Need opinions from men in nursing.....

[Acbgrl]

Hi everyone,
I am writing a paper for one of my classes. My topic is gender issues in Nursing. I am specifically interested in how male nurses are treated; by patients, other nurses, other hospital employees. I have a few questions and if anyone out there has a minute to answer i would really appreciate it. you can respond on this forum or email me at
sanfan9er@yahoo.com

1.) Have you ever felt discriminated against because you are a male?
2.) Have patients ever refused your care, because you are a male?
3.) Is there a difference in how women and men patients act around you?
4.) Do you feel you have to defend your actions/decisions to your female co workers because of your gender?
5.) There is a certain stereotype that women are better at nurturing than men, do you feel that this is true?
6.) Any stories or experiences that you have.

Not all of these need to be answered i am just looking for some real personal experiences and opinions. Thank you for your time!

[Inokichi]

umm, i'm a male second year nursing student in the UK. i'm the only male in my class of 25 (there were originally 3 of us, but one dropped out, and the other is studying mental health now).
i do sometimes feel discriminated against, for example, the question "are you going to go on to become a doctor afterwards then?" pops up from patients about 3-4 times per placement.
The healthcare trust that i have my placements in basically ha

[Inokichi]

ack! sorry i accidentally tapped enter. i'll continue where i left off.
The healthcare trust that i have my placements in basically has a policy of male nurses nurse men and female nurses nurse women (usually this is only more intimate stuff like catheterisation though). Personally, i have little problem with that as a principle because it's there to reduce the discomfort for both genders alike. However, another policy in the trust is that students cannot catherise men. I am unsure if this is the same for the other placement trusts in my area, but for me at the moment, the rest of my group are going to be able to qualify and start working with an extra (essentially a routine) skill above me, because i am not permitted to catheterise women due to policy (not really bothered by that though) but also cannot catheterise men because i'm a student.
Don't get me wrong, i'm not in a rush to start inserting catheters into urethras, but it annoys me that i'm going to have to take an extra course when i qualify just to get to the same level as everyone else in my class simply because i'm male. Plus, due to the fact that there are fewer men, i'm more likely to have to use that skill because when a ward does not have a male nurse on duty, they have to seek assistance from a male nurse on duty from another ward. I realise that this is essentially a rule against students in general more than against males, but in practice, it ends up essentially an anti-male rule.
However, i don't wish to imply that my experience as a student has been riddled with sexism or anything like that. I have greatly enjoyed my experience on my class and I get along with my class awesomely. It's just that rules like the above, and some questions I sometimes get asked sometimes irritate me a little. (other questions, such as "are you gay then?", which annoys me because it's automatically linking nursing to gay men and i think that gay men are commonly thought of (incorrectly, i must add)as a pop-image (i.e will and grace and crappy programs like that). I'm heterosexual, but it just grates to have an automatic assumption of my character/lifestyle simply due to my choice of profession.

[Aaron C.]

1.) Have you ever felt discriminated against because you are a male?

Not really. If anything, males get better treatment. Sometimes I've found myself feeling sorry for the females nurses because the doctors tend to treat them more poorly than their male counterparts.

One thing though, that males usually tend to get thrown their way is the heavier patients, patients in need of more lifting, etc., becuase we are usually stronger. I don't really mind that, but it get's old after awhile...

2.) Have patients ever refused your care, because you are a male?

Not yet.


3.) Is there a difference in how women and men patients act around you?

Sometimes if the patient is a younger female they may be hesitant to be cared for by me, becuase I am a young male, however usually, I don't get assigned those patients for that reason...

If you were a 25 year old female in with injuries from an MVA would you want a 28 year old male taking care of you?

4.) Do you feel you have to defend your actions/decisions to your female co workers because of your gender?

No.

5.) There is a certain stereotype that women are better at nurturing than men, do you feel that this is true?

Absolutely not. It depends on the person. Gender makes no difference.

6.) Any stories or experiences that you have.

I get tired of hearing, "Are you, or why aren't you, a doctor".

I think for the most part women are better at paper charting because their handwriting is USUALLY better. My handwriting sucks.

All of the above are things that have exceptions of course. I would not prefer either gender over the other when it comes to care. It just depends on the person.

