Working with all females - fringe benefit or danger zone?

vanillavirtue · Sep 3, 2008

The last two posts are not from lawyers. I got my JD in 1981 and never made less than $80K in my career. I have never heard of any lawyer that is not making a decent living. Anyway I stopped practicing law, not because I didn't have cases, but because I wanted to do something less stressfull, like nursing.

Not to be rude, but why nursing? How can you go from being an attorney to a LPN? That is the oddest thing to me. Nursing will not be less stressful. If you thought your job as an attorney was stressful, you are going to come into a rude awakening. Another thing, since you like school why not become a doctor? I know of people who have left the law profession and have gone all the way to medical school. Since you are going back to college, you might as well do it big! Yeah, you are a professional student. LOL Going from engineer, to lawyer, and now to nurse. :) Your story is very interesting and one of a kind.

medlaw · Sep 3, 2008

Not to be rude, but why nursing? How can you go from being an attorney to a LPN? That is the oddest thing to me. Nursing will not be less stressful. If you thought your job as an attorney was stressful, you are going to come into a rude awakening. Another thing, since you like school why not become a doctor? I know of people who have left the law profession and have gone all the way to medical school. Since you are going back to college, you might as well do it big! Yeah, you are a professional student. LOL Going from engineer, to lawyer, and now to nurse. :) Your story is very interesting and one of a kind.

A nurse or doc gets their paycheck even if the pt dies. As a trial lawyer for 27 years, if I didn't win the case I didn't eat. I'm afraid you do not know the meaning of stress. If I had enough time left I would go to medical school. I love a challenge. I would also love to be a Navy SEAL. As a devout Buddhist, maybe I will get the chance in the next life. A LVN is only a one year tech school endevor.

NYNPMAN · Sep 3, 2008

What did the Buddhist say to the HotDog vendor?

Make me one with everything

NYNPMAN · Sep 3, 2008

I like yourself am changing careers. I would like to go to medical school but I have 3 kids. All my plans involve feeding the family. I am doing a 2 year RN program and then looking to do a BSN. There should be a transition program into MD for RNs. They have spent 4 years with a focus on diseases, treatments, patient care and assessment. Meanwhile I see young, mostly foreign students with limited English and people skills doing residencies. There definitely is room for some BSN to MD programs.

vanillavirtue · Sep 3, 2008

A nurse or doc gets their paycheck even if the pt dies. As a trial lawyer for 27 years, if I didn't win the case I didn't eat. I'm afraid you do not know the meaning of stress. If I had enough time left I would go to medical school. I love a challenge. I would also love to be a Navy SEAL. As a devout Buddhist, maybe I will get the chance in the next life. A LVN is only a one year tech school endevor.

I have heard people say that the LPN program is harder and more demanding than the RN program. If you are going to do nursing, you might as well go on and do the RN program. Also, you better not have the motive of going into nursing for the money. You better have the desire to help the sick. Also, there are plenty of jobs that you can receive pay for your services. Have you thought about becoming a teacher or professor? Since you have a masters, you could easily teach law or a political science class at a university. I would suggest that for you, since you have a lot of background in law. Also, have you thought about going back to school to receive a Ph.D? Since you "like" school, I would think that would be a better option than going back to school for an LPN program. Not to be rude, but that decision does not make sense in the natural. Anyway, you are an adult and the choice is yours. I just hope you make the right decision for your life. I'm just throwing ideals out there for you, but anyway good luck on whatever you decide to choose! :up:

Vito Andolini · Sep 8, 2008

I am a middle aged lawyer starting the LVN program in Oct. I have chosen nursing as the last and, I think, the most rewarding career of my working life. My career path has been from engineer, real estate broker, pilot, certified personal trainer, to lawyer, all male dominated professions. Now I am entering a field dominated by females. My CNA class is 40/4 female. My first impression is that this is a great plus since I am single, no g/f, and looking for a serious relationship. I have dated nurses in the past and have always admired their dedication and ethics. I recognize that I should avoid involvement with females on my own floor/unit but what about those in other areas of the hospital, nursing home, etc? What do nurses think/feel about dating male nurses? What do the female docs think/feel about the male nurses? What do you think will be the reaction of the nursing staff when they find out that I am also a lawyer? I would not want that to detract from my duties as a health care worker.

