I am in my last quarter of nursing school. I am in Nursing Trends. All the guys in the class have to have be on a panel discussion about what is different about being a male, in nursing and the issues that men may face that women don't. Please help me out if you will. I am a STNA presently, but the issues facing a nurse may be different.Any comments would be helpful.
TheCommuter, BSN, RN 226 Articles; 27,608 Posts Specializes in Case mgmt., rehab, (CRRN), LTC & psych. Has 17 years experience. Apr 13, 2009 One negative aspect is the tendency of many ignorant or old-fashioned people to automatically conclude that all male nurses are gay. There's certainly nothing wrong with being gay, but a straight male might not want to receive the label of "homosexual."
Blackcat99 2,836 Posts Apr 13, 2009 If you are a male nurse you will always be expected to help out with lifting some very heavy patients.
Snowman22 18 Posts Apr 13, 2009 One negative and sexist thing I get is the patient assumes you are a doctor and then you have to explain to them that you are a nurse. Also, many of the older patients want a female to take care of any issue concerning their perineal area, especially foley insertions on females. They are very embarrassed and rightfully so, however, we are professionals too and nonjudgemental. I'm a straight male nurse and if I was a pt I would want a compassionate and caring nurse. A lot of times females come off as more compassionate and caring....but not always! There are plenty of males more caring than some of their female counterparts. Just a sterotype I guess.
RedCell 436 Posts Specializes in CRNA. Apr 13, 2009 There are more positives to being a male nurse vs a female nurse. I can think of no other place where you can spend four years of school surrounded by mostly good looking girls. If you can't get laid in nursing school, well, you are doing something wrong. The only negatives include the previously mentioned automatic go to person for lifting help. Being expected to be the security or restraining dude when combative patients go into fight mode also comes to mind if working in the ED.
3rdcareerRN 163 Posts Specializes in Mostly: Occup Health; ER; Informatics. Jun 19, 2009 As you can find in many threads here, and as I found during my hospital work, and what these guys are saying ( http://www.chieftain.com/articles/2009/06/16/news/local/doc4a371b69ae2c5122520351.txt) is that there is definitely a view that "male = muscle", whether it is being the one-person lifting team or the one-person violence-solving team.
Higgs 109 Posts Specializes in Med/surg. ED. Palliative. Geront. Has 20 years experience. Jun 20, 2009 ...being asked to get things down off high shelves...putting the curtains back onto the rail...
