Should men be school nurses? Have you ever heard of any?

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staff note: the observation below was made in a thread about a different topic. because this could lead to an interesting discussion, this post and several responses were relocated to this forum.

be a school nurse. if i were a girl i would.

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Why would you say, " . . . if I were a girl?" Are men not allowed/encouraged to be school nurses?

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Why would you say, " . . . if I were a girl?" Are men not allowed/encouraged to be school nurses?

Nah. Some things men shouldn't do.

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I wonder if any have tried.

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i know a male school nurse but i am at a loss as why you think that male nurses should not be in schools.

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I can see why some might object, although I'm not sure that's reason enough to say no.

I'm sure there would be concerns about possible abuse. That's unfortunate, but church scandals have brought about great mistrust. If male nurses would require a chaperone, that presents a logistical problem that I'm thinking many men would just as soon avoid.

With older kids, it might be really cool for young men to have a male school nurse to talk to, but young women might balk at the idea.

The ideal would be to have both sexes represented and that might work in a large district that employs several nurses. But I'm guessing that most schools/districts with a single nurse would choose to go with a female rather than a male. It's just the practicality of the situation. Boys are used to accepting care from a female (their mothers), but girls are not usually accustomed to receiving care from a male.

That's not to say it couldn't be done. Only that it would be really unusual.

Sandi, what age group does the male school nurse you know work with? Was it difficult for him to get the job?

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I'm not saying it couldn't or shouldn't be done. I just would personally feel awkward for a while doing it. I have no kids, and I'm a bachelor. If a guy had kids it might fulfill more of a prereq for being a peds or school nurse. If a male applied and had proper credentials a district would be hard pressed to say no. If I wanted the job I'd be real quick to pull the EEOC card.

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Specializes in Adult ICU/PICU/NICU.
I'm not saying it couldn't or shouldn't be done. I just would personally feel awkward for a while doing it. I have no kids, and I'm a bachelor. If a guy had kids it might fulfill more of a prereq for being a peds or school nurse. If a male applied and had proper credentials a district would be hard pressed to say no. If I wanted the job I'd be real quick to pull the EEOC card.

We do have one male school nurse who works at one of the high schools with a very large population of special needs students and I often get assigned to work there as one of the assistants. He has an excellent rapport with the kids and even coaches a sport (tennis maybe). He's an ex army guy and is a very good nurse. He's a young, good looking, charismatic guy and just the kind of person we need with our kids. Maybe kids at first are taken aback because they are used to only women as nurses, but they get over it really quick with him. Part of it is his larger than life personality and his great since of humor.

I say we need more men in all areas of nursing. Its good for the profession to have diversity, and my best friends at work are almost always the guys.

Mrs H.

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Specializes in school nursing, ortho, trauma.

i think it would be great for a man - young, old, married, single, kids, no kids, straight or gay - to be a school nurse. It would provide a positive role model in nursing and health care for scores of young men.

I'm that Guy, I think you should go for it!!!

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I'm that Guy, I think you should go for it!!!

Nah, that's ok. I used to teach biology and chemistry. I wouldn't touch the school nurse job or elementary in general with a ten foot pole. Kudos to all of you that want to though!

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We do have one male school nurse who works at one of the high schools with a very large population of special needs students and I often get assigned to work there as one of the assistants. He has an excellent rapport with the kids and even coaches a sport (tennis maybe). He's an ex army guy and is a very good nurse. He's a young, good looking, charismatic guy and just the kind of person we need with our kids. Maybe kids at first are taken aback because they are used to only women as nurses, but they get over it really quick with him. Part of it is his larger than life personality and his great since of humor.

I say we need more men in all areas of nursing. Its good for the profession to have diversity, and my best friends at work are almost always the guys.

Mrs H.

This sounds like just me except I'm older and now ruggedly handsome. I was a school nurse at an American International School in Dhaka, Bangladesh for 4 years, 2005-09. I worked with 50 different cultures. They initially thought there might be a problem, especially with the shy Asian girls, but it worked out ok. It wasn't long before they were asking for "waterproof" tampons for swim class or if I had some drugs to stop their periods for awhile. :lol2:

I was also in charge of cafeteria inspection, sports first-aid, as well as drinking water safety.

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Specializes in school nursing, ortho, trauma.
Nah, that's ok. I used to teach biology and chemistry. I wouldn't touch the school nurse job or elementary in general with a ten foot pole. Kudos to all of you that want to though!

lol fair enough!!

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