Male Nurses - A growing trend

Men in Uniform

When you close your eyes and imagine a nurse, what do you see? You probably imagine a young woman, maybe dressed in white, maybe in funny looking scrubs, but you probably didn't imagine a man. Today, women outnumber men 15 to 1 in the nursing profession. This article talks about how that is changing and more and more men are entering nursing school programs and more men are becoming registered nurses. I remember overhearing a conversation between friends a few years back when a friend of mine (male) told another male friend that he was thinking about becoming a nurse and instead of being supportive, he said, "Dude, chicks are nurses." I am sure through the years many men have steered away from nursing because of the fear of being perceived as less masculine. Maybe they became doctors or maybe they shied away from the medical profession all together. My friend never ended up going to nursing school.

This article said something interesting about the men of the 21st century. There was one point where it described the roles of men and women in the home. The younger generations have embraced a more cooperative partnership with child-rearing and maintenance of the home. To cooperatively care for children, men have had to learn greater patience, learn to be more caring, have more forethought, multitask, and have more empathy. All of these characteristics are also important to have when you are a nurse. I am sure that men have more confidence in their abilities to care for others since they have more first hand experience and training at home.

I think that nursing is experiencing a very exciting period that can only enhance and move the profession to a new level. Not only are men entering the profession, but there are many people, like me, that are entering nursing as their second career. We bring experience from other fields and this can only improve the quality of nursing. I have an administrative and business background and years of training in customer service and employee training. I know that this previous experience will be a benefit to me in my future nursing position.