Male Nurse
I didn’t know there were guys in nursing
Tse said he also went into nursing because there are far fewer nursing students than pre-medical students, so he can get more on-the-job experience and really figure out whether the medical field is for him.
“A lot of people I know in pre-med don’t really have it in them to really want to help people – they just want to do it for the money,” Tse said. “With nursing, I’m getting the experience and, having been in the program for three years, I already consider myself a nurse.”
It might sound like a dream scenario for a guy to be in classes where he is overwhelmingly outnumbered by females, but this overflow of estrogen can often be a struggle.
“My sophomore year, I was talking with a whole bunch of girls [in the nursing program] and they were talking about the guys they dated over the weekend,” he said. “It’s definitely not a frustration or anger, but it is depressing at times because sometimes you just need some guys to talk to about girls, or to watch sports.
” Working in a hospital where patients have become so accustomed to female nurses, there are times when being a male nurse can bring awkward moments.
We did our labor and delivery in paternal health, those were areas where it was definitely awkward being a male; you’re dealing with female privates and the actual act of giving birth,” Jablonski said. “There were times when I was asked to leave for either personal or religious reasons, but I don’t let it bother me too much.”
But Jablonksi has also had times when being a male came as an advantage. He once took care of a male construction worker who had injured his leg and was embarrassed being around female nurses. Jablonski helped him through rehab and helped him recover not only physically, but mentally.
“I was consoling him because he was pretty emotionally upset about his injury,” he said. “Sometimes the best thing to do with patients is to listen because they have so much stress built up that they just want to get it off their chest. This guy was pretty angry because he couldn’t walk for a while. But I just had to tell him, ‘Even though it’s hard for you, you’ll be healed and get back to where you were before.’
” Despite having to wear the purple scrubs and being asked to leave a room because of their gender, Jablonski and Tse both said being a nursing major is incredibly rewarding. “I have a patient’s life in my hands; seeing them go from such dark times to walking away three days later – those are memorable moments,” Tse said. “Just knowing that you can change a life – give someone a second opportunity at life – I would say it’s one of the best feelings in the world.(source)
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