Womens interest in male nurses

[johny1]

I am a nursing student, currently studying to be an RN. I am really enjoying the experience, however I have an issue that is concerning me.

When chatting up women and the conversation comes up about what I do, and I reply studying nursing, their eyes widen and the mood seems to change. This is not related to women in the field but those outside. As soon as I utter the word nurse, I seem to go from a confident manly guy to a nice guy to them. I know women want confident manly sort of men, but women also say they like a man to be sensitive and caring. Can’t a male nurse be sensitive and manly? Do these women see nurses as somewhat effeminate, at worst gay?

If a woman is able to climb the corporate ladder and make big money in business and still have sex appeal, does a man need to limit himself to traditional masculine roles to prove his maleness and be attractive to women or can he do a traditionally feminine job of helping and caring for people.

I understood that when women refer to equality, it is for both men and women. They it’s a great idea for men to be nurses, but individually, their actions seem to speak louder than their words.

I would be very interested in your opinions on this both guys and girls

[karenG]

humour is what keeps us going.. and our humour is in many ways unique..

and sometimes our humour does not work well in a medium such as the internet.

female nurses have been seen as sex objects for years- have you ever seen the carry on films?? we now have more men in nursing and yes.. some of you guys are fabulous looking.. but lusting after a co-worker is not good!

hmm wonder if they will ever make films as politically incorrect as the carry on films again! dont thinks so somehow... but if they do.. I hope they have nurses of both sexes in it!!

[cop2bnurse41]

OK! OK! I was searching the web and trying to see what the take on male nurses was. I was a cop for six years and got hurt on the job.(shoot in the hand) So I had bounced around for a few years tring all of the manly careers I could find. Then I thought I would go back to school and become a nurse (beliive it or not the two are very similar) Now as far as the ladies go I have had plenty of intrest from the girls in my class as well as one faculty member. So you should not have a problem getting a date. As far as anyone elses opinion I REALLY DONT CARE WHAT THEY THINK!!!! MY budies were breaking my chops about it and I simply said I got to school with 50 girls a 5 guys The odds are in my favor ;-)

[csason]

OK! OK! I was searching the web and trying to see what the take on male nurses was. I was a cop for six years and got hurt on the job.(shoot in the hand) So I had bounced around for a few years tring all of the manly careers I could find. Then I thought I would go back to school and become a nurse (beliive it or not the two are very similar) Now as far as the ladies go I have had plenty of intrest from the girls in my class as well as one faculty member. So you should not have a problem getting a date. As far as anyone elses opinion I REALLY DONT CARE WHAT THEY THINK!!!! MY budies were breaking my chops about it and I simply said I got to school with 50 girls a 5 guys The odds are in my favor ;-)

I worked as an OPS (seasonal) ranger for the Florida Dept. of Natural Resources for a few years..mainly, so I knew

where the good fishing holes were.. and most of our 'perp' types were poachers and such..but the interaction

is very similar.. Most of my male nurse friends are ex-military, ex-cops, and so on. We make great nurses.

I had one friend who was a SF Marine, and got his cave-diving/rescue certification, and his BSN..Quite a character. He did have a little too much ladies man thing going on, though..if you know what I mean.

[jack55]

I'm afraid that being a male nurse comes with a lot of stupid and old steryotypes.

Just do the best job that you can do as a nurse, and I promise that the ladies will line up.

Being surrounded by good looking nurses for 12hrs at a time, is worth the steryotopes.

Good Luck and be what YOU want to be.

:mnnnrsngrk:

[Bobylon]

Hmmmm, has never been an issue .... but, then again, I'm older and married with 2 kids ..... have only had one person refer to me as a "male nurse," so I guess that "reference" is going away, thankfully. I wouldn't worry about it -anyone who's attitude changes when they learn of your chosen profession isn't worth bothering with much, imho.

[markuskristian]

So what if a girl has a "nice guy" impression the moment you say nursing. My friend, you just got your foot in the door Now instead of fulfilling the "nice guy" crap, be yourself.. she's watching.

