What Being A Male Nurse Is NOT

Urban legends. That’s just what they are.

Some like to refer to them as ‘stereotypes’. Public opinion is generally not in sync with reality when it comes to the world of nursing.

This website and many others have discussed all the discrepancies before. Well, being a male nurse is no different. I’m here to tell you those stereotypes are not what’s in store for you.

Here is what being male nurse is NOT about:

• We don’t always get accused of being gay, although it is a very real stereotype that men in nursing face.
• We don’t get a job simply because we can lift the heavy patients.
• We are not singled out as the go-to free-labor nurse on the unit, simply because we’re men and we might have muscles.
• We do not lose our ‘man card’ when we become a nurse.
• Critical care and emergency nursing are not the only place that hires us or employs male nurses (it just happens to be the popular choice).
• The last time I checked I did not get a higher rate of pay just because of my gender. You earn every penny you get as a nurse, be it through experience or education.
• Male nurses don’t have it ‘harder’ working as a nurse. Yes, just by the percentages we are the minority. But the job itself has never been gender specific.
• And lastly, no you don’t get to tell a patient they have to accept you being their assigned nurse just ‘because’ or some cockamamie explanation about gender blindness. In the end, the patients’ comfort is part of their care. Get over yourself. It’s not a stereotype, it’s just a patient preference.