I am a male nursing student in the midst of my second year of schooling towards a degree. I find the underlying of most everything in this program to be oriented towards women, whether it be the lack of pictures of male nurses in the text books or the necessity of describing one's "feelings" for a good grade.
My working years, to date, have been in male oriented areas, and I am increasingly aware of the inequity of acceptance and opportunity available to men entering nursing. The stereotype of nursing being for "women only" greatly influenced me by decreasing my desire to be a nurse, for many years, and still at times I feel the subtle segregation of being one of only three males in a class of 26.
Positive promotion of men in nursing is absent. The most recent portrayals have been "Oswald" from "The Drew Carey Show", "Jack" from "Will & Grace", and Ben Stiller's character on "Meet the Parents", which have all had negative connotations attached to them.
I feel it is necessary to promote a "male-friendly" image of nursing that will encourage men to decide on nursing as a career option.
Opinions and comments on ways that this can be accomplished or on my experiences and thoughts would be appreciated.
I do not agree with how sitcoms portray male nurses, and even being a gay man myself, who happens to be a nursing student, instead of getting mad, I just have to look at it and laugh, because if I let it get to me - it will stop me from doing what I want to do.
I am one of 5 males in my class of about 150 and the only thing that gets me through are my friends and the fact that there is/was a woman out there who wants to enter a male-dominated field and she, just like us, will take the jokes, the puns, the put-downs, and the sexual orientation questions, because it's something she loves and when she gets that piece of paper in her hand whether she be a pipefitter, a welder, or construction worker - she, just like us, would do it all over again!
On A Side Note!!!
::: I know a few male nurses and they are hetero, and I am constantly hearing about how they get sick and tired of people thinking they are homosexual and that they always have to put the person who asked the question in their place...but what about the gay nurses who get asked the question and there responce is returned with, "Figures"... like just because we're gay, it's totally acceptable for us to be in a female dominated field. Like gay men are expected to be hair dressers, interior designers, wedding planners and nurses....
I don't want to upset anyone or start a huge fight via the internet, just wanted to throw out some food for thought.
Gosh having been a female nurse for 24 years I see a whole different picture....Male nurses being charge right out of school, going right into ICU, administration, many places female nurses have to work years to achieve. Not to mention that the docs rarely question male nurses judgement...We even told a male MD once that he did that and he didn't believe it and when it happened in the nurses station we pointed it out to him. He assessed his behaviour and agreed with us.. We had a great rapport with him and he worked on it...Also, most male nurses don't get called, honey, darling, and sweety...Conside that a plus....
I don't see a lack of promotion for male nurses at all.
BTW maybe you "guys" need to find a more upscaled channel on TV....
My previous statements about being a male nursing student where more directed towards the classroom dynamics than towards the clinical setting. The nursing program that I attend is designed and implemented by an entirely female faculty, and as a Collaborative program with several other colleges and universities, is also influenced by several other all female faculties. Therefore it only goes without saying that the program would be more favourable to a majority of females learning styles (and don't get up in arms over that comment because men and women are not the same nor usually learn the same ways). This has made it difficult to retain the few male students that start the program. In the first year we wrote several essays on our "feelings". If we did not do an adequate job, that met the female instructor's requirements, we got a poor mark. I know there are females who found these assignments difficult too. As a male, I was raised to never explain or share my feelings in great depths.
In the hospital setting I have not noticed any detrimental prejudices about my gender, but some on being a student. To date the majority of my clients have been over 50 and I do get the occassional comments of "Are you the doctor?" All seem pleased when I explain that I am a nurse that happens to be male. I do all I can to promote a positive image of the nursing profession and hope to do so throughout my career. I just want to carry on the tradition the title "nurse" stands for: Caring, Understanding, and Professionalism.
However................I am sure I can't be the only person that wonders why males make up such a small percentage of RNs in Canada. In 2002 there were 230,957 RNs total, with only 5.1% (11,796) being male. Before the term "nurse" came into being with Florence Nightengale, it was the male who did the majority of nursing, throughout history, for the sick and dying of the many wars and battles (ie. Holy Wars, front-line medics, pre-Crimean War).
