which would you rather work with male or female nurses?

[fairness]

: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). I just want a mixture of males and females who are competent and kind to thier patients and co-workers. It's been a really long time since I've seen teamwork at the hospital where I work. I've seen alot of new nurses who believe they know everything, have attitude problems and get by with it through management!! I also want to say that if you have poor leadership, NOTHING will ever work...

[aloevera]

if you had asked this 15 yrs. ago, I would have said "females" right off the bat withour hesitation....but now after working for years I have come to highly respect males and look to them often for their prospective on things...they do think differently at times, I don't care if anyone agrees with that or not....I now really like having males on the unit and wish there were more.....

[BlueRidgeHomeRN]

goodness, hands down i prefer to work with men!

i'm sure there are rotten, nasty men in nursing somewhere, but i've never met any of them.

but, i used to be in the army (long time ago when females were rare) so maybe i just prefer directness and the smell of testosterone in the morning....

and apologies to all those tough, sweet, up-front female nurses out there--you know i don't mean ya'll....

[cloudstrife1ph]

i don't care about the gender. i care most on the attitude and i really don't want bossy, lazy and know-it-all co-workers both male and female =)

[nursemike, ASN, RN]

So, I was at a restaurant, recently, and the waitress who brought my order apologized because another waitress had taken the fries that were to go with my meal, so they were making some more. I told her it would be okay and chuckled, "I'll bet it does get a little 'dog eat dog' back there, when it's this busy." She sighed and replied, "You have no idea, working with all these women!" So I smiled and told her, "Honey, I'm a nurse."

I don't take this incident as an example that we need more male waiters, although I've seen some very good ones.

I do enjoy having some male co-workers on the unit. I'm kinda stuck on nights because we have such a good crew, all around. The women I work with are great, but it does sometimes seem a little "looser" when a couple of guys are on. Then, again, I hear it can get downright naughty when none of us are.

[Bill E. Rubin]

Interesting insights all...

I too come from a male-dominated engineering background and I have one observation: the presence of women in a male-dominated workforce has a civilizing effect on the men.... and the presence of men in a female-dominated workforce has a civilizing effect on the women.

Also, though I have yet to work with many men in nursing (the unit I worked on as a PCA was all women except for me, and I have yet to start on my new RN job where there is one other man), I did have 8 men in my nursing class of 30 students... and by and large, men who choose to go into nursing are a particular breed of man. Usually have their egos in check and are comfortable with their feminine side. This might explain why so many of the women in this thread seem so love working with men so much.

[daisydoll]

"Originally Posted by K98

Actually, I would rather stay home."

I have to say that I agree, I have only been nursing for a year and it takes everything I've got to make it out that door and drive to my job. Every day I wish I could call out, but I don't. I work with primarily female nurses and sometimes it can feel like a war zone. I have found that male nurses tend to be more laid back and easier to get along with. However, I have worked with some exceptional females and I think a balance is good as long as the nurses are competent and have good attitudes.

[ADPIE10]

Yup. Female nurses are more fun. They're soft and squishy and catty. They have endless conversations about tons of irrelevant crap and are the source of endless amusement. This is not to say that they aren't competent... it's just that I'd rather work with them as a nurse. When it comes to playing basketball or going fishing, I'd rather go with a bunch of guys.

DISCLAIMER: This is a guy's forum right?

[SuesquatchRN, BSN, RN]

Sure. But you really don't expect us nosy gals to stay out, now, do you?

Irrelevant. Oy. Like sports are more relevant than what she was thinking when she put on that shade of lipstick!

[Babs0512]

I've always gotten along better with men than with women. Men, especially if they are in the minority, tend to do their jobs, mind their own business and go home. That's the way I like to be too. A joke or two throughout the day, helping each other on a challenging case and debating who's right/wrong - men do that without letting feelings come into play, more so than women, that has be my experience anyway.

[aloevera]

i really don't see much difference although I have only worked with a few men....both men and woman are of equal competancy, the men I have worked with are just as gossipy as the woman...

I am happy to have help no matter the gender...

[dusky1228]

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.

For me also, this is true. I'm not sure why, unless it's just that their wacky sense of irreverent humor appeals to me, and it is a great stress-reliever!

But when it comes to strictly nursing, I could care less if they are male or female, as long as they are good at their jobs!