Being a Male Nurse

[cranialnerves]

Great thread, guy's.

[OldSquidNewNurse]

In critical care, especially flight nursing; the split between males and females is pretty even, so I havent really felt the brunt of the judgement of the general public. Then again, I do have patient's family members every now and then that call out "Doctor"; and wonder why I dont turn around, lol.
They sometimes ask me, are you a resident or an intern, but that is about it.

Think of it like this fellas. If pulling in what we pull in makes us sissies, so be it. The truth is, nurses make good salaries, and rightfully so given the amount of time we have dedicated to training and the responsibilities we shoulder. I am proud to be a nurse, and when I enroll in med school; I will still keep my RN active, although I might not work that many shifts as an RN.

I usually get called doctor once per clincal rotation.

[Teeituptom]

You can call me nurse, you can call me male nurse, you can call me Sir, you can even call me Bubba. However, that does not change who and what I am. I am a nurse who golfs, or a golfer who nurses to support his golf.Or a nurse who golfs to mentally prepare himself to nurse.

With a little sky diving thrown in for excitement.

[Robert F]

a golfer who nurses to support his golf.

Ha. I love it. 5 stars!

[scarecrow]

I go by nurse, or male nurse, I tell people my first name only, I don't give them my last name for safety reasons, I'm your nurse for the day. Thats all. They need their medicine, treatments, really if you present your self as prepared and confidant you'll do fine. The world needs more male nurses. Welcome to the fold.

[SoldierNurse]

Scarecrow, IMHO the patients have a right to know your full name. You know the patient's full name. I'm surprised your not required to wear your employee badge in plain view?

[Teeituptom]

I take no issue with giving pts my full name. I am a good nurse and take good care of them and I do not worry at all about them knowing who I am. In fact I prefer they do know my name. So they know exactly who it is giving them good care. It is also simpler this way. I like simple. That is why I like GW Bush. You cant get any simpler than GWB.

[Ricu]

Hi folks,

I believe there are good points to be made on both sides of the full name displayed discussion. I use my full name on my badge and if they can't read it, don't mind people asking me what my name is. I have had a few experiences though, that have made me wonder if I'm being safe enough.

We all love to see former patients. Usually they stop in and visit us at work but on more than one occasion, I was contacted at home. Basically, I've been stalked, but in a good way. The communication was positive and I appreciated it but that it was uninvited and at home bothered me a little.

I work in ICU and as per usual, many patients die. The nurse interfaces with people in extreme conditions; grief, terror, guilt, you name it and it leaves an impact. Hopefully, a good one. Anyway, fortunately, I didn't have to do anything to end the contact but, what if it went on? What if the motive was revenge?

The bottom line is this, in both cases, these people found me by knowing my name. If it were just me by myself, it would be different but I have a wife and kids to think about. I know that I could change my number or have it unlisted but I'd rather not have to go through the trouble. It's what I will do if I get contacted at home again.

In cognito,

R

[Lvnguy]

Is anyone on-line a Male Nurse, or know someone who is?
I am a 35-year old male starting school in September working towards being an RN.
I was wondering if anyone has had any problems/issues working in a predominately female profession.
Any help would be great?

I am a male that works as a nurse. I provide nursing to males AND women though. As an LVN that is working on BSN, I find it to be to my advantage to be a male in nursing.

I am physicaly stronger, I am emotionaly more even keeled(dont have the ups and downs), dont get caught up in the petty stuff as easily as some, am often able to get patients to cooperate with me when they wont with a female nurse, am single and surrounded by intelligent and attractive women nurses all day.

I know some of what I listed sounds a little sexist but these are things that female nurses told me would be advantages before I even got into nursing and they were right. It is good to be a male in nursing. I believe being a male is one thing that helped get me my first job. The DON likes to have men on the floor as well as women each shift. Some patients prefer a male nurse and some prefer a female.

[studentoflife]

Hey Randy,

I don't know what all the fuss is in regard to the title of a Male Nurse, which I'm very proud to be. My Taber's Cyclopedic Medical Dictionary defines nurse as 1. An individual who provides health care. The extent of participation varies from a simple patient-care tasks to the most expert professional techniques necessary in acute life-threatening situations. The ability of the nurse to function in making self-directed judgments and to act independently will depend on his or her professional background, motivation, and opportunity for professional development.

The word "nurse" was not used until the thirteenth century. It originated from the Latin term to nurture. Translations of non-English works prior to the early 1900's typically used the term "nurse" when referring to male health care providers. The first nursing school in the world was started in India in about 250 BC. Only men were considered "pure" enough to become nurses. During the Byzantine Empire nursing was a separate occupation practiced primarily by men.

In the New Testament, the good Samaritan paid the innkeeper to provide care for an injured man. No one thought it odd that a man should by paid to provide nursing care. In every plague that swept Europe men risked their lives to provide nursing care.

A group of men, the Parabolani, in 300 AD started a hospital and provided nursing care during the Black Plague epidemic.

In 1808, Lazaro Orranti and Martin Ortega were two men employed as the nurses at a hospital in San Antonio. The hospital employed only men as nurses.

In the middle 1800's England became embroiled in the Crimean War, and the United States fought the Civil War. During the Civil War both sides had military men serving as nurses although we only hear about the Union volunteers, who were predominately female. The Confederate Army identified thirty men per regiment to care for the wounded. The Union also had men in the military serving as nurses. Men, including Walt Whitman, served as volunteers.

Today men are resuming their historical role as caring, nurturing nurses, just as some women are resuming their roles as physicians. After a century as a predominately female profession nursing is changing again. It will be interesting to see what happens in the next century.

Question, if during the Crimean War, England had male nurses, how come Florence Nightingale makes no mention of males as nurses. Actually, in her 1860 "Notes on Nursing: what it is and what is not" she states: "Every woman, or least almost every woman, in England has ,at one time or another of her life, charge of the personal health of somebody, whether child or invalid, --in other words, every woman is a nurse.".

Please, educate me. Have I missed or misread Miss Nightingale?