Having trouble with Prof.

Hello all,
I am new here but figured this would get me out into the community. I too am experiencing the issues with women who do not want men in the profession. I have one teacher in particular that seems to just go after me.
A little background on me. I am 30 years old, been in the military for 12 years. I got injured in Iraq so I am looking at nursing as my new profession. ( I am already in the program) And I am a full time single father.
So what gets me is that this prof. continuously makes exceptions for the mothers in the class but goes out of her way to slam me. I am not the best student but I challenge anyone to carry my load.
The other day I had to take my daughter to the emergency room because she was dehydrated fro the flu. Well needless to say I missed class. So the this Prof comes to me and tells me that I have used up my one excused absence and that I cant have another. So I asked her what I should do if my son gets sich and her responce was "Dont let it happen" This same woman is helping out the two pregnant girls in the class and giving them all the assistance they need.
This smae prof made statements last semeter that the inducton of men into the profession has made salaries go up.
So my question is: Am I going to see alot of this type of discrimination for disgruntled women in this porfession.
I should also say that she feels that I am a type A personality and that I am an "overbearing male"

~Adam

Hello Adam,

Gender discrimination is a reality both in nursing school and the field depending on where you work. Sometimes it is subtle, sometimes it is blatant. We have discussed it on another thread here:

http://www.nursingdiscussions.com/gender

If this professor gives you a hard time about the missing a class issue, I'd be ready to appeal it and give specific examples of other students that are being treated more leniently.

You might want to bring the issue to the attention of the Dean privately. Tell her this has become an issue and before it escalates further, you want to tell her exactly what the situation is.

Are there other guys in your classes or the school? Would be interesting to see if they've had similar experiences.

Keep in mind also, that nursing instructors can be notoriously harsh on students, even when there is no apparent need or reason for it.

It's part of the "nursing school" experience where they try to weed out as many "unfit" nurses as they can.

Don't take it too personally, but to don't let yourself be abused either.

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

Thanks for the advice and please excuse all the typo's. It is definately nice to see that I am not imagining this attitude.
~Adam

I am a female nurse and have witnessed discrimination against male nurses, for what reason I don't know. This professor sounds like one of those lunatic feminists who simply hates men, period. It most certainly is not true that the presence of men is driving up nurses' salaries. Where does she get that, and even if it were true, what is she saying? That nursing is better off remaining an enclave of all female workers so that salaries can be kept low? She sounds like an idiot. Who cares if you are an overbearing, type A? Women have been known to have those personality types, too. If the situation really is out of control, I, too, would go over her head. She may be a professor but she is not entitled to take her personal prejudices out on you or anyone else. I assume you are paying the same tuition, through whatever sources, as are the females in class. You are entitled to the same level of respect and understanding as anyone else.

It is good to hear from you on this. I know she is in the extreme minority and my other prof's seem to really support me being a single parent. I think this woman just hates men. If it continues though I may go to the dean. I do have one thing on my side, my God-mother is in charge of the women's health for the whole state, so she might weild some power if I need it. http://www.ultimatenurse.com/ubbthre...lins/devil.gif

Never hurts to have someone on your side!!!!!

I’m in school right now and I have to say I haven't experienced any discrimination at all. I kind of feel one of my instructors went out of her way to make sure I didn't feel discriminated. This was nice and all, but I don't expect different treatment whether positive or negative.

Hello Matt, if gender bias doesn't find its way into your program, it's one less thing you'll have to worry about. God knows you have enough on your plate when it comes to nursing school.

Keep it in the back of your mind though, that way if it every does rear it's ugly head, you'll know it when you see it.

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

UPDATE: Well, angry female professor and I get into it again. This time it was her pushing her political agenda on the students and when I argued her in to the ground she just lost it. Apparently we are supposed to embrace free thought only when it is her thoughts. Needless to say I am thinking a C in this class is inevitable. The program though is really showing it colors as of late. The intrim dean came in and gave us a speach. Afterwards, one of the other males turned to myself and another male and said, "well, how was that for a men are evil speach" PLEASE tell me it will be different in the feild.!!!!!!
~Adam

Adam,
I am a female nurse I am currently in OB (not too many male nurses there), but before I did OB I did Open heart recovery (CVICU) and CCU. I found that there were many male nurses in both of those departments also many CRNA's are men. I feel that they are such a value to nursing, just as male teachers are to teaching. Please keep your chin up and don't give up. This "Teacher" is a moron. When you get out I think you will find your female collegues will be very happy to work with you. I am still very close friends with several of the male nurses I worked with when I first got out of school. I also would like to say I commend you for going to school as a single parent. I know it is tough but worth it. I am a single parent of teenagers and the greatest thing about nursing is the flexibility to work the kind of hours that you can be home more. They grow so fast !! Take care of yourself and I will be sending you positive vibes.

I had 2 instructors in school that I felt a bias from. They both were instructors for a long time, and I felt they were out of touch with the reality of the profession. Every place I have worked has been good to me. I have never had a problem here in the real world.

Don't her get you down.

Hey,
You just have to suck it up. Nursing school won't last forever. Find help with the kids. Call in a relative or ship them off. I'm not trying to be cold as I'm a devoted father too, but you'll be doing it for them. Don't expect any breaks or even to be treated equally because it's just not going to happen. Their job is to weed you out and they can and will get away with it. It does get a little easier after you graduate, but not a whole lot. A technique I used on instructors that were picking on me was to study real hard and come up with questions that were either very difficult or impossible for them to answer. They might decide that picking on you just isn't worth the price. But under no circumstances give them any reason to go after you.
Best of Luck

Sending my kids away is not an option. But I have found a new friend in Caffine. Mainly white chocolate Mocha. MM MM Good.

I am a male nursing student and plan to graduate this December. I was also in the military and I have never had to put up with the amount of B.S. in the military (and I thought that was bad at the time) as I do in nursing school. I have to say, however, I don't think much or any of it is due to my gender. I have some wonderful professors and some really bad ones.
During my first semester of clinical rotations, half of our class of about 72 failed. All four male students in my class passed. I'm not so sure all the men are passing this semester and we have had some previous male failures join my class since then, but none of them ever claimed they failed due to gender bias. They simply got low grades.
I do, however, see that many of the students (male and female) who were suspended from the program, kicked out, or held back were students that questioned the professors too much or somehow brought negative attention to themselves. I see my nursing program as being very political. You play the game or you lose. I don't know if that's a result of female management or just the mixture of personalities that came together to form this strange brew, but this is not my first educational experience and I have never seen anything like this before in other programs. I was warned by previous students to "lay low" and to "not question" instructors. This has worked well for me and other students that seem to have mastered this art. I hate to play the game but I know that it is only until I graduate...or is it? Most of the nurses I have worked with during my clinical rotations, all female, have been truely wonderful. The ones who have not been were not particularly nasty only to males as evidenced by the many female students have similar complaints about those particular nurses.
I guess what I am saying is that maybe it is not so much the fact that you are male as the fact that you "question" more than they think a student should. It's difficult for me, being 32 years old, to sit back and take all the crap they dish out, especially when they talk to you like you're a child but I just try to find the humor in the situation and laugh it up on the inside.
We do have some younger instructors who have voiced their frustration about the current administration and staff and many good ones have resigned. I can only hope that things will change for the better once the older generation retires along with their biases and stereotypes. Again, there are many good instructors of all ages but at least in my school, most of the particularly vindictive ones are older.

I work in the Hosp and am also a clinical instructor in OB and Peds. It really hasn't been a bad experience but for anyone who is a student all I can say is do what's assigned. There is lots of what looks like busy work and some is so simple. Where I do clinicals they do lots of little things for little points and there are those who skip those little things thinking what is 2-6 points. Well it can be a difference in passing or not if you aren't good at the tests for the big things.
One thing they ask at this school is to do bib posting on a discussion board..each in the clinical group HAS to post bibs and each has to DISCUSS the others articles. The one male post his articles late 2 of 4 times and didn't do discussions on 9 of the others. That's not to say it's all males but this one had already failed his last semester at another school for skipping a clinical day with and excuse of being sick then they saw him at work. The one male in my preceptor group hasn't done the required turn in the hours precepting and worksheets after each day..told me he'd e-mailed them to me, told me he'd send them again on a Monday got them on Wed with oh I forgot, turned in papers 5 days late....but it's just not the males. There are 4 females repeating this semester. There are also 4 who haven't gotten in their on call OB hours (males got theirs) but since I also work L&D I know that those 4 haven't called the unit on days there is no class to check if there are labor pts where they could finish the hours. OB rotation has been over going on 6 weeks now and there is only 3 weeks left to have all work done for graduation.

So making that long story short all I can say is do the work assigned. And yes there are instructors out there that are worse then others same as nurses better or worse then others.

HAHAHAHAHAHA I made it and passed her class. To top it off she screwed up and sent me an email with blatant discrimination. So now the assistant dean is "my advocate" and "She who hates men" (as most students are calling her) is back pedaling. I do thank all of you for the words of encouragement. So two semesters to go. Oh yeah I am getting married on June 2nd and going on a cruise on 5 June.

Life is good!!!!!!!!!!

I had the same trouble through school as well, not to mention that I was at a school that had only been accepting men since 1982. I wanted to go through nursing school there b/c of their rep with nursing (best in the state). I am also a single father as well as military. In light of juggling all that, I chose 4 years of nursing. There were several times throughout that I felt I was pit against. There were the pregnant class members who got anything but a backrub from the prof., but when my daughter had surgery, and I told them I had to leave early from clinicals (a few days in advance) I got the same ill remarks "don't let this happen again, this is your last free day" So I went the next year and a half (believe it or not) without missing a day of lecture or clinicals. All I can say is congrats and hang in there b/c nursing is so rewarding and the field is wide open for advancement. I am preparing to go back for my CRNA in Dec. (that is if I am accepted). I love my job!
..................................J

What state are you in Blessed? It is good to hear from others in my same boat. If it is any consolation, I continuously hear from both doctors and nurse supervisors taht they prefer men on the floor. Less Drama. I am not saying that is not the case for all men in nursing. But the consensus is that (at least in my limited contacts) that male nurses are prefered. As one doc put it, "they dont take the job home or let it eat them up as much". Anyone elses feelings on this?

~Adam

I'm in Mississippi. I agree to the last part of your post. I have noticed that SOME, not all female nurses tend to get caught up so much in their work, that they allow it to affect their personal lives as well. I have felt that I am maybe cold hearted to an extent, b/c I don't get too attached to my patients, and I shoot info to patient's families on how I would talk to my own. I have more compliments from this type nursing, and have had many families ask me "if it was your mother or father, what would you do?" So I honestly (without beating around the bush) tell them, of course after weighing in the dx, and possibility of them ever leaving the unit well enough to go home someday in the future. Anyway....J

hi! I am a Korean male nurse. In Korea male nurses are very rare about 1% of all nurses. I also was a military officer and now I am looking for jobs in New York. As you have seen, gender discrimination makes male nurses be hard. Cheer up! Even though we are a small group, we will be consideralbly contribute to special and general medical parts.

Good luck for you!

Well all is good here and thanks to everyones support!!!!

I realize that I am late posting into this thread but just joined the forums. I too am a male nursing student, 22 years as an LVN with a total of 33 years working surgery and ICU 2 years combat medic with one tour in Nam. I am taking my ADN and will graduate in May of 2006. I have seen over the years a great number of "Anti-Male" nurses and instructors and was sick to death hearing how men are the johnny come lately to nursing. Here is a simple historical fact for all the males in nursing or taking nursing classes. The women are the johnny come latelies to nursing. The first nurses were MEN in the Knights Templar.

As for how times are changing I see a great deal of support from female nurses now for males joining nursing. The anti-male crowd has thinned dramatically and IMHO they have dried up and withered away from their own hate and insecurity.

I'd like to think times are changing, however they've got a long way to go before they are completely "changed."

