Ever thought about going into Nursing but decided not to...

[isasir]

If my IT career doesn't work out, I think I'd give some thought into becoming a nurse. The position is highly in demand, pays pretty well, and you only work 3 days a week (12 hr. days though) most of the time. Plus that whole thing about helping to save lives is cool.

The main issue with nursing for me is that it's a heavily female-oriented profession. As a straight male with typical male ego problems, I have trouble seeing myself as a nurse.

 

[DainBramaged]

Perfect way to show you are secure in your masculinity.

Edit: Not to mention I'm sure there are plenty of single nurses who love the fact that you LOVE helping people.

 

[dawnbug]

But you could pick up so many chicks!

 

[DaShen]

Cousin is studying to be a nurse. He is one of the coolest guys I know.

 

[scorpmatt]

nursing, whoa, that's not what I thought when I read that. That deffinately is a women-dominated profession

 

[Patt]

I know three male nurses, and they all love their jobs. They're not always sure about the women they work with, but overall they made a good career decision for them. One is on a dialysis unit, one is intensive care and the other is in orthapaedics.

 

[isasir]

Well I've been seeing the same girl for over two years, so picking up women isn't something on my mind right now, but yeah, I know quite a few hot nurses.

I have no qualms admitting a bit of insecurity about going into that field, much like I don't mind admitting that I'd still consider doing it, if my IT career didn't work out.

 

[MagicConch]

At one point teaching was like that too to some degree and now there are a lot of male teachers.

 

[vi edit]

If that's your biggest hang up on nursing, then you haven't researched the field well enough.

It's a completely thankless job that often requires you to work *hours* after your shift ends. Depending on the floor/unit you are on you don't get dinner breaks or a chance to hit the john. Since you are male, you'll be called on every opportunity to lift the 400+ pound porkers in and out of bed. You'll be asked to restrain the patients that start to freak out. When you go home you'll have your shift supervisor calling you every hour asking you if you want to come back in for over time hours/extra shifts.

And in the end you'll get yelled at by patients. You'll get yelled at by patients families. You'll get humiliated by power tripping Doctors. You'll get reamed by Pharmacy for screwing up the dosing. And then you still have to put up with the catty/bitchy other women you have to work with.

 

[isasir]

Originally posted by: vi_edit
If that's your biggest hang up on nursing, then you haven't researched the field well enough.

It's a completely thankless job that often requires you to work *hours* after your shift ends. Depending on the floor/unit you are on you don't get dinner breaks or a chance to hit the john. Since you are male, you'll be called on every opportunity to lift the 400+ pound porkers in and out of bed. You'll be asked to restrain the patients that start to freak out. When you go home you'll have your shift supervisor calling you every hour asking you if you want to come back in for over time hours/extra shifts.

And in the end you'll get yelled at by patients. You'll get yelled at by patients families. You'll get humiliated by power tripping Doctors. You'll get reamed by Pharmacy for screwing up the dosing. And then you still have to put up with the catty/bitchy other women you have to work with.

You're right in that I haven't fully researched it at this point. However, my girlfriend's sister is a nurse and she: loves her job, has a fair amount of downtime, goes to school on her days off, does a per-diem job on other days off. Of course, with any customer-based (so to speak) job, they'll be issues dealing with patients, and that's something to be expected. However, everything you described isn't that big a deal to me.

I work extra hours as is (unpaid, since I'm salaried). As one of the few males in my office, I do a lot of the "manly" tasks here already. Where I sit is referred to as PMS row, since most of my coworkers are 50+ yr. old women. So I think I am set from that standpoint for the field.

 

[sixone]

Originally posted by: isasir
If my IT career doesn't work out, I think I'd give some thought into becoming a nurse. The position is highly in demand, pays pretty well, and you only work 3 days a week (12 hr. days though) most of the time. Plus that whole thing about helping to save lives is cool.

The main issue with nursing for me is that it's a heavily female-oriented profession. As a straight male with typical male ego problems, I have trouble seeing myself as a nurse.

My brother is a nurse, he works in a correctional facility. No women in his area, IIRC.

 

[Bryan]

Is your name Gaylord Focker?

 

[Phoenix15]

My wife is in her first year of nursing school. I am planning on starting nursing school in a few months, so I know what you mean. It's a great field to be in and you know that every day you go into work that you have the skills and the chance to save someone's life. I plan on working in the E.R/ Critical care field and my wife is looking into the labor delivery field.

