[hayleylse]

Hi,

I am a research student at the London School of Economics, doing my dissertation on challenging assumptions made by society about male nurses. I feel it is unbelievable of people to hold the old fashioned view that it is a female job and am wanting to explore male nurses' experiences, particularly in relation to challenges made against their masculinity. It seems institutionalised that nursing is a female job, and I am interested in people's reactions to you when you tell them, and if you feel if you ever have to hide it from strangers/people you know. If any one could help me by sharing their experiences by either posting on the site, through emailing me: hayleymitchinson@hotmail.com, or through a half an hour/less if you don't have much time interview if in the London area, I would be enormously grateful.

Thank you so much for your time,
Hayley

[Ricu]

Originally Posted by hayleylse

Hi,

I am a research student at the London School of Economics, doing my dissertation on challenging assumptions made by society about male nurses. I feel it is unbelievable of people to hold the old fashioned view that it is a female job and am wanting to explore male nurses' experiences, particularly in relation to challenges made against their masculinity. It seems institutionalised that nursing is a female job, and I am interested in people's reactions to you when you tell them, and if you feel if you ever have to hide it from strangers/people you know. If any one could help me by sharing their experiences by either posting on the site, through emailing me: hayleymitchinson@hotmail.com, or through a half an hour/less if you don't have much time interview if in the London area, I would be enormously grateful.

Thank you so much for your time,
Hayley

Hi Hayley,

Because some may challenge what I write here, let me put a full disclaimer up front here that the statements below come from my personal experiences and are my opinions and beliefs. I think you will get a lot of replies as this subject is frequently discussed in the forum. While I have been in nursing for a number of years and enjoy my work tremendously, I still hesitate to use the term "nurse" when describing my work. People have at times expressed surprise, even shock ,when they learn about my occupation. I don't fit the stereotypical male nurse image at all especially those promoted by journals and catalogues. I am fairly tall, have a vigorous workout routine including weightlifting and participate in outdoor activities with my family. Consequently, I look more like a lumberjack than a nurse.
Like so many other people both inside and outside of the profession, I take issue with the general attitude about the gender and its apparant disconnect with the profession. I don't view the role of nurse as gender related but the term "nurse" very definitely is. I believe that men are increasingly accepted in the role but there are still those people who will never accept it. While they are very rare, I have had several patients both men and women, request that they be assigned a female. In my experience oddly enough, there have been more men who were uneasy with a male nurse caring for them than women. I would venture a guess that women are likely used to male physicians examining them therefore may be desensitized to a male caring for their physical needs. On the other hand, I think that a male patient who resists a male nurse would likely be of the belief that the nurse is gay or that nursing is not man's work or the male who is a nurse doesn't have what it takes to be a "real man." In my personal experience, these men were older, had very rigid viewpoints about things in general especially what a man should be doing for work. This societal objection has even impacted my children particularly, my son. Once while at camp, he was ridiculed by a kid for having a dad who must really be "girly" because he's a nurse. In general these occurrances are rare and overall, I have been well received in the profession. Men both young and old have said that they were surprised by my sensitivity to all of their needs and surprised to find that they were grateful for having a male nurse. Women too have said they were surprised to find men so caring and sensitive.

Another issue that I take exception to is that nursing itself does an injustice to men in the field. Photos in most nursing journals feature women in the nursing role and if there are men at all, they are usually depicted as patients. A review of photo job ads will feature mostly women but lately, there have been more men. If you really want an eyeopener, take a look at any nursing equipment and uniform catalog. You will find one or two gender neutral choices of uniform, maybe a gender neutral coffee mug and once I saw a figurine of a very slightly built man in scrubs with nurse on his ID tag. Most everything else is directed to women.

Challenging society's view of which sex role is assigned to a profession is a hard thing to tackle because it seems to be deeply rooted in culture. Historically nurses are female and firefighters are male and that is that. Intelligent people rightly know that men and women can aspire to be whatever they want but society has dictated which choices are appropriate for men and women and violating those standards guarantees that (s)he will encounter some degree of resistance. Fortunately, there are people who buck the tide and pave inroads through societal norms, eventually changing them. This is why more people are finding it easier to work in "nontraditional" roles.

Good luck and thanks for asking,

R

[SoldierNurse]

Ricu - May I say that was an awesome reply you posted, which was almost word for word my sentiments. I will reply in detail soon on another post. I definitely agree with you regards the nursing catalogs have little to offer male nurses. Luckily, in the ICU at Madigan Army Medical Center we wear hospital provided scrubs stamped MAMC.

BTW, in your weightlifting routine do you do deadlifts? I use to do powerlifting years ago [now close to 46 yrs old]. I'm not a big guy such as yourself [5'7" / 175lbs.] but pulled up a deadlift of 385lbs during yesterday's workout. I bought these versa grips [similar to lifting straps] at Champs the other day and they are awesome. Anyway, I'm definitely a weightlifting enthusiast, as well as Aikijutsu stylist. I do run to keep up my 2 mile time for the Army Physical Fitness Test.