Male Call, Nurseweek.com:"Despite cultural bias and relatively small numbers, more men are making contributions to the profession and discovering its rewards. Statements like "Why are you only a nurse?" or "You're too smart to be a nurse" haunt male RNs. Yet most choose nursing school over medical school for the same reason female nurses say they made that career decision to work directly. When Mark Barnett's heating and air-conditioning company was sold and he lost his job, the Texas dad went hunting for a new career."
http://www.nurseweek.com/news/featur...0/malecall.asp
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We've got an ongoing thread on the topic here:
http://nursinghumor.com/nurse_forum/.../0/Number/3863

Andrew Lopez, RN
http://www.nursinga2z.com

I am a nursing student and a CNA and I feel like my profs go the extra mile to treat me like dirt because most of them have said they do not like CNAs and I am a guy one thing I find annoying is the fact so many of my prof talk down to me like I am a 2 year old my fellow students are doing it too alot of the time I am treated like a servant to the student when we are working in the hospital I was informed that I would be the last student to be evaluated for the clinical skills and if we ran out of time I would just be assigned a grade . Any ideas on how to diplomaticly deal with these problems my prof and my fellow students that seem to be turned against me the weeekly manbashing sessions that seem to rule our class time this is not what I paid for

Nursing requires dedication and attention to details. Sometimes, in a profession that has been dominated by one group of people for a long period of time will require you to demonstrate the ability to be better than your classmates.Why? To earn respect or show that you are not in the profession because you think its easier than medical school. Because your female counterparts have a longer history or affinity to the profession. I commend you on being a single parent and wanting to join the ranks of Nursing. However,understand the sacrifices involved to break into a traditionally female profession, as women who have been pionneers in male dominated professions know the challenges involved in earning the respect of their teachers and peers. It is a baptism by fire, that if you succeed leaves you changed for the rest of your life.Don't give up. I remember a teacher who told me at the beggining of my semester that she would fail me in my Maternal Child rotation, simply because I didn't have a uterus :eek: . I got past her and went on to get my diploma and pursue higher education. I realize now that she was only there to challenge my resolve to be what I wanted to be. Good Luck.

Adam,

As a prof I can tell you that discrimination is discrimination, period. The standard and equal treatment must be applied to all parties involved. If a prof is making exception in polices for one person, it must be granted for all parties. Most profs do there best to avoid even the appearance of special treatment. If you truly believe there is unequal treatment you need to document it and address it with the prof. If there is no resolution, then it needs to be forwarded “up the chain of command”. I do however recognized this is easier to state than accomplish. If you can tolerate this situation it might be best to do so, and the address it after the course it completed and hopefully help another male student that will follow in your foot steps.

Todd

Hi Adam,
Thanks for your update, though sorry to hear you are having trouble. Please bear the following in mind:
1) The CCNE (accrediting folks for schools of nursing) require a grievance procedure be in place: it should be found in your student handbook or on line. Use it! You are paying for your education, you have the objective data to support your case
2) If your institution receives federal money, they are forbidden to discriminate against anyone in a protected class: this includes gender. Trust me, your grievance will be followed up on
3) The vast majority of your co-workers are NOT like the faculty members you have experienced. Hang in there: graduation is the best revenge ;)
Best wishes,
Mongo

I have the same problem. I got sick and tired of being abused for trying to help people (I was a high school principal). I had been around medicine before and thought that nursing would be a good way to make a difference in the world. I too am supporting my family (2 kids and a wife). One instructor last semester disliked me from day one...why I do not know. She actually made some nasty comments about me. I thought they were just to my face. Now I find out she put them in writing as another woman is after my hide...I have 80 and 90 % in all of my science and humanities courses. My marks are much lower in the nursing ones. It is irritating because I already have a BA. a B.Sc. and a Masters degree. I am trying to be accomodating Heck I'd lick their boots if I had to (you just gotta do what ya gotta do so you can get out there and do something meaningful). I have even shown female class members how to do the work in our clinical setting (quietly and only at their request). But somehow I'm the loser. I just don't get it.

I came across this post that I made almost 10 years ago, so I figured I would give a little update to my travels. The professor in question told me I would never succeed as a nurse. Fast forward to today. I am a head nurse with a Masters in Informatics. I have worked throughout the specialties and management. The best part is that same professor recently became a clinical instructor on one of my floors for the University. The look on her face when I walked onto the floor and her boss introduced her to me was priceless. She was in shock and stated, "yes, we know each other." So the lesson to be learned here for nursing instructor’s, there is potential in every student and you never know when your paths will cross. On a side note I got married to a beautiful woman who is incredible as a mother to my children and to me. Plus she is way smarter than I am.

There are happy endings.

Glad to read of your success afrigger01. Good to read that you made an impact on that person. Give her something to think about.

Such an inspiring story!