Oh, and you can make some pretty fat cheese along the way. Have you looked into travel nursing? $45-60 a hour with housing and utilities paid for a 1 year contract. After your contract you have the choice to sign on permanetly or sign up for another contract. If all our plans work out, we both plan to do the travel nursing thing for about two years. We can back one of our salaries and as much from the other as we can. We will be able to come back home and buy a house CASH and still find a pretty high paying job around here. w00t!

 

[PingSpike]

Originally posted by: vi_edit
If that's your biggest hang up on nursing, then you haven't researched the field well enough.

It's a completely thankless job that often requires you to work *hours* after your shift ends. Depending on the floor/unit you are on you don't get dinner breaks or a chance to hit the john. Since you are male, you'll be called on every opportunity to lift the 400+ pound porkers in and out of bed. You'll be asked to restrain the patients that start to freak out. When you go home you'll have your shift supervisor calling you every hour asking you if you want to come back in for over time hours/extra shifts.

And in the end you'll get yelled at by patients. You'll get yelled at by patients families. You'll get humiliated by power tripping Doctors. You'll get reamed by Pharmacy for screwing up the dosing. And then you still have to put up with the catty/bitchy other women you have to work with.

Yeah, there's a reason there's a shortage of nurses and they are paid well.

 

[franksta]

I thought about it but I'm not a people person, so now I'm an engineer. My wife however is a RN and she always spoke highly of the male nurses.

 

[Feldenak]

PM Pliablemoose, he's a nurse.

 

[PingSpike]

Sucks, but vi_edit is probably right about you always doing the heavy lifting. I got the same problem where I work...just because I'm one of the few men here doesn't mean I want too, nor is it in my job description too, move furniture.

 

[Slew Foot]

I my self am soo glad that I am a physician and dont have to deal with the crap (literally) that nurses do. Have fun. Either that or become an OR nurse.

 

[tweakmm]

Jesus Focker!

 

[CptObvious]

I've seriously thought about it, but I remember my days working retail...dealing with pissed-off people all day, being on my feet for 8 hours, and I don't think I could handle it. Paper pushing jobs ftw

 

[Whisper]

There were quite a few nurses and nurse techs in the hospital where I used to work. Good nurses are greatly-appreciated, and are in high demand. The schedules can be fairly flexible as well (most I know don't do 12 hour shifts), and there's room for advancement, but you will spend a decent amount of time at work, yes. And you will have to deal with pissed-off patients, yes. But the grateful ones, even if only few and far-between, more than make up for them.

 

[0roo0roo]

nursing shortage. so yes, its probably more lucrative than the half dead it industry

 

[Pliablemoose]

Meh, it's a living.

I'm currently FT in a Recovery Room, it's pretty cool because the workload is manipulated so it's not insane like ER or ICU can be.

I need to make a FAQ to post about being a male nurse, I've replied to lots of these threads.

To me the biggest downsides are:

Women can get into an "all men are evil mode" and it can spread to the entire group of women you work with, imagine the typical used up 40 year old woman fresly screwed over in a divorce or in a loveless marriage being your boss/co-workers.

Imagine 6-10 co workers all on the rag for 4 days every month, all cycling together.

Imagine an extended family of 20 (minority group of your choice) freaking out & being unmanageable in hospital setting & if you call the police you're considered a racist.

Imagine taking care of a minority & being made painfully aware in the first few seconds of the conversation they consider you a racist.

Imagine working holidays-forever.

Imagine being 50-60 years old & chasing bedpans.

Imagine working nights for years.

 

[moshquerade]

Originally posted by: isasir
If my IT career doesn't work out, I think I'd give some thought into becoming a nurse. The position is highly in demand, pays pretty well, and you only work 3 days a week (12 hr. days though) most of the time. Plus that whole thing about helping to save lives is cool.

The main issue with nursing for me is that it's a heavily female-oriented profession. As a straight male with typical male ego problems, I have trouble seeing myself as a nurse.

from what i've seen male nurses seem to get promotions over females.
possibly because they are the minority.

 

[shimsham]

Originally posted by: PingSpike
Sucks, but vi_edit is probably right about you always doing the heavy lifting. I got the same problem where I work...just because I'm one of the few men here doesn't mean I want too, nor is it in my job description too, move furniture.

then dont. when women at work ask me to move or lift crap when i know they are capable of doing it themselves, i politely decline. if its something i know they arent capable of then i truly dont mind and i help them with a smile. after a few times they catch on, and stop asking unless they really need the help.