Whaaat??Male Nursing Student

student_B, ADN, RN · Oct 21, 2017

Mostly advantages, some disadvantages. Many of my female classmates are assertive and treat me the same as anyone else, though sometimes I sense deference due to our patriarchal form of society. I try to present myself as an equal and not dominate group discussions. I sometimes sense a little bit of suspicion or disappointment as to why I chose nursing, due to the false perception that nursing is "for women". A nursing coordinator didn't want me to observe a breast cancer surgery (understandable), but there were plenty of other surgeries for me to observe. Also, being an eligible bachelor, I was looking forward to many relationship opportunities, only to realize that might not be the best idea the way gossip gets around. Overall, being a male in nursing school has had a negligible difference compared to what a change (positive) nursing school has had on me.

Orientation is just information and giving you an idea of the major challenges that lie ahead. It's expected that you know the basic requirements of nursing school (NS), and have jumped through all the hoops (paperwork) to satisfy requirements for entry into the program. I'd describe nursing school as a mental boot camp, in that it really pushes you to learn harder and boldly jump into the unknown all while strictly following the many rules. It's a great challenge, but one that is very rewarding.

imhorsemackerel, LPN · Oct 22, 2017

For LPN school, in my OB rotation I was told by my clinical instructor that because I was a man, the women would be given priority to see a birth. So I just heard stories. I also made a couple of beds, but that was pretty much it.

In orientation they will probably mention that during clinicals you will be working as aides/CNAs. We helped clients with ADLs, ambulation, some cleaned wounds, assisting with feeding, etc. They'll also go over what's expected, dress code, grades, classes, clinical sites, etc.

**NICU Guy, BSN, RN** · Oct 22, 2017

Being a male in nursing school is a non-issue. 9/29 students in my cohort were male. We treated each other as classmates, just like any other major. Instructors and female students didn't treat us any different. Excluding L/D there were no different treatment during clinicals.

C0SM0 · Oct 23, 2017

Being a male in nursing school is a non-issue. 9/29 students in my cohort were male. We treated each other as classmates, just like any other major. Instructors and female students didn't treat us any different. Excluding L/D there were no different treatment during clinicals.

Agreed, 100%. The ONLY issue I've had in nursing school was during my OB rotation. Even then, I only had one patient politely tell me they preferred a female nursing student. I've had the occasional "So you're going to be a male nurse?", which I kindly reply "No, I'm trained to take care of female patients as well."

barcode120x, RN, NP · Oct 24, 2017

My cohort had about 15 male students including myself while the other 45 or so were female. I personally didn't have a problem with any classmates or instructors and I don't think my fellow male cohorts did either. It was nice to have male bros to chill and chat but the female classmates were just as chill too. I never had any problems throughout my clinical nor did I have problems in L&D. If anything, all the nurses enjoyed having male nursing students as it is different from the daily norm of all female staff. I too did have one patient that asked for me not to participate. I did not care. I was just there to do my rounds, experience a thing or two here, and leave. Overall, I enjoyed nursing school aside from the grading aspect of it lol.

Tprofitt, BSN · Nov 1, 2017

I personally haven't had any issues as being a male. In the beginning I was similar to you, thinking that there would be a difference but there really isn't. As long as I am professional and just assess what I am supposed to assess, no female patient has ever treated me different from a female. Everyone's experience is different though. Maybe the female patients may HATE you lol.

joshholymoses · Feb 4, 2018

I'm in my second semester of my first year of nursing school. I had similar questions. Orientation was very stressful due to the crazy amount of information they throw at you however I found that over time things fell into place and were simple to follow if you are organized and prepared.

As for being a male, I haven't found it to be much different. I am the only male in a class of 23 females but my instructors and classmates are kind and treat me as an equal. You cannot have dated ideologies about women if you expect to be a nurse, it will not serve you well.

It seems being the only male in my class puts me at the center of attention during comical conversations or certain topics, but never in a bad light. I haven't done OB clinical rotations yet but I've heard that sometimes the women prefer a female nursing student, which is completely understandable. One thing I've run into while doing clinicals at a nursing home was that many of the men asked multiple times if I was sure that I wanted to be a nurse and seemed to think it was strange. This too is understandable given the changes in society since they were in the workforce and their misconceptions of modern nursing.

Black Coffee, MSN, NP · Feb 7, 2018

My class had seven male nursing students (including me) over a total of 23 students. Most of my professors are also female. However, all the female nursing students and professors treat us male students the same as female students. There were no differences in anything, even rotations on labor and delivery. Hope this help.

healthandwelness115 · Feb 11, 2018

Great read!