We talk about a mother nursing her newborn. The word nursing is always (or mostly) associated with the feminine. It's a female word!
'Male nurses' could be called hospital medics, or just 'medics' for brevity.
The word 'medic' is a generic unisex word - it can be applied to many kinds of people with medical training whether military or civilian eg: paramedic (civilian), field medic (military) etc.
Now I do understand that the military use the word 'medic' when refering to a soldier with medical training BUT we are not talking about a military setting we are talking about a CIVILIAN hospital, therefore considerations about rank do not come into it because it's a civilian setting.
'Doctor', on the other hand, is also a unisex word - it can refer to both sexes.
There are gender-specific words and there are unisex words!
It's not about sexism or discrimination, it's about respecting and appreciating the distinctions between the masculine and the feminine and not blurring the lines between them to satisfy political correctness. When refering to a man a masculine term needs to be used and likewise when refering to a woman a feminine term needs to be used - this is true in ALL professions and walks of life.
Regardless of one's gender or gender identification, any attempt to change the title of Nurse to something else is beyond ridiculous. If you want to be a nurse then be one, if you can't handle being called a nurse then do something else. I've been a nurse for 20 years, I'm a man, I'm proud to be called a nurse!
Even the term "male nurse" is silly. As a male I'm embarrassed to be called a male nurse, a murse, or any of that crap. For those men who see being called a nurse as a negative issue, perhaps you're not tough enough for the job.
meandragonbrett
2,438 Posts
Post of the year!
:yeah: