Reply With QuoteLoved the article, thanks...been a male AND nurse for over 25 years...the only barrier I see for some men is the name, "Nurse"...which has def. gender bias....I think?
LOL
Thanks,
Randy, RN
Finally, an article that takes aim at the gender biased stereotype most commonly attributed to men in nursing! I read this & thought you guys might appreciate reading it & sharing it: http://medi-smart.com/topnews10.htm
It's a start right?
Loved the article, thanks...been a male AND nurse for over 25 years...the only barrier I see for some men is the name, "Nurse"...which has def. gender bias....I think?
LOL
Thanks,
Randy, RN
That's an interesting point Randy.. and I agree, the title does carry a gender bias. Here's an excercise for all you guys to get in on:
If we all could rename "Nursing" what new title could best describe ourselves, portray an image of professionalism within the medical community, and do away with the gender bias the name "Nurse" has come to portray??
I doent think nursing should not be renamed. I have been a male nurse for 12 years and I have great pride in my profession. The term nurse has great connotations. In time the ignorance of gender bias will dissipate for all professions and both sexes. I am sure their will be a few people left that will need a whack up side the headto change.
Hey Randy my man.. What gender were you...... 26 years ago....HMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM lolll
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.
This was a discussion I was in today. No matter even if 60% of all nurses were men, the word itself, nurse, is so feminine anchored. Actresses have become just actors, firemen have become firefighters, policemen are now police officers, but how can the word nurse really become gender neutral, when it particularly describes a female genetic function, as in nursing babies, when the film industry of past has built a large inventory of old fashioned white has nurse movies--that image is just a step away from that of a nun in some instances, not to mention, the porn industry is still cranking out white hat and white skirted nurses in all sorts of dirty nurse roles. It's all in the word.
What would nursing lose, if tomorrow there were Registered Healthcare Process Adminitrators and Licensed Healthcare Process Adminitrators, instead of today's titles of RN and LPN? Nothing, there would only be gains. And these job titles would still represent people working in the field of nursing. It's not just some guys who work as patient care techs, but won't work in a nursing home because--same job--they don't want to be called a nurse assistant. That's what, somebody who fetches the coffee grounds so nurse can make a cup of coffee for doctor?
Think of restaurants were a mixed waiting staff or all female staff are bascially practicing waitressing, coffee shops and casual diners tossing baskets and platters at people, and then think of where mixed staffs are practicing waiting, blacks pants and white tops, fine dining formal waiting, both male and female, but who is making more and who looks more professional? A lot of those same PCT guys will advance, but to some other tech position, avoiding the job title "nurse" in all ways. But they are working in the nursing field, just the same.
What is so prized about keeping such a gender connotated word in the job titles, when every other profession, if they didn't already have a gender neutral title, have now adopted them? As more women have become doctors, the word itself less and less conjures up an image of a male, although even the word "chairperson" might conjure up the image of a male more if were are talking about the chairperson of the defense procurement committee, and more a female image if we are talking about the chairperson of the PTA or school board. But it still isn't gender specific, which the word nurse, as long as women nurse babies and the bible speaks of nursemaids, will be.
Registered Healthcare Process Adminitrators, todays RN's if you must, are not doctor's assistants, they might work in a hospital fulltime, while some doctors might only drop by if and when they have a patient in the hospital. In that setting, they serve doctors and patients as customers, in other roles, they supervise things, perhaps determining what E.R. admissions will be shuffled off to which O.R.'s for various doctors to do their job. In a nursing home, it's mainly nursing, and if people need serious medical attention, we ship them out to a hospital, and if and when they return fixed and repaired, we continue the day to day job of nursing, assiting people to live, enjoy and thrive, or just survive, in their day to day lives.
Why hold the profession back, by insisting that the gender biased word "nurse" remain in job titles? PCT's work in the nursing field just as much, if not more so, than CNA's, right? Why not afford non-gender biased and gender neutral job titles to all of the positions in the nursing field? With such, who knows, today's nurse doctors, (few as they now may be,) might actually fill some future job role as general practioners, seperate from medical doctors who are forevermore increasingly specialized in their practices of medicine. Why hold the profession back, with images of nuns and white hatted nurses?
Until then, I prefer to be refered to as a man nurse! And if anybody dons their white hat for ceremony, me thinks I'll put on my steak-and-shake hat! Anyway, think of a name, Registered HealthCare Process Administrator, or just Registered HealthCare Administrator, whatever, it wouldn't change anything for the worse, only the better. A female RHPA could still wear a Pooh Bear scrub top if her job permits, just don't hold all the other professionals back with the archaic gender biased job titles any longer! Next to nothing would change for the worse, only for the better.
