Why are male nurses looked down on?

leslie :-D · Dec 26, 2006

Life would be so much easier if that were true. The times where I requested someone of the same sex do the intimate stuff or at least have a male chaperone present I was laughed at, ridiculed, or scoffed at.

and that unprofessional behavior should have been immediately reported.

how dare any staff laugh at a patient...

leslie

ewattsjt · Dec 27, 2006

I realize this is somewhat off topic but,

What difference does it make?
They still roll out to PACU when surgery is over and guess who receives them and is looking under the covers at dressings and drains and placing peri-pads?
Yep, me....the male RN.
It's part of my job.

This was an interesting reply because it is me; who always remembers to place the pad. Most of the women forget it. So most of my patients wouldn't even get one if it weren't for me. Well until they were checked in PACU.

PPHawk · Dec 27, 2006

That's what I thought.
So I guess these female patients don't mind a male surgeon who, by virtue of his job, has no choice but to "see everything" because he's somehow above being sexually inappropriate with them.
But male nurses and techs might make her uncomfortable because they apparantly are not above being sexually inappropriate with patients or may get some thrill out of seeing her exposed body.
I understand the modesty and comfort level issues. Surgery is stressful enough without making someone even more uncomfortable or self-conscious/embarrassed.
It's the double standard between a doc and a nurse that I don't understand.
I guess I just don't get the mentality of a woman being ok with having a male doc (think Ob/Gyn) yet refuse a male nurse to cath them or allow them in the OR during "female" procedures.
What difference does it make?
They still roll out to PACU when surgery is over and guess who receives them and is looking under the covers at dressings and drains and placing peri-pads?
Yep, me....the male RN.
It's part of my job.

Not all women are willing to have male doctors. I think, at least in some cases, it's male vs female, not nurse vs doctor. On the other hand, I don't know what age group you work with, but we still have some people out there who see the doctor as the Male Authority Figure, a kindly father type. I know lots of male nurses who are called doctor until they straighten out the patient, who then can't understand why they'd be a nurse instead of a doctor.

Personally, I like working with male nurses. Never met one I didn't like.

RN34TX · Dec 27, 2006

Not all women are willing to have male doctors. I think, at least in some cases, it's male vs female, not nurse vs doctor. On the other hand, I don't know what age group you work with, but we still have some people out there who see the doctor as the Male Authority Figure, a kindly father type. I know lots of male nurses who are called doctor until they straighten out the patient, who then can't understand why they'd be a nurse instead of a doctor.
Personally, I like working with male nurses. Never met one I didn't like.

But that's my point. Not all women want male doctors and that's fine.

It makes sense to me if a female patient is uneasy with males period for her own reasons.

But to be perfectly ok with a male examining you or seeing you exposed as long as he is a doctor but not ok if it's a male nurse is the double standard I'm talking about.

If you don't want men taking care of you, fine.

But don't make exceptions for physicians because you are lulled under the false impression that just because they have more education, autonomy, authority, etc. that they somehow are above seeing female patients as sexual objects and/or being inappropriate.

And as far as people seeing them as father figures goes, well that just makes the whole thing even more absurd, bizarre, and twisted.

They are no more or less men than a male nurse is.

Over the years, I've heard plenty of MD's make inappropriate comments about female patients and colleagues alike.

Male MD's are not immune to this. They are still men with the same hormones and sexuality as a male nurse.

Professionalism is an individual thing, not a gender thing.

leslie :-D · Dec 27, 2006

i don't understand the double standard either.

as a woman who refuses to be cared for by male treaters, at least i am consistent in having all female md's.

i'm not convinced that female pts look as male md's as a father figure, but there may be some validity in looking upon them as authority figures.

and if that is the case, there will be people who are intimidated and so, will not assert themselves.

so while they 'allow' to be examined by a male md, their fear in speaking up only serves to deem them mute and still have the problems w/the male treater but just don't speak up.

i'm not thoroughly convinced then, that it is a double standard.

when people say "doctor knows best", that's when some tend to second-guess themselves and become a relative doormat in this game we call healthcare.

i see it frequently.

leslie

58flyer · Dec 27, 2006

and that unprofessional behavior should have been immediately reported.
how dare any staff laugh at a patient...
leslie

Given my zero tolerance for attitudes, it generally was.

Part of the problem (I speculate) is that females are not taught that there are males who might make such a request, and they are caught off guard and don't know how to respond.

Kevin0507 · Dec 29, 2006

when i tell people that i am about to graduate nursing school they usually respond with "that's great/awesome/insert positive comment here!" ocassionally i have heard the.."oh well you are going to go on to med school right?" i think that alot of uncultured people just have the stereotype in their head that the man is the doctor and the woman is the nurse. i think people think that male nurses are underachievers compared to the male doctors. in reality it is a different career path, but many people outside the medical field dont know or understand that.

Scrubz · Dec 30, 2006

My family and friends support me, and that's all that matters to me. Nursing is a great field to get into regardless of gender. Some of the coolest nurses at the hospital I work at are male. And why would someone ask if you would be going to med school? If nurses made as much money as a doctor I'd still choose the nurse job because they get to deal with people more while doctors are on a see you and leave you relationship.

marilynmom, LPN, NP · Dec 31, 2006

I work with male nurses and they are not looked down upon, they are not looked up upon either...lol. They are just nurses! I don't think they do a better or worse job. All the nurses I work with, male and female, are great people to begin with!

focker-male nurse · Dec 31, 2006

A fellow male student was told infront of the whole clinical group by the OB clinical instructor that men were stupid and had no business becoming nurses.

She didn't get to work for our school anymore.

I would have liked to have asked her why should women be allowed to become doctors.

Shes probably one of these nurses that thinks all doctors are stupid and she is so smart.

matt

Dabuggy · Jan 1, 2007

Hey Matt I like that reply. I have been told by a husband and wife in our program (Both RN students) that our DON does not like men in nursing. They state she said it. I have never had a problem with her. Some others have told me the same. She smiles at me, and makes small talk. I, unlike the others have never been in her office either, so that may be a cause,??

So I want to steal that statement and use it on her if she tells me that.

Watch out for the prepared student, W H O O P, W H O O P.:roll I highly doubt she will ever say it too me. So it is just a rumor, and gets tossed aside. Some people just like to start things.

Dabuggy

Scrubz · Jan 1, 2007

I would have liked to have asked her why should women be allowed to become doctors.

That would have been mean but I would have laughed if I'd been there. I know I'll be good at whatever I do and I know that most people will respect that.

Hey, we men have to break this stupid stereotype that all nurses are women. Luckily the ratio is closing, slowly, but it's still closing. Every year the number of men enrolling in nursing programs increases. I mean, in our lifetime nursing will always be predominatly female, but by the time we younger nurses are dug into our careers there should be many more men nurses out there.

Does anyone know the ratio of women to men in the CRNA profession? I still assume it's more women than men but most of the CRNAs I've seen are men. Just asking because that's what I intend to be eventually.