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.
By law, nurses are only permitted to follow doctor's orders, not practice medicine. Doctors don't want to bother doing menial stuff, so they hire nurses. Like managers hire secretaries.
Now I'm sure secretaries think they "really manage" the office, but not really.
Well aren't you an adorable little troll!
Do mommy & daddy know you're playing on the internet?
Man, nut up!! A nurse is a nurse. If you worked for the title wear it well and proudly. Doesn't matter if there is a member involved. Don't you dare call me a medic (no experience with the military) and if you try to call me a medical assistant you might just need a nurse. :)
Please refer to all the descriptions in the webster dictionary related to nurse, nursing, medic, etc.. while some of it does refer to the female gender not all of it does.
Specializes in med-surg, urgent care, emergency med.
I hear your concerns and understand your references, however, the essence of professional nursing really is not just the tasks that are carried out by the individual. It does include the "caring" component.
The term "medic" is widely used in the military and the responsibilities (although in many cases not the tasks) are different from those of a military nurse. The rank of a professional nurse in the military is at the level of Officer, the rank of medic is not.
Just food for thought.
However...military medics are trained beyond the scope of a basic RN. We are MD's, PA's, NP's and paramedics all rolled into one..I will also include being mom & dad as well!! We're trained that way because a 'doc' is usually the only HCP around if the unit does not have a hospital setting such as the Fleet Marine Force, where Navy Corpsman (such as myself) are the sole providers of care in ALL aspects and in most instances with only one Doctor, who we work under. In a clinical/hosp. setting, the role does change because there are more licensed nurses, PAs and so on, but our abilities are still not overlooked and put to good use because, most "field medics" have invaluable experience with placing chest tubes, oral airways, EKG reading, wound care, trauma, phys. assessments. the list goes on and on. And those who pursue the nursing field after service make great nurses.
In sports for high school or college, say there is a team called the "cougars". This is a male team. In all cases I have heard of, if there is a male team and a female team playing the same sport, the male team will be called, say, the "cougars".
The female team of the same school playing the same sport will have to settle for being the "lady cougars".
But, for the small percentage of males in the nursing business, we now have to change the title for everybody??
Women get used to these types of things in many languages.
In english, "man" is supposed to include women, as in "man does not live by bread alone". In spanish, if there are 999 women present and one man, the male "nosotros"--"we"--will have to be used instead of the feminine "nosotras".
Nurse does not mean only breastfeeding. It means caring for--as in "nursing someone back to health after a long illness"; which few people would imagine involves mammary glands.
Specializes in burn ICU, SICU, ER, Trauma Rapid Response.
In sports for high school or college, say there is a team called the "cougars". This is a male team. In all cases I have heard of, if there is a male team and a female team playing the same sport, the male team will be called, say, the "cougars".
The female team of the same school playing the same sport will have to settle for being the "lady cougars".
But, for the small percentage of males in the nursing business, we now have to change the title for everybody??
Please.
*** Well we are not going to change the name. It would be one thing if we were desperately short of nurses and needed to recruit more men into the field. As it is with new grads from expanded programs flooding the market there is no need to attract anyone to the field.
PMFB-RN, RN
5,351 Posts
*** I doubt it. Did you ask him? Even if he is LPNs are not licensed independent practitioners like RNs are.