which would you rather work with male or female nurses?

vashtee, RN · Apr 30, 2008

I bet you are going to be roasted alive for saying it, but I generally agree: too much estrogen can be a very scary thing.

SuesquatchRN, BSN, RN · Apr 30, 2008

I dunno, estrogen overload never leads to the violence of testosterone poisoning.

I have worked in all woman-groups in fields outside of nursing and have loved it. Nursing, with men or women, has a peculiar culture. I frankly believe that floor nurses become like caged animals. The inability to leave the floor for lunch or take a whiz when necessary does odd things to folks. Couple that with extreme responsibility, patient overload, mediocre pay, and lack of autonomy and you get a tense situation fraught with finger-pointing.

I like good nurses. Gender is irrelevant to me.

TheCommuter, BSN, RN · Apr 30, 2008

I'd rather work with competent, helpful male nurses.

I'd also rather work with competent, helpful female nurses.

As long as we can set our personal differences aside and work together in harmony, I don't give a flying crap about any nurse's gender.

bethin · Apr 30, 2008

:twocents:I think we have a serous problem. Not enough men in the nursing profession. Way too much estrogen (which causes whining, back biting, gossiping about your co-workers).

Replace estrogen with testosterone and you get the same thing.

Personally, I have more fun with my male coworkers than female.

I'll probably get flamed for this, but can't we just forget gender for a minute and understand a nurse is a nurse? Gender has nothing to do with quality of care, IMO.

nursemike, ASN, RN · Apr 30, 2008

I very much appreciate those female co-workers who go a little out of their way from time to time to make a new male nurse feel more welcome and comfortable in a role that can, at times, be a little uncertain for a guy. I'm lucky to work with quite a few of them. My instructors in nursing school were similarly encouraging and helpful.

Going on ten years in healthcare and three as a nurse, I can think of all sorts of things about the profession that are less than ideal, but working with women is not one of them. In many ways, it is very different from carpentry, but in one essential, it's very similar: if you get on a good crew, everything goes a lot better.

I do enjoy having a few male coworkers around, if only because I sometimes suspect my female colleagues don't really care all that much whether the new unit clerk is hot.

ETA: It has been my experience, throughout my working life, that a big part of getting on a good crew is being a good crew member. If you approach your coworkers with respect and a sense of teamwork, they tend to treat you the same. It was true in fast food and construction, and it has been true in nursing.

seanpdent, ADN, BSN, MSN, APRN, NP · Apr 30, 2008

I like good nurses. Gender is irrelevant to me.

As a male nurse.. I can tend to be biases when it comes to the nursing fields ignorance to the male gender, but the women have been fighting this battle a lot longer than we have.

It sounds more like a quality of a work environment, not so much as the gender of your co-workers.

The great thing about our profession is, you can change the scenery if it's not what makes you happy.

Best of luck.

K98 · Apr 30, 2008

Actually, I would rather stay home. However, work is a necessary evil, and our staff is a mix of male and female nurses. We get along well, and enjoy working with each other. For the most part that is what makes the job bearable. That is also why our staff hates being pulled so much. You are away from your buddies in a strange environment.

elkpark · Apr 30, 2008

I would "rather" work with competent, pleasant co-workers. I don't care about gender. I've known good, bad, and mediocre female nurses, and I've known good, bad, and mediocre male nurses. And I've known both female and male colleagues who were jerks and/or a pain in the behind.

And, while I've liked and respected most of my colleagues of the male persuasion whom I've known over the years and welcome men into the field, I don't see the low numbers of men in the profession as a "problem" that needs, necessarily, to be "fixed."

TheCommuter, BSN, RN · May 1, 2008

Actually, I would rather stay home.

I'd rather stay home, too. Coming into work on a daily basis is crappy for me. I don't like being awakened by an alarm clock every day.

However, the bills must get paid somehow, some way.

worldsas · May 1, 2008

I enjoy working alongside both men and women.

However, I want to comment about invaluable male nurses. Most male nurses I've known are very knowledgeable, thorough in their work and always helpful when I need help. They've helped me personally with potentially hazardous situations with agitated patients; also, with patients who are very heavy and difficult to turn/move. Also, I've had trouble more than a few times with patients (both male and female) who respect men in the work place more than women, and I've gone to my male coworkers for help in these difficult situations. Male nurses are invaluable to the profession of nursing!

nursemike, ASN, RN · May 1, 2008

I would "rather" work with competent, pleasant co-workers. I don't care about gender. I've known good, bad, and mediocre female nurses, and I've known good, bad, and mediocre male nurses. And I've known both female and male colleagues who were jerks and/or a pain in the behind.
And, while I've liked and respected most of my colleagues of the male persuasion whom I've known over the years and welcome men into the field, I don't see the low numbers of men in the profession as a "problem" that needs, necessarily, to be "fixed."

I suppose if you accept the premise that estrogen causes the behaviors the OP cited, the predominance of women in the field could be seen as a problem. I don't accept that premise. While it's true a few nurses behave rather badly, at times, the same can be said of any occupation. More typically, I see strong, intelligent, independent women doing their best in a difficult, demanding profession. It has been noted in a number of threads on this forum that men need to be in touch with some traits traditionally viewed as "feminine," to be successful as nurses. I think we may tend to overlook that successful female nurses display many characteristics that might traditionally be viewed as "masculine." The women I work with are not frail flowers who lapse into syncope at the sight of blood or the sound of a four-letter word. Nor do I see a lot of back-biting or gossiping. Nurses do complain a good bit. There's plenty to compain about. I do it, too. I love my job, but I'm just a lottery ticket away from being an ex-nurse. Spending money is more fun than earning money.

I do believe men can bring some strengths and some perspectives that will be valuable to the profession. I also think it makes sense to recruit from the broadest possible pool. We "need" more men in nursing in the same way we "need" more black or hispanic women. We need capable, caring people of any background. If there are sizeable populations within our society who don't even consider nursing as a career, I'm all for bringing it to their attention that nursing can be a very useful and satisfying occupation. But I don't think anyone who balks at the title is likely to be very comfortable with many of the other things that come with the job.

I've seen it suggested, from time to time, that men would be less tolerant of some of the conditions that are within the control of management. I have not observed management being more enlightened in male-dominated fields. When I was a carpenter, I was overworked, underpaid, and under-appreciated--and I was self-employed. My boss was still a jerk, at times, but I was strangely reluctant to tell anyone about it.