Okay, the white hats might have to go if somebody is really hung-up on them, same as the white skirts for ceremony perhaps, but when mostly just scrub pants are worn on the job anyway, come on, we aren't trying to look like some order of nuns anymore, are we? If so, I better put "ManNurse" on my resume, just to make sure I'm not mistaken for one of those! It's bad enough publicly being cited as a nurse who is a man, over and over again! What a surprise! Think it's got anything to do with the word "nurse" in the job title? PCT's, techs, have no problem with the fact that they are working in the field of nursing, there's no problem there. Let's solve if for the rest of the field, for the advancement of the profession!
You can't be serious!Registered Healthcare Process Adminitrators
When someone says to me, "I'm an administrative assistant" I think to myself,
"you're a secretary".
You can change the name but you aren't changing anything.
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Definitions of nurse on the Web:
try to cure by special care of treatment, of an illness or injury; "He nursed his cold with Chinese herbs"
harbor: maintain (a theory, thoughts, or feelings); "bear a grudge"; "entertain interesting notions"; "harbor a resentment"
serve as a nurse; care for sick or handicapped people
one skilled in caring for young children or the sick (usually under the supervision of a physician)
treat carefully; "He nursed his injured back by lying in bed several hours every afternoon"; "He nursed the flowers in his garden and fertilized them regularly"
nanny: a woman who is the custodian of children
breastfeed: give suck to; "The wetnurse suckled the infant"; "You cannot nurse your baby in public in some places"
wordnet.princeton.edu/perl/webwnA nurse is a health care professional, who is engaged in the practice of nursing. Nurses are men and women who are responsible (with others) for the safety and recovery of acutely ill or injured people, health maintenance of the healthy, and treatment of life-threatening emergencies in a wide range of health care settings.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nurse
I SEE ONE DEFINITION AMONGST MANY for the word NURSE
That references breastfeeding.
The rest simply refer to the caring for of others.
It's likely that it's your own personal view of the word nurse that has skewed your view of the word.
Past ignorance or bias in society has created a stereotype in some people so that they view the word nurse in a feminine light.
I totally disagree with changing the name. Instead, people should be educated as to what the word NURSE means.
Changing a job title to something politically correct and I'll be honest with you, something as ridiculous as Registered Healthcare Process Administrator is flat out wrong and the idea of such a change should be met with serious opposition.
Changing the name of your job does not change anything about the job. It doesn't change the way it is viewed by others. It doesn't make it any more respectable. It doesn't do anything but waste peoples time.
If you are a janitor for instance, and you change your job title to Director of Custodial Activities or Director of Janitorial Services, you're still doing the same job you were before. If people were disrespecting you, it was (well it was ignorant, but that's not the point) because of the job you did, not the "name" of the job you did.
The same goes for nurses, secretaries, etc.
Nurse An individual who provides health care. Taber's definition
Nurse A person who is skilled or trained in caring for the sick or infirm esp. under supervision of physician. Websters
The link provided in the initial post is broken so I couldn't read the article. But it was mentioned to change the title "nurse" to "Registered HealthCare Process Administrator, or just Registered HealthCare Administrator". Given the verbage, the convincing, the continued changes in nurse practice, and the old physicians who still use Windows 95, I think the title change wouldn't be flexible enough. It would take more than a man to change the title from "nurse" to "(something manly) nurse"; it would take a god.
Then it would need JCAHO's approval.
Face it, the name change is futile. Time to get back to work.
Re: Are You Man Enough To Be A Nurse?
I started my current phase of nursing, in a nursing home, as a noc shift nurse. The prohibition against any kind of physical restraint took some adjusting. I had worked in hospitals and was accustomed to using posey vests and soft cuffs on confused patients who were at risk for falling and injury. This was now not an option and sprinting into rooms when a personal safety alarm went off was frustrating, especially when it was happening over and over. I will always remember a demented gentleman who not only taught me to deal with this new situation, but gave me my favorite job title on the same night.
After firmly reminding this resident for the 7th or 8th time that he must not self transfer out of bed, I noticed that he was staring intently at my ID badge which identified me by name and title. I returned to the nurse's station and resumed my charting No more than ten minutes had passed when I heard the alarm again give it's high pitch squeal. My NAC's ran into the room ahead of me, as I was tied up signing out narcotics for another resident. When I had locked up the narcs, I followed them into the room where they were, once again, re-settling this man in bed. He looked at me suspiciously, but said only " I know, I know" The aides were smirking and obviously amused, I was not. I just repeated the caution about self transferring, When we left the room, both NAC's burst into laughter. they said that when they entered the room, this fellow was on all fours on the safety mat that we had place at his bedside earlier. He looked up at them and said, " I don't mind if you girls help me, but I am getting sick of that son of b**ch with a badge!"
Now...that's a title I could live with. Not a soft squishy nurse. But a rugged SOB with a badge. Sounds more like a gunslinger. I still hear co-workers(3 yrs later) comment...don't mess with him, he's no sweet, little nurse...he's the SOB with a badge."
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