Men In Nursing - This is a pretty good article on males in the nursing profession. It's an old article, but I just found it so I figured it was worth posting.
Men In Nursing Good article. Puts men in nursing in a good light. it seems so true about most male nurses background and past careers. The article was so true about people not having a clue about nurses and what is involved in nursing. many think we are subservient chickens and not skilled. I think I will print this article and place it in a few of out waiting rooms.
Thanks
To whom it may concern,
I read the article. In some ways, it describes me exactly. Except I am not a nurse! I've been thinking about going into nursing. I do not know if I am posting in the right forum. So my apologies if I am not.
I am a Canadian preently working in South Korea. I may good money here, but I am TIRED of dealing with the anti-americanism (people say %&^*-you to your face, on the street. Korea is second only to the middle east in terms of anti-Americanism.) Now, under NAFTA, it is fairly easy for Canadian nurses to work in the states. Becoming, I think, would give me a good, stable job and let me live back in North America again.
I would like to ask you guys a few questions if I may.
1) I've heard that male nurses are sometimes preferred in hospitals because, rightly or wrongly, they have more physical stamina, and hence have less trouble "man-handling" patients, picking them up, moving them, etc. Is this true?
2) How much vacatin do nurses generally get per year? Do they get at least two weeks?
3) I would really like to be a nurse in Alaska. I am originally from British Colombia so I love the North West. Do they get paid well in Alaska? I've tried to find out, but can't. Can anyone tell me how I could look into this?
4) The University or British Colombia has a program that gives you a BSN. Does a BSN allow you be be a RN upon graduation or do you need something else?
Any other thoughtful advice you could give me about male nurses would be GREALTY appreciated!
Trevor
Trevor,
#1 I hate it when people think men should do all the heavey lifting in a hospital. Good body mechanics allow most people male or female to lift adequately. And now with back injuries increasing in nursing many wonderful patients lifts are available and utilized.
Men can work in almost any area they chose. And I disagree with some hospitals not allowing them in OB etc. Male doctors are in OB?????
#2 Usually after your first year in nursing you will have accumulated two weeks of vacation if you haven't used any of it previously.
#3 Try this site..
www.homestore.com I believe they have a salary comparison tool there. If not just type in salary comparison in your addy bar and you should get some sites to help you.. Alaskan real estate and housing costs, food etc is high so take that into consideration.
#4 If you want to work in the USA mostly IMHO I would go to an American College because as I understand it Canadian educated nurse and citizens are finding more and more roadblocks put up to their being able to practice in the US.
And yes you are fully qualified to work as an RN post BSN graduation and passing of the NCLEX exam or it's equivalent in Canada which I don't know the name of ...
Personally, I would rather work with male nurses.. They don't tend to whine nearly as much as female nurses..IMHO..
They get the job down and that's that.
WR,,, three commas for Becca
A friend is someone who knows the song in your heart and sings it back to you when you have forgotten how it goes.
P.S. I am a female nurse....Just in case you wanted to know.
Guys (and others) I'm building a web site for and about men in nursing,
www.nurselookup.com . I'm a grad student and would enjoy feedback! If I could get some type of article submission going on the site I'm totally open to suggestions.
Raymond, great web site. Love the hx of nursing. Kind of Revisionary history to the old crows that do not think men should not be in nursing should read.
Hello Ray,
I just took a quick look at the web site and I think that it's going to help me a lot! I'm in the process of finding out what classes I need to take to become a nurse. I think that I'll be referring to it a good deal.
Thanks,
Butch
Guys, thanks for the feedback, let me know how I can make the site better for you!
Howdy Ray,
Like the site and will look often to see what's new on there. How do you like informatics? I am looking in that direction eventually when my brains gets ready to tackle school again?
Sean
I've tried to answer but my post didn't make it. I suggest if you can read this PM me with any questions.
I can't tell you how happy I was to find your web site today. I am a new nursing student, accepted into a very competitive program starting in August. I go online every day and look for as much information about men in the nursing field as possible. Bless you for making this site possible.
I just looked at your site. I find there is a lot of good information. Thanks I'll be checking back.
Being a Psych RN, I can tell you that most of the women I work with are happy when I'm on. The stereotyped male RN is fading and men are being accepted right along with their female counterparts. This is a good thing. Each gender offers their own unique perspective the other can learn from. I have a nephew who just returned from Iraq who is going to re-enlist to become a nurse in the Army.
Thanks Ray. As a current student, this is a definite "book mark" site.
Here is a sample of a term paper I submitted in the University of Texas, at Galveston RN-BSN program, which I recently completed with a 3.756 GPA. Yes, I'm a Male RN, both civilian & USAR.
________
Lessons can be learned from military nursing in regard to the high percentage of men in all three services. In Boivin’s article (2002) on men in military nursing concluded the chances of having an all – male team of RNs is more than five times as likely to occur in the military. Boivin reported that in the Army 35.5% of the nurses are men, in the Navy 36% are men, and in the Air force 30% of the nurses are men. A camaraderie exist between the military nurses and physicians. In the military nurses hold the rank of officer same as the military physicians. Boivin found that while they don’t list it high on the reasons they became military nurses, men do admit being in the military carries less of a stigma than the still – stereotyped image of civilian male nurses.
Most men in military nursing are in the fast paced specialties. In the Army, 67% of Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist (CRNA) are men, 40% of Operating Room (OR)nurses are men, 34% of Emergency Room (ER) nurse are men, and 29% of critical care nurses are men (Boivin, 2002). However, the military has not always been so receptive. Male nurses in Word War II were not allowed to serve as nurses, even though they were trained RNs. In fact, men were not allowed to serve in the military as nurses until the Vietnam War (Domrose, 2003).
________
BTW, I received an "A" on the paper. My focus in the paper was the current nursing shortage & by increasing the number of men in nursing would help alleviate some of the shortage. I won't bore ya'll any further with the details of my paper.
