STR8 vs Gay Male RN

santhony44, MSN, RN, NP · Jan 28, 2004

If anyone knows any of those green alien RN's, send them my way. Two heads and multiple arms/hands would definitely be an advantage!

I am currently in management in occupational health and the only way that my employees' personal lives concern me is when their personal lives are impacting their work. My personal feelings about what they are or are not doing are neither here nor there (on a personal level).

I've been in nursing over 20 years now and have worked with male, female, gay, straight, bi, transsexual. I have not seen that it has made a lot of difference in their nursing ability. My personal preference is to not know too much about anyone's personal lives, especially in the area of sexuality. That goes for anybody of any orientation. The worst nurse I ever worked with in that regard was a married, heterosexual female who was trying to get pregnant. We heard *way* too much detail on that one!

BTW, if the green alien RNs are multilingual including Spanish, that would be even better!

BadBird, BSN, RN · Jan 28, 2004

I don't know, I never asked the male nurses if they were gay or straight, then again I don't ask the female nurses either. It really is a non issue.

NeuroICURN · Jan 28, 2004

I have to agree....WHY on earth, would anyone's sexual preference be an issue?

Personally, at work, I judge people on two things....1. How they perform doing the job and 2. Are you a nice person?

I couldn't care LESS who you prefer to date or fall in love with! I've always believed that you can't help who you fall in love with! I work with gay, straight and bi...but to tell you the truth, it doesn't matter to me! If they are one of my friends, then I look forward to working with them and will help them out in any way that I can.

And, with sooooo many more pressing issues in nursing right now, why are we even discussing this?

Just grow up people!

happystudent, RN · Jan 28, 2004

Originally posted by hbscott
For me the issue is only relevant when I am mistaken for a gay male and people act on that mistaken assumption. -HBS

Dont you just HATE when that happens. I too was faced with a similiar situation...I was flattered at first, but then it got ugly:rolleyes:

happystudent, RN · Jan 28, 2004

Originally posted by NeuroICURN
[bAnd, with sooooo many more pressing issues in nursing right now, why are we even discussing this?
Just grow up people! [/b]

I think the OP has a legitimate question. I am sure there are hundreds of people (nurses and others) that probably was wondering the same thing but was just afraid to ask....

Its all good......

hbscott · Jan 28, 2004

Originally posted by happystudent
Dont you just HATE when that happens. I too was faced with a similiar situation...I was flattered at first, but then it got ugly:rolleyes:

I would elaborate further but it is time for me to move on. I do however leave with some parting remarks at:

https://allnurses.com/t55693.html

-HBS

:)

Tweety, BSN, RN · Jan 28, 2004

Originally posted by hbscott
What offends me are the unwelcome and inappropriate sexual advances (male or female) and the consequences of that behavior.

-HBS

Another topic altogether. But I totally agree. Been happening to females by heterosexual males since time began. Has happened to be, by both males and females. (Happens so much less as I'm now older (and wiser)).

It does seem male on male, and female on male, sexual harrasment tends to be swept under the rug. I myself am to blame, as I kept my mouth shut whenever it happened to me.

RNPATL, DNP, RN · Jan 28, 2004

I agree that sexual harassment is a totally different thread, but I think we need to define what it is that we are talking about. If an individual makes a pass (i.e. wants to ask another person out for a drink or movie or something like that) whether it is male to male, female to male or male to female or female to female .... I do not consider that sexual harassment.

Now, if the individual does not take no for an answer, even after you tell them no and make it clear that you feel you are being harassed, then that is sexual harassment.

I know for me, I would never date anyone I worked with, but in the same respect, if I asked out someone and she or he said no, then I would take it as a no and not ask again.

Am I making any sense here? :confused:

ktwlpn, LPN · Jan 29, 2004

Originally posted by Ah life!
Hey all,
I'm a 43 y/o first year nursing student and am wondering about the percentage of straight vs gay male nurses. I'm attending a very small college with six males in our class, one of whom is gay. Noone seems to care but I was wondering what the prevelance of gay male RN's is in the hospital setting, and is it a generally non-issue with other healthcare team workers?

You may come across the occasional homophobe-just handle it as you do in other areas of your life...Be a good nurse and a good person...

TristateRN · Jan 29, 2004

Originally posted by chris_at_lucas
I am amazed at the venom dumped here in response to a simple question. Ah, Life--welcome to the cruel hard world of nursing! LOL.

The suggestion that the thread's author has some ulterior motive just smacked of homophobia, as did most of the responses.

Kudos to the people who just responded with a plain old response.

To the rest of us, for shame. What a way to welcome a new BB member! What a way to treat anyone for that matter!

I doubt that anyone gathers the information, but it might be interesting to know, especially in light of the tendency in the last century (not the 80's, but certainly in the 50's) of nurses who happened to be male to also happen to be gay.

And why did we ever start saying "male nurse?" Because males make up a very small percentage of the total number of nurses.

So there. Big whup. Get a life, and quit jumping on people who post a legitimate question!

Sheesh!

Couldn't have said it any better myself.....THANK YOU!

CougRN · Jan 29, 2004

Originally posted by Ah life!
Hey all,
I was wondering what the prevelance of gay male RN's is in the hospital setting, and is it a generally non-issue with other healthcare team workers?

Well in my experience it is a very low number. My nursing class had 10 men and none of them were gay. I work in a very large hospital and only a couple of the men I have worked with are gay. I work with a lot more gay females then I do men. There's a straight answer for you.

ADNRN · Jan 29, 2004

Originally posted by FNP grrl
hmmm...

are you saying that gay males only like certain kinds of work? work that isn't physically challenging, in particular? taking it a step further- do you think of gay men as mostly effeminate &/ or weak?

are you surprised that females have been doing this kind of intimate, messy, backbreaking work since, um, the dawn of time?
(one word: childbirth!)

are you saying females aren't interested in hard work that requires physical strength?

are you saying the desire/ ability to be a nurse is somehow related to one's gender or sexual orientation?

:confused:

OK, I'll play.

I think nursing is hard work, like working on a loading dock. It surprises me that gay men and straight women would be in that field, and as far as women go, they pretty much dominate it. It seems unusual to me, as it would if I learned that 95% of all logging was done by women.

I never said that females aren't interested in hard work that requires physical strength, how would I know, not being one? All I know is what I see, and most physical jobs are male dominated. Don't blame me--blame the world. Besides, obviously females are interested in nursing, and it's a hard job. So, so much for my theory.

As for sexual orientation and the desire to be a nurse, I don't know. I'm straight, and I love it. It seems like the highest thing a human being can do for a job--even above being a physician. I mean Christ didn't say "I was sick, and you healed me." He said, "I was sick and you cared for me."