I wish more men would become registered nurses! It is unfortunate that male nurses are not better received than Ben Stiller as Greg Focker in “Meet the Parents.” It is unfortunate that some people think a man becomes a nurse because he is not smart enough for medical school! “Our society has conditioned people to view certain things with a lesser value, and one of the things that has been viewed upon with a lesser value is the profession of nursing, because it’s predominantly women.” I have witnessed many times where patients specifically requested a female nurse to do even general nursing or nursing assistant’s tasks, because they did not want to ask or bother the male nurse assigned to their care. If there were more male nurses, this may help change this mindset.
It is very handy to have a male nurse coworker to help pull up someone in bed, lift something heavy, or take off an IV pump stuck on an IV pole, but, more importantly, it is very helpful to get a different point of view on many aspects of nursing (clinical, practical and the business side of nursing). Some interesting statistics: “according to the ANA, only 6% of all nurses are men … the AHA estimates that 75% of all medical vacancies are for nurses … the Department of Labor has listed registered nursing as the top occupation for job growth through at least the next decade.” So with these statistics, hopefully more men will look toward nursing as a career–especially since there is so much you can do with a nursing degree!
An RN who has researched the role of gender nursing and earned a Ph.D. … says “men also have advantages in the field … Many men who go into nursing, whether they desire to or not, end up in leadership roles or in the high status elite specialties like intensive care, emergency and operating room.” Male nurses have so much to contribute to nursing–they add credibility and professionalism to nursing. The same article also states that “nurses lack respect because of a societal devaluation of women, and that part of the push to increase the number of men in the field comes from female nurses who believe it will increase the prestige of all nurses.” That’s EXACTLY what I’m talking about!