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 don't want to be a Xtreme Health Care Provider...
Okay this has got to be the funniest description of a nurse I have EVER heard. The mental image I'm getting made me spew my morning water all over my keyboard. Hey MurrR you owe me a keyboard!
Well, I don't really care about my title....I'm a NURSE! plain and simple. As I always tell my patients, "oh it's great to have a male nurse...we care for you, we help you a lot, and we never get PMS." (don't flame me, it's true!)
seriously, I don't get too hung up about it. It doesn't matter, and unless men were the majority, nobody else will either.
Okay this has got to be the funniest description of a nurse I have EVER heard. The mental image I'm getting made me spew my morning water all over my keyboard. Hey MurrR you owe me a keyboard!
Xtreme Healthcare Provider made me think of Ben Stiller in his outfits in the movie Dodgeball.
I wonder if he only cooks chicken chest muscle, because breast is too grounded in the feminine.
Face it bud, women have been living in a language culture and actual culture dominated by the masculine for centuries. We've delt with it, pushed through and are still fighting the good fight. I question why being referred to as something with feminine conotations is so uncomfortable to you. You need to examine your motivations.
Specializes in Trauma Surgery, Nursing Management.
Also. Until very recently most "professions" were the exclusive domain of men. Women did NOT rename these time honored professions when they entered them! Ie; " pardon me sir but I am a DOCTORESS!"
HAhahahahaaaaa! Or how 'bout a "Lawyeress" or a "Professoress"? Oh, I could go on...
So if a male nurse is a murse is a female nurse a furse? I say a nurse is a nurse. And when a patient says "oh you're a male nurse" I say "Well contrary to popular belief I take care of females too!" My father was a nurse for 20 years, and I'm a nurse... and proud to be one:cool:
I love the question: "How long have you been a male nurse?"
I can say that I have ALWAYS been a MALE nurse... Never switched. Not once.
nursel56
7,122 Posts
Must be pretty freaky inside your head on a busy day! :uhoh21: Yes, you truly are "that guy"