Again, awesome post Ricu.

[Ricu]

Originally Posted by MagRedC5

Ricu - May I say that was an awesome reply you posted, which was almost word for word my sentiments. I will reply in detail soon on another post. I definitely agree with you regards the nursing catalogs have little to offer male nurses. Luckily, in the ICU at Madigan Army Medical Center we wear hospital provided scrubs stamped MAMC.

BTW, in your weightlifting routine do you do deadlifts? I use to do powerlifting years ago [now close to 46 yrs old]. I'm not a big guy such as yourself [5'7" / 175lbs.] but pulled up a deadlift of 385lbs during yesterday's workout. I bought these versa grips [similar to lifting straps] at Champs the other day and they are awesome. Anyway, I'm definitely a weightlifting enthusiast, as well as Aikijutsu stylist. I do run to keep up my 2 mile time for the Army Physical Fitness Test.

Again, awesome post Ricu.

Hey Mag,

Thanks for the kind words. I look foreeward to reading your thoughts on the subject too. At one time in another discussion on the subject, I thought I offended you with my position on the matter. Funny thing about scrubs, I wish more facilities still routinely provided them. I understand cost containment but standardizing unifrom would end a lot of trouble with "style issues" wouldn't it?

On the subject of weightlifting, I never did much powerlifting but have been more the circuit trainer. I work oppositional muscle groups in 3 sessions per week around 30 minutes and then do cardio 3 times per week for around 30 minutes. In the gym, I use the Cybex equipment because I don't have a spotting buddy anymore. When I have a spotter or Smithrack, I like to do squats. It's been awhie since I maxed out, but I seem to remember the weight was around 360 or so. Right now I don't have as much time as I used to have for the gym or any training for that matter, so I do a lot at home. For cardio, I like my Nordic Track ski machine. We have a treadmill and I use that sometimes but even with dumbells, I don't get the upper body work that the skier offers. Outside, I like to swim, hike, bike, canoe and snowshoe. I've been kicking around the idea of getting a kayak but we would need 5 for the family since we all enjoy outdoor stuff. My son likes to do the gym stuff with me and my wife and girls prefer yoga and Pilates. I've never done martial arts but my kids have. I really admire the discipline and respect that's such an integral part of the physical training. By the way, we're pretty close in age but you beat me by a few years. I'm 44. A number of years ago, I was a certified personal trainer and really loved it. Too bad you can't make a living on it unless you have your own gym but that's another story.

Take care,

R

[SoldierNurse]

Yes, stereotypes [in all walks of life] can be very challenging. Hayley, so too, can the nursing profession be very challenging with many obstacles, for both male & female nurses. Nursing is in fact a female-dominated profession; males are merely 6-7% of RN's in the civilian sector, and roughly 34% in the Army Nurse Corps. Fortunately, the true nursing job description no longer includes doctor's handmaiden. We are far more autonomous and play a vital role in health care.

I appreciate my female colleagues and all they have done in the progression of a better profession. I have never worked with a female nurse that did not treat me as part of the team. Only one time in my +8 years of nursing has a patient of mine requested a female nurse. This patient was definitely on the senior citizen side of the time-line of life. I did not take her request as personal hit towards my abilities as an RN. I just shrugged it off as her loss.

I certainly don't think my profession belittles, or questions my masculinity. I was a single parent dad for many years, therefore I'm use to taking part in the non-traditional gender roles. When I tell people [away from the Medical Center] that I'm a nurse they are usually surprised. Even though I'm short [5'7"] my wife tells me I have nice arms. I've been a weight training & martial arts enthusiast for many years. The areas I've worked as an RN are rather common for males; Telemetry Floor, OR, ICU. Plus, I will admit they I do enjoy being an Army nurse where males are not such a minority as in the civilian sector. Again, I do enjoy working with my female peers. However, it is nice to be able to discuss sports, cars, and other more common guy talk with the fellas. BTW, I hate when some male nurses complain that they are always asked to help lift a patient in bed. I say be a nurse gentleman and get your butt in that room and HELP OUT!

My biggest gripe regards to being a male nurse is similar to what was previously mentioned regards to the media & nursing catalogs. The movies like Meet the Parents is NOT FUNNY, IMHO. Furthermore, these nursing catalogs with maybe one page for male nurses and the rest of the catalog filled with flowery scrubs... gimme a break. At least the scrubs are provided to the staff where I work.

As more men enter the nursing profession I believe the gender-bias persona will pass, just has the role of handmaiden passed, too.

... my 2 cents

[badphish]

to squash all this negative sterotyping im going to get pregnant my wife is 100 percent supportive. and im gonna ask for a male L&D nurse.

[Cammer]

Originally Posted by badphish

to squash all this negative sterotyping im going to get pregnant my wife is 100 percent supportive. and im gonna ask for a male L&D nurse.

Awesome comment.

The whole nurse mid-wife thing really rubs me the wrong way. If I was remotely interested in women's health I would go into it and buck the system. Then I would charge the first person who called me a "mid-wife" with sexual harassment. LOL