Can someone explain to me though, why is it that 44.7% of the male RNs work in Quebec? Is there some benefit to working in this province or recruitment strategy that the other provinces don't know about?
i get asked all the time what my major is in school .i tell them nursing ,then i hear your awfully manly to be a nurse.then they ask me if im gay .i just tell them no.
I agree with you about the part where nursing schools designed for female students.
I'm female, all my instructors were female, and only one student in my year was male.
I'm sure he felt terribly left out, especially when EVERY time one of the instructors spoke about "a nurse" it was always accompanied by "she" or "her".
I too suffered through the "explain your feelings" papers and hated them. I'm not one to share my feelings on paper, and I can honestly see how many men would have a worse time of it than the majority of females.
It is in our culture that males are stoic and silent -- "feelings" are for women to share. Despite what may be said about "men have feelings too", many men have been raised, as you say, to remain silent about your feelings. It's not easy to overcome societal norms or values/beliefs we were raised with.
A friend of mine who recently had to stay in the main Calgary hospital had a nurse tell her that she felt that, in todays Nursing Programs, at times they (the Nursing Program instructors) were so busy teaching the students philosophy and how to communicate their own feelings that some of the medical and nurse-patient communication instructions got pushed to the way-side. I'm not sure how much of this I agree with, since there is governing bodies for nursing competencies and standards, BUT....I do think that there is a lot of emphasis on students having to express their own feelings, which I don't believe is necessary. I felt vulnerable sharing my feelings in papers or group discussions and would often make up stuff just to jump through the proverbial hoops and make the instructors happy. I can well imagine that this is difficult for you Krebs.
There was two male students in my class. I was lucky to be able to call them both "friend". I was capable of receiving insight into case-studies that were unique and allowed me to expand my own way of thinking. The best part was that I never had to guess what they were thinking as they were always upfront with me. Never did I hear from others stuff that was being said about me by them (although this type of behaviour ran rampant through the female portion of the class).
The male student I was closest with told me that he was asked by instructors on a couple of occasions how it felt to be a male in a female run program. I know they never asked the one female we had in the class who was of South American descent what it was like being Hispanic in an otherwise Caucasian class. Prejudice is prejudice.
I don't know if there is any way of making the Nursing programs more gender neutral. I have heard from male nurses I work with that a big personal barrier for them was the name "Nurse" and that they would feel more comfortable with a job title that was less intertwined with with a feminine mentation. Could that work? Possibly? Would that ever happen? NO! You would have way too many people up in arms about the "pride entailed in having the title "nurse"!"
My son once said to me (at age 5) that there were two types of nurses, nurses and MALE nurses. He had thought that since I had always made this gender distinction that it must be due to an actual difference in jobs. I learned that day to never differentiate by gender again, and still don't to this day. I do, in this post, only to clarify.
I also believe that prejudices in programs are not always only gender specific but also sometimes appearance and age related too. I have faith that it will all eventually change.
Tried to participate in the big chat but only got a grey screen so I thought I'd respond to this message board . I've been a RN for 24 years befor that I was a respiratory therapist for five years til I decided that RN's could do a lot more than I was limited to.Male RN's have always been a small minority in health care ;but it's getting better every year there are more and more men choosing to become RN's. Sometimes the"feelings and communicating" are difficult for guys who through thier role models and mores don't have much to draw on when we try to "get sensitive" I rememberhow bad I didn't want to go through ob/gyn I thought what a waste of time and was not looking foreward to any of it. my first patient was a young woman who just moments befor I arrived had been brought back to her room after losing her baby,I sat and talked/cried with her for over an hour and validated her loss and grief and i held her hand and wiped her brow with a cool cloth as she rested i went out to talk with my instructor.Her doctor and her parents arrived they were focused on telling her she was ok don't worry about anything ,your young you can still have another baby then they got upset about me talking to her about her grief apparently they believed she should not talk about it at all.I knew I had done what needed to be done and my instructor backed me up completely,I think that was the start of my 20 years as a psych nurse and I've never regretted it.tood luck peace Tom
Hey krebscycle, Join the party...female nurses have traditionally had a poor image portrayed on TV programs also...it has gotten better but, and I didn't say I liked it...but it's a fact.