Also, there IS a stereotype with male nurses, you know, the whole "gay" thing. This does exist somewhat for a reason, however my experience is leading me to believe that more and more male nurses are getting into the field that are from backgrounds such as the military, etc. and it is starting to thwart that stereotype.

I know a lot of male nurses who are anything but feminine. There are several on this forum. It doesn't mean they aren't compasionate.

[Norm F]

1) I have never felt discriminated against
2)not yet
3) I tend to act the same around them so I have not noticed a differance
4) My actions are my own. Right or wrong they are what makes me a nurse.
5) I think some women are more nurturing than I and so are some men. Conversely I think there are some men and women who are less nurturing than I.

I have many nursing stories (too numerous for this site)

[aewaters]

I don't want to offend anyone, but after 20 years as a nurse I feel I have the right to voice my opinion. Nothing I have to say is intended for ALL female nurses. I have worked with several exceptions, BUT...
Generally speaking, most women are Horrible to work with. They are WAY too invested in trying to make the man look bad perhaps in the hope that it will make them look better. Many are serious "back-stabbers" and very few can be trusted. They are much better at on-the-job politics than a man can imagine, or would even care to think about.
Men communicate more dirrectly, (we're from Mars and they're from Venus, remember). Women operate in a different fashion.
An old nursing supervisor (female,by the way), at my first job in a VA hospital told me 20 years ago that she'd have a lot fewer problems if all her nurses were men.
I am not a women-hater, but they sure can be horrible to work with.
As far as pts. sver rejecting my care, this has very seldom occured. Except for a few female adolescent psychiatric patients with gynocological problems. While in school the first post-partum pt. I was assigned was an RN employed on that very unit. My clinical instructor was trying to set me up for failure. But, as anxious as I was, the new mother told me she was glad to have me instead of one of the female students. I've gotten along great with my female pts. and many have told me "you're so much more gentle than the other nurses". OK, a couple of geriatric pts. have initially resisted my personal care, but my caring attitude and sense-of-humor has never failed to win them over.
As far as the females as more nurturing debate goes, some of that may be true. But one of the highlights of my last few months at work was an 8 year old pt. with severe emotional problems giving me a Valentines Day card. I was the only staff member that received one from him.
My job would be a lot easier and much more enjoyable if I didn't have to continually negotiate the female problem.

[1mg.epi]

Most woman I have worked with have been the greatest people in the world. I have been a nurse for 15 years and I would say only 1 out of 10 have been hard to work with. This is my 3rd profession and I have found the 10% rule applies to everywhere. 10% of the people are going to be the screw up of the department. 10% are going to be the best. And the 80% of us are happy to get the day over with dealing with the other 20%.

[1mg.epi]

To answer your question:
1. Only in school.
2. Only a bed baths to an older female.
3. NO
4. Never
5. NO
6. Took care of a 26 yo female s/p mitral valve replacement and vsd repair. I had to do dressing changes on drains that came out of the epigastric area. She started to pull up her gown. I stopped her and told her I needed to cover her waist down first. She said, "Look I know you see that every day." My reply was, "Ya, but not yours." She got my message. As a male nurse you do have to be carful not to put yourself in a situation of a sexual nature with out another female in the room. I have asked female nurses to do things I know other male nurses have done. My request has always been met with compleat cooperation. Because my request is out of respect for the female patient.

[rnsince83]

You sound like an astute nurse who knows how to take care of himself professionally, as well as his patients.

[rnsince83]

The men I work with are just like the rest of us, some good, some better, some not so good; however, I would have to say there are more above average men than women. Don't know why--maybe they try harder. One thing I truly envy about the guys is they don't get or take as much crap from the male docs. One guy I worked with (good nurse, neat appearance, except he wore a small nail in one earlobe which was hardly noticeable, but should give one a clue to tread carefully and choose your words wisely when being "critical") was publicly and unfairly reamed by a doctor. This nurse told me later that he cornered the yellow bellied tyrant face to face and told him if the doc ever spoke like that to him again, he would tear him a new one; further, he told the doc if he ever tried to retaliate in any way for these words, he'd have to wear a tampon in his rectum for all eternity. END OF PROBLEM. I'm pretty good about defending myself, but there has been more than one instance where I would like to have said it his way.