Male Nurses

I was catching up with an old high school friend last weekend. He graduated last year with a BSN and now works as an RN (and no, he is not gay) for a major hospital over in South Carolina. I had heard that nurses were really in demand now and so I was kind of curious how much he was making. He said it depends. His base rate was $25/hr, but he gets an extra $10/hr for weekend hours; $6 for evenings and nights. And he tries to usually work about 10-15 hours overtime on the weekend to lock in time-and-a-half on the extra $10 differential.

Holy Jesus! I wasn’t aware RN’s were getting paid that kind of money. Now I’m kind of curious what everyone thinks of male nurses. Obviously I’m posting this here because this is a heavily male oriented website, but I’m also equally curious to hear opinions from women.

So I have some questions for everyone:

*What’s your opinion of men being nurses? Do you think men should be nurses?
*Do you think choosing to be a nurse makes a man seem less manly? Less sexy?
*If a guy told you he was a nurse, would you automatically begin to wonder whether he was gay or not?
*Are you/would you be comfortable being medically cared for by a male nurse?
*Would there be medical situations where you would not be comfortable? (Reproductive health issues, child birth, what about for your wife?)
*If you were given the choice between a female or male nurse, would you have a preference?

For medical professionals:
*If you’re a doctor or a female nurse - Do you view male nurses differently? Do you think any of your co-workers treat male nurses differently? Are they looked over for promotions more so than female nurses? Are they given different duties on the job?
*If you’re a male nurse - SPEAK UP!

I know a bunch of male nurses. Most are pretty cool. None of them are gay as far as I know.

[quote]Tithonus81 wrote:

So I have some questions for everyone:

*What’s your opinion of men being nurses? Do you think men should be nurses?[/quote] Of course, why the hell not? It’s a job like any other. [quote]
*Do you think choosing to be a nurse makes a man seem less manly? Less sexy?[/quote]

I think being concerned with your “sexiness” is probably a bigger issue in itself than wondering how it would seem to others if you chose a living as noble as nursing. [quote]
*If a guy told you he was a nurse, would you automatically begin to wonder whether he was gay or not? [/quote]

How insecure are you? How shallow? How superficial? Who do you hang out with that you wonder these things? [quote]
*Are you/would you be comfortable being medically cared for by a male nurse?
*Would there be medical situations where you would not be comfortable? (Reproductive health issues, child birth, what about for your wife?)
*If you were given the choice between a female or male nurse, would you have a preference? [/quote]

I’d always prefer the nurse who knows what they’re doing, respects my condition and provides their service with some degree of compassion. That said, it wouldn’t hurt if my nurse was an attractive, athletic, curvey little vixen to boot…[quote]

For medical professionals:
*If you’re a doctor or a female nurse - Do you view male nurses differently? Do you think any of your co-workers treat male nurses differently? Are they looked over for promotions more so than female nurses? Are they given different duties on the job?
*If you’re a male nurse - SPEAK UP![/quote]

My wife is a nurse and she makes almost $50 an hour, and I believe starting nurses are about $37 and up. And they are in demand!
For your questions about males being gay and such. No, I wouldn’t worry about it at all because there are many males going into the nursing field.

And preferring a male over a female, I would take whoever is more qualified for my situation. Unless it was
XXX star TERA PATRICK, she had a nursing degree.

I’ve had several friends who were nurses. Most of them preferred the ER, flight nursing and one is now a CNA. I also know a few who are pharm. or med. product reps. Alot you can do with the degree. My mom is a NP and has worked with a doc and is now going to teach. Good Luck.

My father spent 22 years as an OR nurse in the Army. He’s been retired for almost 20 years now. He really enjoyed the job.

I work at a hospital and there are a lot of male nurses there. not as many males as females, but there are quite a few. They are mostly pretty cool and can do somethings that most female nurses cannot like helping move people and things that require more strength.

They went to school just like the females, so they deserve and receive the same respect.

I am amazed there are still people who see being a nurse as a “female job”. You would think that by 2006, that would have died down more than this. When I was in high school, I believe the average income in Texas for an RN was about 65,000 a year.

“Hows your portflio?”
“I’d say strong, to, quite strong.”

God damn! Too bad I’m a wimp when in comes to blood and guts. And needles terrify me!

I’m reminded of the old Bill Cosby routine, “Tonsils,” where while in the hospital he calls to a nurse “Hey, you! Almost a doctor!”

Nurses aren’t there to scrub bedpans. They are medically trained individuals who are responsible for making happen a lot of things that need to happen. I respect anyone with the knowledge and the dedication to use it in difficult situations like they might find in a hospital. Their gender is irrelevant to me.

When I did my ER clinical time for my EMT class, I worked with a male nurse that was very good at his job and had the respect of the other nurses and the docs as well. I seen quite a few male nurses in my clinicals and they weren’t looked at any differently than the female nurses.

Meet The Parents did not do the whole male nursing thing any justice.

I know a few nurses. One is a guy in his early thirties working in oncology. Working around death to that degree is getting to him. After watching someone bleed to death through their mouth he is looking for a new specialty. He is married with a new baby. He’s in a small town so pay is ok, but nothing spectacular.

I also have an ex who was a traveling nurse. She did 3 month stints in the delivery room of a hospital, then picked up and move away. Sort of a gypsy, but made good coin though.

Last but certainly not least is my dad’s wife. She is an operating room nurse doing open heart surgeries. Makes huge bucks, and she is truly at the top of her game. She is close to 60 and now only works when she wants to, and doesn’t when she doesn’t. She and dad are currently biking across Ireland.

I’m a RN, I enjoy it. There are so many areas you can go into, I work in home health because I’m not into the high stress ER type jobs- I got all that out of my system from working as a medic/firefighter. Nursing jobs pay well and you NEVER have to worry about being out of work.

[quote]Tithonus81 wrote:

*What’s your opinion of men being nurses? Do you think men should be nurses?
*Do you think choosing to be a nurse makes a man seem less manly? Less sexy?
*If a guy told you he was a nurse, would you automatically begin to wonder whether he was gay or not?
[/quote]

Dude, check your calendar. Does it say 1957? If not, why are you even asking this stuff?

Dude, they get to work with chicks. What’s so gay about that?

I graduated with a computer science degree a couple years back. I worked for a bit and recently decided to go back to school for nursing. It was probably the best decision I ever made. I didn’t have any of the superficial concerns that you have but I guess that’s because I’m more secure than you might be. I just finished my first semester and trust me if you get over the insecurities you won’t regret it.

First off, the ratio of female to male students is around 18 to 1. Do the math brother and you’ll realize fugly or not fugly you are sexy by default. Second, just from observation and from experience male nurses/male students get treated better by the hospital staff and patients. Don’t ask me why, it just is. I can go on and on with reasons why anyone male or female should be a nurse… But ultimately if you’re doing this simply for the money (65-70k starting in NYC) you probabaly won’t make it through that first semester. The drive has to be deeper than that.

Are female doctors lesbians?

Nothing gay about being a male nurse.

This is such a non-issue honestly, I’m surprised it’s such a big deal to you. If you’ve ever worked in a hospital, it’s completely meaningless. If you ever end up in any part of the hospital besides the stay overnight beds, the options are either either old women or men anyways. Whichever floats your boat.

[quote]Tithonus81 wrote:
*What’s your opinion of men being nurses?[/quote]

Fine by me.

No.

No clue.

No. A male acquaintance told me he was a nurse, and that did not occur to me.

Yes.