I don't wear heels and revealing clothes. I don't make time with all the docs. I'm not there looking for r ahusband...all things that they protrayed nurses to be.
We're glad you're here. We can only be the best we can be and keep on going.
You're always going to have some kind of predjudices--at work, home, play, etc.
I've been there and took home the t-shirt (or scrub top) during my last 8 years in nursing. [censored], if I would have let it bother me, I wouldn't have made it through the first semester of RN school.
I will agree with the original post that nursing and nursing education does have a DEFINATE female overtone.
BTW....did y'all notice the nursing recruitmetn posters that J&J put out last year? They had good representation for males!!
Hello,
I am a first year male nursing student in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. I either get asked if I am gay or a pervert... I guess it is funny the first 100 times you hear it, but it gets tiring really quickly. I also do not like how male nurses are portrayed in the media (Jack in Will and Grace, and Gaylord Fokker in Meet the Parents). Regardless of whether or not you are Gay, Straight, Male or Female, I think we all are capable of providing health care. I look forward to contributing to this forum in the future. Until then, thanks for setting up a place I can post my opinions...
Here in the great state of Arkansas, where there is at least 2 pickup trucks in every yard with a washing machine on every porch, I only get that attitude from a few people. one nursing instructor had it out for men, but her statement in a class that, "Men should never enter nursing because they could not make good nurses", got her a different job. Hek we have big old rednecks that are nurses. I think some smart a....
would be intimidated to ask the "gay" question.
It is just a few stupid, uneducated, low self esteem, sexually insecure, self absorbed jerks ask the "gay" question. The question should be, "Are you a good nurse?"
As I go through different nursing programs LPN, RN, BSN(grad student now) I've always felt females held an advantage over males in just about every situation. I don't know if that will ever change but I don't see it changing anytime soon. It just goes with the field I have chosen.
Welcome to the wonderful world of being a minority. Good news for you though, as soon as you walk out of class you are no longer a minority. I do not have that luxury. I'm most often the only Black person in my classes. I'm used to being the only Black person in alot of situations but for some reason this has been different. Nursing is now focused on understanding your culturally diverse patients. Which I think is great but learning about it in class is not so great. For instance, in my development class, the subject was on child rearing. The book said something to the effect that generally Black people raise their children with an iron fist. It was stated in a totally negative way. As if we were wrong. I on the other hand feel that many other races are too lax in the way they raise their children. During the class discussion, everyone talked how they were raised. I said my piece and my instructor rolled her eyes and made no comment. She went on the next student, like I had said absolutely nothing. So in class I've felt really alone.
At work, I was the only Black person until recently. It was awhile before I really realized it because I feel like such a part of the group. In class, however it is so different. I can't put my finger on it. I have never felt like this. I feel like me and the other stuents are from different sides of the world. I guess I'm saying I know how you feel.
I suppose it all depends on where you go to school. I was fortunate to attend an excellent BSN program in which my class was comprised of 6 guys out of 23 students. Our instructors, for the most part, were pro-feminist, pro-men in nursing. (There was one who tended to make some people miserable - but she didn't discriminate).
We're going to come up against the "you're a male nurse" question. It's inevitable. I simply respond "As opposed to a female nurse?" which then usually starts a conversation about stereotypes and/or career choices.
As far as the necessity for describing one's "feelings" - nursing is about caring for the patient holistically. It may be difficult for many men to talk about their feelings, but, there are certainly times when even stoic, emotion-suppressing men will be moved to tears in this profession. I work in pediatric critical care.... and we've all cried once or twice - men, women, nurses and doctors.
Stick it out! It's a great profession. It pays well, and I only work 3 days a week! (And join your professional organization! Nursing is only as good as we make it!)
I just saw an ad in the Dallas Morning News that had a picture of a little girl playing with a doll, and the caption read, "Have you always known you were a nurse?" That made me laugh out loud....
I am going to begin nursing classes this August. I've been working at a large hospital here since January this year. I get some attitude from a few people, but not often. When I do, it can be pretty tough. The first assumption is always if you are male and going into nursing, you must be gay. Of course, there are all sorts of questions about going on to medical school and so fourth. I think we have to overlook people's preconceptions and do the very best work possible.
