Career Change - Male Nurse

[Jasonrn]

Forget about gender. A nurse is a nurse. If you really want in, be prepared for a 30% attrition rate in your class and exams which are nothing more than a brain F. After your non-nursing courses, which are all science based, you'll be thrown into the psycho-social world. It will NOT prepare you for the field. Remeber your A&P and your clinical training. Learn from your Co-RNs. This is a tricky field and I've seen 'em come and go.
You'll find yourself making decisions MDs should make. You may find yourself responsible for 5-50 patients in one shift. It's high stress, no time to think, and then there's the gender stigma.
All the negatives aside, I LOVE what I do. I get to help people when they are at they're worst. I see them leave in a better state to live out their lives. I get to perform lifesaving medical treatments and techniques.
My profession makes a difference.
I'm proud to be a part of it.
JRN

[Huckleberry3911948]

a good good pick and a cost effective path to get there.
good for you.

[DRvortec]

Originally Posted by NJ216

I'm thinking about becoming a male Registered Nurse. I was going to enroll in the community college's nursing program and then transfer to a university after 2 years.

Is anyone here a registered nurse? Can you give me some advice? Any Male RNs?

Going to school as a RRT and wife is a RN. Most areas (have seen some that don't) it pays well. Around here you should make $36hr.

Good luck!

[ron del]

Nursing should be a top growth area especially with the upcoming boomer population coming of age. The market does not seem to be saturated in the northeast area.
I would recommend a nursing degree over a counseling or social work degree.

[yhwhshalomjr]

Now RRT is where the money and the smooth sailing is....
I was not registered, but did it as a tech, the army has a way of making you be all you can be;
I'm planning on going to school to get the credentials to become certified
first and then you know how it goes ater that,
But I really enjoyed RT; I just hate to go back to school to learn something that I already know, just to get licensed; it's been 10 years, but it's worth it
I just personally feel that males are not as high-minded and over-protective and motherly and territorial as females in the medical field (ancillary) that is esp, nurses; It's just my observation after working in the field for 30 years;
But the key is to be a care-giver (= compassion) or the credentials aren't worth the ink that it was printed with.
If a person doesn't love and care for the sick, they should go work somewhere else this is not a field that that is for the check...
Most of my comments were just general.
I bet you and your wife really are a good team
God Bless You Both

[chattypatty]

I don't know if this thread is dead but it's still September so maybe you are still out there. I'll take a chance and give you my two cents.

I am a retired RN, have been away from the bedside for 8 years (wow, can't believe it has been that long!) Nursing can be very rewarding and I often loved my job, but it can also be very stressful (it made my hair go grey!) Kind of depends on your personality, as well as what type of nursing you do and where you work. What is great about nursing as a profession is that you can do so many different kinds of jobs with a single degree! A job as an ER nurse is very different from a job as a diabetes educator, for example, but you can just switch areas of the hospital, just like that, without having to go back to school. The hospital will provide on the job training for your new field.

Education: I was a BSN and I agree with sheri257 that these 2 year ADN programs are a bit misleading because by the time you do all the prereqs, you could have had a BSN. I know I will be viewed as a traitor to my degree for saying this, but, in general, hospital diploma programs (if there are any left) used to give the best hands on training, followed by ADN, whereas the BSN programs were very light on experience and heavy on theory. That leaves you feeling like a nincompoop for the first 6 mos. on the job, but in the end, that degree pays off. Some hospitals will pay you more for a BSN.

Males in nursing: I say we need more of them. We LOVED working with guys! Guys are so great to have around when you've got a crazy, combative patient but more importantly, the presence of guys really helps to tone down the catty, petty ******iness of a bunch of females. One thing you need to really think about, though, is that the physicians will be men and women who are younger than you, and ask yourself if that would tweak any part of your ego. You need to be very secure in your masculinity as well. I had a male coworker who was a great nurse but he used to grouse about being called a nurse because, as he put it, "I am not a tit that suckles babies." Apparently the gender issue bothered him sometimes. Again, that was 8 years ago and I'll bet there are a lot more male nurses in the profession now, so you won't be an oddity.

I left nursing because it got too stressful with all the cuts in staffing and I felt I couldn't do a good job with one hand tied behind my back. However, some hospitals may be trying to correct some of those issues and create a better work environment. This is something you might want to look at. Ask someone who has more updated info than I do.

I don't know why anyone would say there is not a nursing shortage. There is ALWAYS a nursing shortage. You will never be without a job. It also pays well in relation to the amount of time spent on education, though you will definitely earn your pay!

Good luck!