If you look at the nursing profession, it’s a field primarily dominated by women.
According to the United States Census Bureau in 2011, only about 10% of registered nurses (RN) and about 9% of licensed vocational nurses (LVN) were men.
Those numbers have been steadily increasing since the 1970s, were they were closer to 3% and 4% respectively.
In this article and in a series of other articles, we’re going to look at male nurses, and the roles they play in the nursing profession.
This article is a lot simpler than some of the other pieces we’re going to write. In this article, we’re going to answer the simple question, “what is a male nurse called?”
So, what is a male nurse called? A male nurse is called a nurse. A nurse is someone who has passed their boards and is licensed and trained to care for those who are hurting or sick. This has no bearing on the gender of the nurse.
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What About the Term “Murse?”
If you look throughout the internet, you’ll find several mixed feelings about this. “Murse” is a term/slang that has been used to call a nurse that’s a guy.
You get “murse” by blending two different words together in this case, “man” and “nurse” together to get “murse.”
The act of combining two or more words together to form one word is nothing new. It’s called portmanteau (source).
If that sounds kinda strange, let me assure you that you’ve probably have heard or have done something like that before.
Here are some other examples of portmanteau:
- Biology + Electronics = Bionic
- Bold + Audacious = Bodacious
- Brother + Romance = Bromance
- Breakfast + Lunch = Brunch
- Friend + Enemy = Frenemy
Here’s another portmanteau of “murse.”
- Man + Purse = Murse
We could literally keep going, but I think you get the point.
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Do Male Nurses Like Being Called a “Murse?”
If you look around the web, you’ll see that while there’s a lot of nurses who really don’t care about the term “murse” being used to call a guy that’s a nurse.
At the same time, you’ll also see that there are just as much if not more guys who really don’t like being called a “murse.”
One of the big reasons why so many guy nurses dislike the term murse is because many of them find it as a derogatory term. Because to many guys, the term nurse transcends gender.
To those guys, a nurse is a person (regardless of being male or female), who is trained to care for those who are sick and hurting.
How Do You Introduce Yourself to Patients?
I don’t know about you, but this is how I introduce myself to a patient.
“Morning Mr. Doe My name is Thomas, and I’m going to be the nurse taking care of you today.”
Conclusion
Hopefully, you found this article informative.
Let us know what your comments and thoughts are in the comment section below. For example: Are you a nurse that’s a guy? If so, are you ok being called a murse?
Don’t forget to share the article.
