I'm a man, and I've worked as an ER/ICU nurse for the past 15 years. Being a gender FOO in a gender BAZ dominated industry can be unpleasant and challenging at times.
Not to complain, but to make the point:
* I almost got expelled from nursing school because of what I believe was discrimination towards men. I've talked to other men who've had similar experiences.
* I worked on a unit where my charge nurse repeatedly called me a "boy nurse".
* I am frequently referred to as "one of those male nurses".
* Many patients have asked me, "are you going to go on to be a doctor". When I tell them that I'm not, I hear, "Oh." and get a surprised, concerned look.
* I've had my ass pinched/slapped by coworkers. (I'm married. It's not appreciated)
* I had a coworker ask me to help with her, "fertility problems" and don't I look just like her boyfriend.
* Last week, I had a coworker come behind me and start braiding my long hair. I had to tell my coworker that I don't like people messing with my hair. Can you imagine if I did that to a female coworker at Google, IBM or Ford?
* I'm frequently around when women trade child birthing stories, or hear coworkers talk about their menstrual cycles.
* I've had bosses talk to me about how men don't really do foo very well as nurses.
* I'm frequently asked to "be a big, strong man and help me move my patient". I have back problems from 15 years of being asked to do things because of my size and gender.
* I've often been asked to care for hostile, combative, drunk or otherwise chemically altered patients, because I'm a "big, strong man".
I could go on.
Let's just say that I'm happy to mentor any man that comes into this profession. There are certain tricks of the trade that will help a lot that I've picked up along the way. And, there are benefits to being a man in this profession as well.
If the gender FOO's want to get together and help each other out or talk about how to deal with being FOO around so much BAZ... More power to them.
I'm a bit confused about the last two points. If you were a big strong female would they not have asked you to help move patients or take care of hostile patients? Were you asked to help with physical tasks because you are a man or because you are strong?
In thinking about it, however, I haven't noticed when working in an ICU that stronger women are asked to care for the 400+ lb patients more often.
It is a fairly common occurrence, however for men to be asked to care for certain patients because "men are stronger". I've also been told by women that they are glad to have more men in the industry because "men are stronger".
I could be wrong, but I struggle to think of an instance where it would be okay for me to to categorize female coworkers as being inherently better or worse because of a physical attribute, however.
Comments
I'm a man, and I've worked as an ER/ICU nurse for the past 15 years. Being a gender FOO in a gender BAZ dominated industry can be unpleasant and challenging at times.
Not to complain, but to make the point:
* I almost got expelled from nursing school because of what I believe was discrimination towards men. I've talked to other men who've had similar experiences.
* I worked on a unit where my charge nurse repeatedly called me a "boy nurse".
* I am frequently referred to as "one of those male nurses".
* Many patients have asked me, "are you going to go on to be a doctor". When I tell them that I'm not, I hear, "Oh." and get a surprised, concerned look.
* I've had my ass pinched/slapped by coworkers. (I'm married. It's not appreciated)
* I had a coworker ask me to help with her, "fertility problems" and don't I look just like her boyfriend.
* Last week, I had a coworker come behind me and start braiding my long hair. I had to tell my coworker that I don't like people messing with my hair. Can you imagine if I did that to a female coworker at Google, IBM or Ford?
* I'm frequently around when women trade child birthing stories, or hear coworkers talk about their menstrual cycles.
* I've had bosses talk to me about how men don't really do foo very well as nurses.
* I'm frequently asked to "be a big, strong man and help me move my patient". I have back problems from 15 years of being asked to do things because of my size and gender.
* I've often been asked to care for hostile, combative, drunk or otherwise chemically altered patients, because I'm a "big, strong man".
I could go on.
Let's just say that I'm happy to mentor any man that comes into this profession. There are certain tricks of the trade that will help a lot that I've picked up along the way. And, there are benefits to being a man in this profession as well.
If the gender FOO's want to get together and help each other out or talk about how to deal with being FOO around so much BAZ... More power to them.
I'm a bit confused about the last two points. If you were a big strong female would they not have asked you to help move patients or take care of hostile patients? Were you asked to help with physical tasks because you are a man or because you are strong?
I suppose that's a good point.
In thinking about it, however, I haven't noticed when working in an ICU that stronger women are asked to care for the 400+ lb patients more often.
It is a fairly common occurrence, however for men to be asked to care for certain patients because "men are stronger". I've also been told by women that they are glad to have more men in the industry because "men are stronger".
I could be wrong, but I struggle to think of an instance where it would be okay for me to to categorize female coworkers as being inherently better or worse because of a physical attribute, however.