Don't tell them.

Vito Andolini · Sep 8, 2008

The last two posts are not from lawyers. I got my JD in 1981 and never made less than $80K in my career. I have never heard of any lawyer that is not making a decent living. Anyway I stopped practicing law, not because I didn't have cases, but because I wanted to do something less stressfull, like nursing.

:brnfrt::lol::hehe::hhmth::hhmth::lghmky::smiley_aa Not sure why you think it's less stsressful. Just read a few posts here to see what nurses have to deal with on a daily basis. Psych nurses who aren't allowed to defend themselves from violent patients except by means that won't hurt the patient; understaffing and ridiculous, impossibly large, and dangerous workloads, forced overtime, rude and disrespectful family members and doctors, the continual threat of lawsuits, holding patients' lives in their hands and being terrified of possibly harming a patient, lack of equipment, disrespectful and disappearing aides or LVN's, and so forth. The list is quite long. If you are looking for no stress, you won't find that in Nursing. Good luck finding it somewhere else, though. :jester:

RS0302 · Sep 8, 2008

A nurse or doc gets their paycheck even if the pt dies. As a trial lawyer for 27 years, if I didn't win the case I didn't eat. I'm afraid you do not know the meaning of stress. If I had enough time left I would go to medical school. I love a challenge. I would also love to be a Navy SEAL. As a devout Buddhist, maybe I will get the chance in the next life. A LVN is only a one year tech school endevor.

Not to be rude, but you also have no idea the meaning of stress in the nursing world. I get its stressful not knowing if you are going to get paid or not, but there is a different kind of stress in nursing. I would assume as a lawyer you realize how "sue happy" people are these days.

Now to answer a few of your questions, the female docs treat male nurses just the same as female and really could care less. I work in a hospital with male nurses and I agree male nurses sometimes have to be careful about what they say/do. Sometimes a female nurse can take things the wrong way. Are you planning on working in LTC? Just please make sure you are going into nursing to help people. Trust me, you are going to be miserable if you are in it for the money.

brissygal, BSN, RN · Sep 10, 2008

Come on Guys,

Be fair - Women love men in nursing! Really!! It is great to settle the mood swings that happen with all women.

Men even things out.

menetopali · Sep 10, 2008

Come on Guys,
Be fair - Women love men in nursing! Really!! It is great to settle the mood swings that happen with all women.
Men even things out.

while some women like having men in nursing, the reality from the trenches is that there is a lot of backbiting and efforts to undercut men in nursing by female nurses. as a male nurse i've been accused of getting a management position because of my gender never mind that i applied for the position instead of waiting to be asked and that i have two four year degrees - one in a public management field and the other in nursing. i've been told by a charge nurse that i shouldn't be a nurse because i'm a man and don't know how to care. i've had my sexual orientation questioned because of my profession. i've been told that i'm not a protected minority because i'm male (even though last time i looked 6% was a minority). i've been called on to provide lifting muscle, take-down muscle, and equipment moving muscle because i'm male by countless female nurses. worst of all is in academia and at nursing meetings where the controlling matrons enjoy man bashing as a sport to elevate "women's status in the workforce" and "feminism" through special treatment of women as the 51% 'minority'. i've met some very supportive female nurses but on the whole, female nurses (especially the "more experienced" or "progressive" ones) are not supportive of second career nurses (unless the first career was homemaker), male nurses, or nurses who see the political world as one where big government is a problem. just take a look at the vitriol on this blog or at any staff meeting as it degenerates into a complaint session about who gets what when. some places are better than others, for example Western Maryland was the worst experience of anti-male nurse attitudes and the Phoenix area is one of the most accepting places I've worked, but overall I'd say the same anti-male attitudes that kept male nurses from being recognized by the ANA for 50 years are still around.

Atheos · Sep 10, 2008

Come on Guys,
Be fair - Women love men in nursing! Really!! It is great to settle the mood swings that happen with all women.
Men even things out.

Yea but what happens when we have mood swings too?!?!?!

vanillavirtue · Sep 10, 2008

Yea but what happens when we have mood swings too?!?!?!

Yeah, you can find some men that are just as moody as women.