Newbee;
I have been reading the posts and thinking what I could give you as advise because I know exactly how you feel about being embarrassed about being a male nurse. I, too was embarrassed especially after meeting my wife who is a doctor and socializing with her peers. I found myself wanting to make excuses for why I was not a doctor too, or why I hadn't tried medical school. Then, I found that those people whom I was embarrassed in front of were not with me when I was holding the hand of the lady who was dying, or the young man who was in a motorcycle accident and now in the ICU in the middle of the night scared and needing a friendly voice. Or when the family who needs to understand what is going on with their loved one and they are upset because the doctor said something they couldn't understand and walked off. I was there to help them understand the things we were doing and the status of their loved one who lay motionless with IV's, monitors, art-line, etc. They were so scared but relieved when they understood more about what we were doing for them. They were not there when as an ER nurse I delivered a baby on a gerney as it was rolling into the OB unit. They were not there when I could see and understand the data from the monitors which show the trends of my patients vital signs and knowing they are in trouble and in need of calling their doctor in the middle of the night to come in. They were not there when the doctor thanked me for alerting him to a situation that needed to be taken care of immediately. They were not there as I cared for three ICU patients knowing I had the skill and experience necessary to do the job. In other words the embarrassment flew out the window in comparison to what I am and what I can do as a nurse. The position we, as nurses, are in for our patients and their families is very unique within the medical profession. To be there to help them cope with an overwhelming situation they find themselves in. To give of self from the deepest levels of my soul to another human being out of caring and love is not something I am embarrassed to do. I am proud to be a nurse. My parents wonder why I am called a male nurse and not just a nurse. They say women are not called female nurses, why call me a male nurse. When you find what it truely means to be a nurse, then you will never be embarrassed to say you are a nurse. Most of the doctors whom I once was embarrassed in front of, wouldn't have the stomach to do what I do as a nurse. You should be proud of what you can do and what you can give to others in their times of need. Nurses are the only ones who are there 24/7 where we bond with our patients like no other in the medical field if we allow ourselves to do so. Are you going into nursing for a job or a career? As a job it pays ok, sometimes pathetic, sometimes well. As a career, nursing is NOT just women's work. It is a career for caring people.[font=Comic Sans MS]Text[/f]