[Macsmith777]

Ummm, two things. Enough of the "Male nurse" title, try just "nurse" Not sure that any of us need formal education to be male. Also... If the women in your class are in cliques, or being catty, why worry about it. I hate to say it, but this is really, in my view, a case where some serious sucking it up and not whining is in order. Sorry if this sounds harsh, but the real world will chew you up etc... Do your thing, get your degree. There is endless possibility, take advantage of it.

[ecube]

I hear your pain. Please do not give up unless you absolutely want to. And making any decision if you are clinically depressed is not a great idea.

I've worked with male nurses (straight and gay) in ICUs for 20 years, and they are great! From my experience at a large hospital in a large city, they seemed to attract a lot less *****iness than female nurses (I'm a woman). I felt that the patients, families, and docs treated them with respect.

Don't even worry about nursing school even though it sounds like it's making you miserable; you are there for classes only--focus on the GPA and getting recommendations from instructors.

I hear what you mean about some of those classes like bedmaking (I actually started off in engineering at school so you can imagine how I looked upon some of this stuff). I didn't make friends at school because most were older and married.

And I've worked with nurses who become doctors, and doctors who have been nurses, and nurses who become PAs, CRNAs, NPs, attorneys, pharmacists, and who leave healthcare altogether. And nurses who stay in nursing. If you plan your finances well, you can do what you want. But there is no shame in being a nurse. It is an honorable profession.

Could I have become a doctor? Yeah, sure. But I wanted to have a life, especially in my 20s. I also didn't want that level of liability and responsibility. The thought of being on call chills me to the bone. I can do 12 h shifts, and have 4 days off. And I don't have to do a M-F 8-5 job, or put in 60+ hours a week like some professions.

And, yeah, it is a tough business. But my friends in other professions complain about the same thing.

Best of luck in whatever decision that you make.