Florida: Nursing shortage could attract more men

[Randy, RN]

I have been a nurse (RN) since 1979 and love nursing. I have always been a male (LOL), married with two kids, and approaching 53. I hope more males do come into nursing. It is a wonderful career. Really wonderful.
I have done so many things in nursing, ER, home infusion, Anesthesia School, home health, started sev. related businesses and just would not have looked back or wish i had done something else. I got interested when my brother in law died at 37 from cerebral aneurys., I spent about a week in ICU. Did not see any males, but was very impressed with what the nurses did.

[nursinghumor]

Hello Randy,

Good to hear from a male nurse who's been at it for a while. I decided to become a nurse nine years ago and have never regretted it. Know I'll always be able to find work, always have a number of different career options.

Even married an ICU nurse I met after being in the field for four years. Have one daughter so far will see how many we end up with. I have reservations about recommending nursing to young people, my wife has stated that if my daughter want to go to Nursing school, she won't pay the tuition. Just too many other career options that have less stress and more job satisfaction out there.

As long as you know what you're getting into, it's a great career for either a male or a female. As long as you're a worker, carry your weight and enjoy what you're doing, the gender bias issue shouldn't deter you from entering the field.

Andrew Lopez, RN
http://www.4nursing.com

[Randy, RN]

I agree totally, man. Not sure if I would rec. to my daughters or not....but would let them choose. I have always enjoyed it. Yea, one sure does have to work, esp. these days. I actually remember working ER and M/S when I got out in 80 and there was so much downtime, I could go flirt with the radiology (FEMALE! lol) tech many times per day in radiology. Just were never in a hurry. No one complained of ever being overworked, then.

[SoldierNurse]

[ QUOTE ]
litljenarey said:
<img src="http://nursinghumor.com/nurse_forum/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" /> I've yet to actually work in the field, so maybe things are different on the inside, but I'm a leukemia survivor and I've spent a great deal of time on the other side of nursing. Personally, I've never met a male nurse who was "in it for the money" or who slacked off or caused problems. Yes, patients do notice the nurses that aren't doing what they should (especially kids, we see everything)
It was a male nurse at Arnold Palmer Hospital that made me want to become a nurse. He was so happy, all the time, and he LOVED his job.
I would welcome more male nurses, and it's unfortunate that so many qualified guys are turned away by the attitudes.

[/ QUOTE ]
Very post! Thanks for sharing your thoughts.

[SoldierNurse]

[ QUOTE ]
LeahNTexas said:
Don't tell me to calm down about something that I strongly care about. Men get breast cancer too! And you should care. It's always flipping out when a women speaks up!

I don't care what you think about me or my cause because you don't know me!

If I get banned for speaking up for myself then I don't need this site anyway!

[/ QUOTE ]
Hello LeahNTexas,

I admire your fire & your obviously a Texan (I say that respectfully, since I'm 100% Texan). However, you misunderstood what the other folks were trying to tell you. Your post was EXCELLENT, yet posted in the wrong thread, nothing more, nothing less to it. Would you like for me to move your post to a new thread? This way more will benefit from your post.

[SoldierNurse]

[ QUOTE ]
nursinghumor said:
Leah,

What does this have to do with the Florida Nursing Shortage? Kindly don't spam the forums.

Andrew Lopez, RN
http://www.4nursing.com

[/ QUOTE ]

Easy there big fella, I think she just misposted, rather than spam'd your thread.

[nursinghumor]

I would have given her the benefit of the doubt, if she had not posted the exact same message in three or four different areas of the forum. . . . none of them appropriate.

Andrew Lopez, RN
http://www.4nursing.com