From my observations, men below the age of 25 are reluctant to enter the field of nursing. The trend remains that more men between the ages 25 and 30, who have been working in other fields, are filling the ranks.
Unfortunately, male nurses entering the field have to deal with the press' portrayal of them - that all male nurses want is a "free show." But, really, ask any nurse, and the male/female issue is mostly fabricated by the media - and not rooted in reality.
As male nurses, we can change this misconception by showing a true love for what we do.
I want to see a better push towards equality in health care. We should not be treated as "nurse maids" to doctors. Many nurses see their work as changing a life or giving a hand to those who need help.
For the ten minutes the doctor spends, it takes me 25 minutes to care for the same patient - and that's only if I am not asked to stop and take orders from a doctor on the phone. And even then, the doctors sometimes hang up on you. I say to myself, "Go ahead, hang up so you can finish your dinner, or your golf game, while I am caring for this patient right now."
Male nurses, like female nurses, also have to face the instability of the nursing profession. If we do not stop all other parts of health care from dictating our course, we will again never see a true profession with a true voice.
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May 15th, 2008 at 10:25 pm
I commend all nurses for all the hard work they do. However, there is an element of the population that should be afforded the choice of nurse gender. This element of the population are the sexually abused and the sexually abused where the abuse happened in a hospital or a medical setting. When this happens, there is a loss of trust creating anxiety in an alrady ill patient. Some of these victims have ptsd. Imagine you’re having a stroke and the hospital is trying to force male employees on you for your intimate needs. You don’t hear about most of us because we neglect our health and would rather be dead than to enter into an element like hospitalization where the possibitties for humiliation are endless. It’s time the medicl community put the needs of the patients ahead of an employees right to work.
May 16th, 2008 at 8:58 am
The patient always has the right to choose who will care for them and in which manor that cares will be delivered. This week I had a patient that wanted a female and I traded with one of the ladies to meet this need.
In your response the problem is that you have placed me like other males in the “sexual predator” role again. Many patients have been victims of bad people from nurse aids, to doctors, to nurses but, have you not noticed that when it is a male nurse it will make the national news, yet when it is a female it really does not get as much play.
I feel bad for any patient or person that is made to do anything they do not want to do, but I am proud of the care I give to patients of all sexes and ages because I am not a “sexual predator” nor do I force my care onto any patient. No I am a father, husband, brother and most of all I am a nurse
May 22nd, 2008 at 7:17 pm
“In your response the problem is that you have placed me like other males in the “sexual predator” role again”
I disagree with your comments Jerry – I thought Marjorie was talking about the patient’s feelings and fears – not commenting on the type of nurse you or I might be. I don’t think she was even considering that male nurses might actually be sexual predators but that it is not right to force gender insensitive care on patients.
We’ve done this debate at length before and so won’t repeat it here (for fear that even more nurses display their ignorance and shallow empathy to the world) but I am generally confused with your article that is declaring to present a homogenous issue of male nurse trends – yet just speaks of a couple of old nursing issues that effect nurses in general.
June 18th, 2008 at 3:54 pm
the patient always should have the choice but the question that I am posing here is, why does this not occur in doctors like, ie male gynecologists?
Because they are used to doctors being men?
because doctors are viewed as more professional?
Is it a bias against nursing as a profession?
thats my point !
June 18th, 2008 at 3:59 pm
another thing… i love it that men are in nursing. The reality of nursing today is that its a tough job requiring brains, hard work and assertiveness to advocate for your patient, emotional toughness. it is well suited toward men (as well as women). Its not the same job anymore as it was 50 years ago. As the world is the way it is:
MEN coming into nursing profession is maybe what we finally need to get some respect, decent pay, recognition.
just my opinion!
June 19th, 2008 at 7:27 pm
Cali: “but the question that I am posing here is, why does this not occur in doctors like, ie male gynecologists?”
It should. But I cannot speak for how the medical profession chooses to run itself.
Cali: “MEN coming into nursing profession is maybe what we finally need to get some respect, decent pay, recognition. just my opinion!”
A sad, but probably true, indictment of how sexist our society remains – “As the world is the way it is”.
July 21st, 2008 at 7:16 pm
As for gynecologists and obstetricians, we are just now beginning to see a large enough number of female gynecologists and obstetricians for women to HAVE a choice…until the past couple decades men dominated the world of physicians also and now the enrollment in medical schools is 50/50 or MORE female! And with everyone going “doctor shopping” now (there’s even specific websites set up for this) that shouldn’t be an issue anymore. Women should be able to pick a female OB/GYN if they so choose. As for abuse victims, I do agree that patients should be able to choose, but it may also show them that not all men are bad or “predators” if they have a kind, helpful, caring male as their nurse in their time of need. It may also make them anxious as you say, but I think it definitely depends on the victim and on the situation. There’s no definitive solution. All that us “male nurses” can do is show them that we’re good people who are professional and only there to help and do our jobs well.
June 24th, 2010 at 12:04 am
Mr Ian, Thank you for the support. I was totally speaking of how a victim of sexual abuse might feel when confronted.
I am very ill at the current time and had to go to the hospital. My doctor arranged a female team.
Male techs came in to take my vitals. The BP was over the top and I thanked them, explained my situation and advised that it would be medically necessary to send in a female to get an accurate reading. Everyone was polite, as was I, very understanding and the blood pressure came way down.
Let’s say for example that someone has PTSD as a result of medical sexual abuse. Subjecting this person to opposite gender care when bodily exposure is necessary is the same as asking a person in a wheelchair to get up and walk if they want their medical care. These patients sometimes dissociate, feel re-traumatized and because the opposite gender care is against their will, nothing more than another sexual assault. These patients cannot tolerate feeling degrading and humiliated. They don’t want to be viewed undressed in front of male caregivers.
There is a big difference between choosing your personal doctor and being confronted by strangers in a medical situation.
What other environment could a victim return to the scene (the hospital), be asked to wear what they were wearing at the time of the abuse (a hospital gown), and then asked to expose her body in front of strange men?
Also, today the operating room is where you are prepped for surgery. Please tell me why it’s acceptable to shave a person in front of a whole room of mixed gender personnel while they are awake? Why can’t this be done in private?
Lastly, people are traumatized all the time over these psycho social issues. This is the foundation of the Patient Bill of Rights. What kind of trusting environment is there when patients are still lied to, women are subjected to intimate group exams without being told and informed consent is a joke when handing patients consent forms after anesthesia has begun?
Marjorie Starr