[Birdbr]

I am 17 and was talking to some people and 2 girls out of a class room laughed because I said I wanted to be neonatal nurse. Obviously they were laughing about a male being a nurse, which I was just offended as yourself. You don't see them laughing at a male teacher or a female mechanic. Believe it or not sexism is still bad, not just for women in certain careers.

[ats1983]

My take might be different, but so far everytime I tell a woman I'm a nurse, I automatically become "that guy". What I mean by that is I'm automatically lumped into the category with her gay friends who go shopping with her. It might be the area I'm in, I don't know. All I know is so far, every woman seems to assume I'm either gay right off the bat for being a nurse, or I'm an overly sensitive guy who will never amount to anything more than her friend. Yes, it's ridiculously stereotypical, but it seems to be the norm. I take pride in what I've chosen to do, and overall I'm happy with it. To me it's funny that my last girlfriend dumped me while I was in nursing school (she was worried that I would cheat on her since I was around so many women due to the profession), and ever since, every woman I talk to (teachers, artists, etc.) assumes this stereotype. The only people who don't think this way are female nurses, but I care too much about my career to start dating anyone in any facility I work in. I'll admit my outlook on this topic is very jaded, but to me it is very surprising that women responded to me more when I was a delivery driver moreso now than when I'm a nurse.

[mspontiac]

To me it's funny that my last girlfriend dumped me while I was in nursing school (she was worried that I would cheat on her since I was around so many women due to the profession), and ever since, every woman I talk to (teachers, artists, etc.) assumes this stereotype. The only people who don't think this way are female nurses, but I care too much about my career to start dating anyone in any facility I work in. I'll admit my outlook on this topic is very jaded, but to me it is very surprising that women responded to me more when I was a delivery driver moreso now than when I'm a nurse.

My husband is a nurse...he just graduated last May. It **is** unnerving to know that he is the only man on the floor surrounded by girls. Not to mention the fact that he is 31 and I am 39!! He innocently remarked one day that he's the oldest person in his department on night shift. Good thing I have a sense of humor...I said, "so you're telling me you're surrounded for 12 hours a night by nubile young women???"

Personally I think the stereotype is vanishing among the younger generation, especially as the job market grows tougher. I am entering nursing school on Monday, and out of 50 of us starting I would say there are at least a dozen men. Many are older guys too, starting a new career. I don't bat an eye because I know my hubby is alllll man, but he still gets older people who stutter and flounder when he tells them he's a nurse. He once had one older relative say, "Well....uh....there's nothing wrong with that. Lots of men are nurses nowadays." I wanted to jokingly ask him if either of us said there was anything wrong with it. :) I have to admit the term "male nurse" really burns me. You don't hear women walking around saying "I'm a female nurse," and when I worked in a factory I never specified that I was "a female tire inspector." A job title is just that, a title.

Anyway, if I were single and a man told me he was a nurse, I would be all over him. But, I know what it takes to be a nurse and I would see him a little differently than the normal person, I think. :redbeathe

[Divest]

God I can't wait to become a nurse.

[petethecanuck]

It's funny. I find that it's men who give me the "stereotypical" reaction when they find out I'm in Nursing school.

Conversely, women's eyes light up when they find out I'm going to be a Nurse and the usual comment is (something along the lines of), "I would love to have you as my Nurse!".

I should also say that I feel very masculine and confident in my nursing scrubs. Thankfully mine are a spiffy blue that match my eyes LOL.

I agree Divest. I can't wait to finish school and become an RN. For so many reasons. :)

cheers

[Redfoot]

One of the best ways I have found to perk a woman's interest in a male nurse is to lay off the break room doughnuts and curl alot of weight. Every now and then I would show up dressed to the nines and smelling nice to pick up a schedule just to remind the ladies that I indeed was a man ;-)

Seriously, everyone has covered the bases pretty well. One of the issues I have had to deal with is that the lovely female nurses around me would effectively trash every other female in the building if I feigned interest. They tend to get very protective of us.

What the thread needs to go onto is how to break out of the eunic (a.k.a. friend) zone with some of the lovely ladies.

Cheers!

-Chris