8 Common Challenges Of Being A Male Nurse

What challenges do male nurses face?

If you desire to know some of the problems that male nurses are facing in hospitals today, you will find this article a good read. We will highlight the many challenges that exist within the nursing profession.

Men who wish to enter a nursing program can now see what lies ahead.

Male Nurse Problems In Healthcare Settings

The nursing profession is dominated by women all over the world.

This has resulted in a serious gender bias towards male nurses in hospitals today and for that reason, men who want to take a nursing program are deterred in the belief that it is a woman-based profession.

However, the medical industry is gender-neutral in absorbing prospects into the nursing line.

Problems Encountered by Male Nurses Within and Outside Hospitals

Below are several challenges that male nurses face in the nursing line. The problems we’re about to list are long-standing, so it’s not new in the medical industry.

Is being a male nurse hard? Well, let’s check ’em out right now.

• Men are Considered Harsh in their Medical Approach

The nursing profession is considered gentle and caring, so it believes that women are more cautious in their approach than men. As a result, male nurses are perceived to be rough, less compassionate, and irritating.

But we all know that’s not true in some cases; some male nurses are more caring, calmer, and more tolerant in their nursing approach than some female nurses.

Moreover, some females believe that men are so strong and should go for jobs that require physical force. This has deterred many male nurses and made them feel unwelcome in the profession.

Some men are interested in the nursing line due to its flexibility and its different specialty areas. They also intend to take good care of their patients like other female nurses.

Until the world changes this perception and sees a male nurse as a caring health professional, men will not see nursing as a welcoming environment.

• Bigotry and Discrimination

Male nurses are victims of discrimination and intolerance in school and the workplace.

Some have assumed that these are people who failed to become medical doctors since most of them are males. So those who choose nursing don’t get the respect they deserve simply because of their gender.

• Inappropriate Role Models

The lack of male role models and dominance are some of the key drivers behind the challenges male nurses face today. There are few male professional nurses in the field that can be used as role models for young nursing students and graduate nurses.

As such, prospective male nurses are short of people to provide them with wonderful examples of behaviors in clinical settings and professionalism.

In addition, there are some things that only a nurse can comfortably talk to a male student or colleague.

• Men Nurses are not Always Welcomed into the Labor Room

Even though male nurses have the license and qualification to be in the labor room and take part in child delivery, there are times when some female patients will prefer to be handled only by female nurses due to privacy, religious or cultural practices.

Such people believe that male nurses cannot provide them with intimate care.

Male physicians are only invited when delivery is more complicated. However, this is not often the case when a female nurse is caring for a man.

• Much is Required of Male Nurses

Family, friends, and co-workers have high expectations of male nurses. As a result, male nurses feel that they need to work harder to meet such high expectations and stay on par with their counterparts.

This situation has created a stressful atmosphere for males in the nursing arena. If the world can appreciate the little efforts of male nurses, it will encourage them to do more than it is expected of them.

• Complex Jobs to Handle

More often than not, women are hired for simpler nursing jobs such as labor, childbirth, postpartum, and so on.

But jobs that require a level of specialty or physical strength such as medical evacuation or mental health stations are maintained primarily for male nurses.

Maybe this is because men like to base themselves on specialties. But this should not be the case if gender equality is to play its role in this field.

• Male Nurses are Seen as Heterosexist

Some male nurses are indeed homosexuals, but that doesn’t mean all of them are gay. There are tales of male nurses marrying female colleagues or even patients.

In case you’re not aware, men who aspire to be nurses are more likely to be on the women’s side than men. The sin of one should not be an avenue to crucify others.

• Female Patients Think they are Not Safe in the Hands of a Male Nurse

Nursing a female patient is a significant challenge for male nurses in today’s clinical settings.

The challenges become more severe if a male nurse wants to take out some sensitive treatment on female patients that require physical contact such as breast assessment, personal care, insert Foley, cervical exams, and so forth.

The patients don’t feel comfortable being treated by a male nurse.

Such intense discrimination becomes makes it harder for male nurses to face such gender stereotypes. Some female patients may misunderstand your action and call it a sexual assault.

This will certainly land you in a bigger problem that may even lead to the loss of your medical license. Some nurses have been accused of these types of assaults and did not end up well for them.

It’s a natural phenomenon female patients are finding it difficult to allow a male nurse to treat them.

This is why male nurses are encouraged to bounce back on negative comments and never let their patient’s preferences get the best of them.

As well, male nurses must always continue to focus on their work at all times. Thus, it may reduce all the negativity that surrounds them in their workplaces or elsewhere.

From everything we’ve talked about to date, you can see the challenges faced by male nurses in their profession. But that shouldn’t be a point of discouragement.