Maggie McKay (Host): Welcome to Careers in Care, a Mount Carmel College of Nursing podcast. I'm your host, Maggie McKay. Joining us today is nursing student, Kyle Talledo, to discuss men in nursing. Thank you so much for being here today, Kyle.

Kyle Talledo: Thank you very much for having me.

Host: So, let's just start with what inspired you to pursue nursing as a career and what drew you to the profession?

Kyle Talledo: So back in like 2022, I was still a high school student. I had a family member that was in and out of the hospital a lot. And then, towards the end of his life, he was sent to a nursing home. And then, right there in the moment, I just seen like how the nurses provided both like emotional support besides medical care, and I realized that they really are just for the patient-centered care directly, and they advocated for him. And I've seen that was like a profession where I could potentially go to and a profession where also there's so many opportunities where I could keep growing from it.

Host: Wow. You know, that's very touching. Did you face any misconceptions or stereotypes about men in nursing when you chose this career path?

Kyle Talledo: Yeah, I, would say so. I had like a couple friends and even couple family members that told me, like, nursing is like a female-dominant profession, you know. I don't really hear a nurse being a guy as much. And really, I didn't let that affect me at all. And once I've seen the opportunities that presented to me, instead of focusing on that specifically, I just wanted to educate the others about how it's also just like a compassionate career where I could be a leader, I could communicate among other team members, I can apply critical thinking.

And also, like, in my clinical skills, like, there's no skills that are specifically gender-specific. It's just all like nursing interventions. And yes, there's like a couple units where you'd see more females rather than males. But really, no, there's no really good stereotype for nursing is for women, in my opinion.

Host: I'm so glad you didn't let that deter you, because I'm sure a lot of people, you know, maybe would've given in to peer pressure. So, good for you. What has your experience been like as a male nurse, both in nursing school and in practice?

Kyle Talledo: I'd say in nursing school, my general experience for me, just I show up every day to class. I have a big thing of confidence. I think confidence is key to a lot of things in life. And there's often, like in my cohort, there's maybe me and one other guy and like 60 other girls in our class. But really, it's not just being like self-conscious about that, it's more just building that confidence and building experience through the career.

Occasionally, I'll have like a couple patients that prefer a female due to like cultural preferences, comfort, or other areas like labor and delivery. There's more women that will request women. Obviously, as a guy, I think it's important to just respect their preferences. Because at the end of the day, this is patient-centered care, and it's the patient that comes first for us.

Host: That makes sense. How do you think greater representation of men in nursing benefits the patients and the healthcare teams and the profession overall?

Kyle Talledo: I think mostly it's just important to have different perspectives. I think diversity is very important to have. I think men and women both each have different experiences, different like communication styles, ideas, approaches to teamwork. And honestly, in my opinion, I think that's better for the patients, because there can be better decisions simultaneously among men and women.

And I think patients may also appreciate seeing like people who are representing them and help eliminate that woman-only stereotype.

Host: I have to tell you, Kyle, I love my male nurses. They're always so upbeat and funny and conversational, you know. Not that the women aren't, but I have to say they really stand out. You can tell that they love what they do. And like you were saying earlier, you know, some people may have deterred them or said, "A male nurse?" And they didn't care. They knew it was like a calling. So, can you share a meaningful experience from your nursing career that reinforced your decision to become a nurse?

Kyle Talledo: I think something that supported that decision of me becoming a nurse would be just patients in general just remembering me. I've had plenty of patients tell me that they'll remember me forever and they won't ever forget this moment. That's really touching. It gives me like the goosebumps thinking about it.

But just being thanked deeply and appreciated is really important to me. I think that reminds me of this is the reason why I came to choose this career. I just want to touch others' life and help change them in good ways. And I felt like I was just doing my job. It made me realize that nursing is just much more than completing these intervention skills, but it's also like incorporating listening to the patients, showing compassion, advocating for these patients, and showing that these like small deeds, even if it's go running, grabbing them an extra drink, can have a lasting impact on them.

Host: How meaningful that every day you go to work, you could possibly be bettering someone's life who's going through a hard time. I mean, that's, you know, got to be rewarding. So, what advice would you give to young men who are thinking about nursing, but they might be hesitant because of stereotypes or misconceptions?

Kyle Talledo: I'd say the first thing I would tell others would be don't let, like, a stereotype ultimately choose your career. I think nursing has a ton of options in general. You could be in critical care, you could be a med-surg nurse, ER nurse. You could even go to a specialty like mental health. You can do surgery, more leadership.

You even get more opportunities if you really excel in school and you really enjoy what you're doing. You can go to nurse practitioner school. There's even a newer option that's pretty popular right now, CRNA, which is anesthesia. You can be an educator. I think there's just many good career paths that can go along just from getting your nursing license.

And I think ultimately we can just find good mentors that will lead us, and we have great professors. And I think sometimes even asking the dumb questions is necessary, even if you don't think so, because you have plenty of other students that may be just not comfortable with asking them, and you could even get them answered for other students besides you getting your questions answered.

And I think confidence will come with your experience in this career. I think let the, like, quality of what you're giving to these patients challenge these stereotypes and just try your best every day. Come show up with a smile and just do what you're supposed to do, and many great things will come out of it.

Host: I think you nailed it when you said if you like what you do. That's what it's all about, you know, in a career. If you like what you do, it shows through and it does benefit the patients, I would think. So, what would you like prospective nursing students to know about nursing as a profession and the opportunities that it can provide? Like, you just listed so many options of, you know, different nursing opportunities, but what else?

Kyle Talledo: Besides like the nursing opportunity, I think there's two key points I want to hit. I think stability, job stability is a big thing. You're always going to have a stable, reliable income job where you can work really wherever. Let's say you don't like this specific unit in a hospital, you could just talk to your manager and say, "Hey, can I maybe switch it up? Can you maybe give me a contact through another manager through the hospital?" And you can always switch your area, your scenery.

And also, I'd say the schedule, like the job flexibility. You know, you could work full-time, work three 12-hour shifts in a week. You could work part-time, two 12, and you could even do this thing called contingent, where it just means you could pick up as needed and you can just work jobs, pick up the days you want to work, and then also you can just have a lot more days off, which is pretty rewarding in my opinion.

I think nursing in general is a challenge, but it's also a very rewarding career. And the job stability, again, is just so excellent. And there's many like specialties that have flexible schedules and you have different settings you can get into besides the hospital in general. You could do outpatient work. You could even do home health nursing, school nursing, more leadership stuff, or even research.

I think you even have the opportunity, like I said before, where you can advance your education and you just aren't locked into one simple career path for your life. There's plenty of opportunities you can hit in many different areas of nursing that you may not even know about.

But once you go to school and you find these options, like I still today, like I know I personally want to do critical care. But at the same time, like if that's something I know that I may not enjoy in three to four years, I could always switch it and do something else, and that's the beauty of it.

Host: I'm sold, Kyle. Sign me up. Seriously. I mean, you make so many good points about security, flexibility, how rewarding it is, and that you have options, that you don't have to stay in the same department or at the same hospital all the time. So, it just sounds ideal. Good for you. Thank you so much for sharing your experience with us today.

Kyle Talledo: Thank you guys very much. I appreciate that.

Host: Again, that's Kyle Talledo. And if you'd like to learn more, please visit mccn.edu. If you found this podcast helpful, please share it on your social channels and check out our entire podcast library for topics of interest to you. I'm Maggie McKay. Thanks for listening to Careers in Care, a Mount Carmel College of Nursing podcast.