I became a nurse in 1999. I knew that society wasn't ready for male nurses through my clinicals and experiences. Society views male nurses to be homosexual men. It has come a long way since then but still not to where it should be. From attempting to meet girls in bar with the famous question "What do you do for a living" and having to say a RN. To some women, I ask the question, is that a good thing? Women have wanted the masculent man, the cop, the firefighter, the stock broker and the top excutive. The nurse? Hmmmm.
Well that is one dirrection I am going in but back to nursing.
Becoming an RN was a joys time at first, I knew I would get a good paying job. When I got my job on a med/surg floor, I witness women being rude, unkind and over all aggravating. Some just doing what they have to do to get through the day or night. Some being unkind to patients. Some unwilling to help fellow nurses, some enjoy seeing them drowning in the weeds, the term we all familar with for a busy night. While this is occurring managers are stuck in their offices doing paper work cause either they were to busy to help or so out dated in the knowledge just couldn't help. As much as I could do to help, I did but after two years time was up for some kind of change.
Advancing to a critical care would help me advance my knowledge and gain me respect. In some ways it has but still seem to be fighting the usual steriotypes along with the aging female population of nurses. From steriotypically walking into the room to see a patient and having them say, "Hello Doctor". No chance a nurse could walk into a patients room and be a male, not socially acceptable. And if you do a good job usually the patients next comment would be "you should go be a doctor".
From there to women that are above 50 years old being asked to turn people 250 pounds or higher, basically just dead weight. So who do you think the first person they are going to look for. So are we all equal?? Women that are spent from their home lives of taking care of their children, over tired and again physically unable.
Unfortunately this is what we have to work threw. I have read some of the other written comments about job conditions that sound just horrible. I overall feel I work in a good place, it has been a tuff road and we all attempt to excape by going back to school to advance in our degrees, either NP or CNS or whatever. If a job isnt good, get out and find another. There are places that can help to provide some sanity for alittle while. But we all have been shit on, literally and figurately. But with the aging work force and the little amount of help provided through cut backs, being a RN is just getting harder and harder. GOOD LUCK, we all will need it...