posted ago by Winged_Splinter
+21 / -0
I'm in the process of changing careers and am wanting to move toward the medical field. I currently work in the IT industry, and while I love tech, I cannot stand my coworkers and need a change. My mother was an LPN, and one of my sisters is an LPN, so I know some of what the field is about, but would like direct perspective from a male and their experiences.
My goal is to get my adn and do my bsn online while working in the field to qualify for crna which will soon be a required PhD.
Any advice about the work environment would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks in advance and apologies of this isn't appropriate for this site.
Thank you, it's great to hear from someone with your perspective. One thing that has been very beneficial about working in tech is learning how to properly respond to people who are irate because something is wrong and they are just looking for someone to blame. So that seems like a positive.
In regards to those nurses making those videos. That seriously annoyed the crap out of me, which is one of the reasons why I came here to ask this question.
But yeah, I'll be headed toward the ICU to gain that experience, and I also think it will be fun. I love high paced environments and am good about thinking on my feet. For some reason I kinda feel like being in the ICU will make me feel like it's hunting season and I'm about to field dress game.
I'm married with a 7 month old. No messing around with female nurses for me.
That sounds rough. I got aggravated by the videos and I'm not even in the field, yet. I can only imagine what it must feel like to be a professional and have to see that knowing that because of that, people will see that and think all nurses or medical professionals are all that way.
I was going to get my prerequisites done at a community college to save on costs. I already have all the general education done, so I'll mostly just have the prerequisites and and nursing classes to complete. I never took my education to a bachelor's degree because what people don't tell you before it's too late is that certifications carry more weight in the IT field.
Also, I like the idea of going the community college route because I don't like the atmosphere at a university, and if I can bypass being on campus at a university, I will. There is a good adn to bsn online course at liberty University that I should be able to complete pretty quickly while I work in the field.
Thanks for the information.
That's a good idea. I was honestly not sure if I should even post this here, but trying to make a career change being a little older (37), is stressing me out as I have a tendency to over analyze things.
I figured, hey, why not get some perspective from like minded individuals who may understand what I'm going through.
I maybe able to help somewhat. I was a nursing assistant for a little longer than a decade. So not a nurse but inside that environment.
I worked with a few male nurses and I would say the environment was good. You may run into patients that don't want a male nurse and some that prefer a man. Nursing is good in that I saw quite a few people start nursing as a second job in their 30s-40s and it works out well.
Generally speaking staffing issues make medical staff a tight team if you do your job and help out and a miserable time if teamwork sucks. The 3 day 12 hour work schedule is good if you can get that as well.
Depending on where you wanted to work (Emergency dept, nursing home, icu) being a guy is huge plus for helping to reposition patients, and can help situations form escalating if you're intimidating enough. Health care can be surprisingly physical and being able to help support heavy 200+ plus pound patients while they bathe is a great help. The women I've worked with also seemed to like working with guys as they typically didn't get involved in the drama stuff.
Politically speaking I guess it depends on where you work but my hospital was mixed politically but because working together is so important nobody cared what you believed as long as you worked hard. I never got any problems for being positive about President Trump at the hospital and sometimes it made bonding with patients easier.
Thank you very much for this. Based on the path I'm wanting to take I'll more than likely try to get into the ICU so I can progress into anesthesiology and be competitive. As for being intimidating, I don't try to be, but I generally come off as being that way. My wife tells me it's how I carry myself, but honestly it may be something I should work on cause I don't want to be giving patients a stink eye or something at least when it's unnecessary.
I've always had issues getting hired by other men. I apparently come off as arrogant because I'm knowledgeable. One of the first jobs I was able to land in the IT field was due to having a mostly female management. Before that, while I was gaining work experience for my field at the department of homeland security, my supervisor was convinced I was trying to take his job cause I was being requested by the Colonel to fix his computer.
Thanks again.
I know two straight male nurses personally. I’ve had lots of interactions with male nurses both personally and professionally, and I can say men make better nurses than women. Sorry, that’s my opinion. They work harder and emotion is not part of it. They do the job and have better work ethic. They’re usually smarter, too. JMHO
I can't really speak on that as I have never had a male nurse. Funny thing is, I like being in a hospital, but I don't like being a patient in one so I try to stay away from it in that sense.
As for being emotional. Being a new dad, I can't guarantee I wouldn't end up getting emotional if I ended up in the NICU. Having that child has made me feel things I never thought possible.
You can be a Tik Tok nurse without actually being a nurse. lol
Have you tried asking your family what the male nurses think? You have some access to what they think.
Yes, but from the majority of people I have met that work with them are gay male nurses. That, and I'd like the perspective to come from a male as it's a female dominated field and their experiences would be different.
I've worked in the trades as well as tech. Not sure how you figure that it's strictly a woman's field and you also didn't pay attention to what I wrote or simply didn't understand it. If I take this route I would be headed toward the anesthesia field working toward a PhD.
At no point are you required to have a male nurse and can easily request a female to shove something up your toothless hole.
Sorry you feel emasculated by males in the nursing field.