Female Nurses And Why They Are Beneficial

Nursing was a challenge to the individual and I had to experience an identity I had never previously thought about which was being a male within a predominantly female career field. As Yang et al. (2004) showed males in their study work towards promotion and strive on a long term goal of personal growth. In previous fields I had always fought for advancement and now I still do and have been equally been treated among my peers and have seen that advancement truly can only come from pursuing an advanced degree.

Changes in the late 1800's resulted in universities admitting women, thus allowing them to explore many more educational opportunities. These factors together provided the impetus for establishment of hospitals and schools to formally train nurses, with many schools opening for the first time in the 1870s. At the same time, though the need for nurses had been established and the importance of their role within the realm of medical care recognized, there was a great deal of opposition to the proposal that nurses should be formally educated. This attitude was epitomized by a well-known article of the time published in 1908, 'The over-trained nurse' in which the author asserted that nursing was not a “profession” but merely an “honorable calling”. Consistent with this notion, public perception viewed nursing as a job that women were generally suited to perform rather than one which required special skill and was even equated with a religious “calling”. This view, influenced by early nursing's relationship with religious orders remained far into the 20th century.(Lasseter, 1999).

The Motion picture film, “Sentimental Women Need Not Apply”, highlighted that the first group of nursing students were all white women (1988). Black women were unwelcomed in some nursing schools hence nursing schools were establish for colored people only (Gary & Hott, 1988). One nurse shared that the lack of black doctors rendered black nurses as the sole healthcare providers in some communities. After years of speaking out against segregation, any capable human, regardless of race or gender can now become a nurse. In the 21st century both men and women of all cultures are welcome to becoming a nurse. Though nursing remains a female dominated profession, the gap between male and female nurses has narrowed. In 1970, three percent of nurses were males compared to ten percent in 2013 (Tanner,

profession and should be respected as such. Congruent with nursing stereotypes comes gender roles. Naturally, women are the care-takers thus the profession is predominately female, but it should be noted that this predisposition of women taking on this role has too altered the perception of nursing. “Although the number of men in nursing is growing, campaigns and targeted recruitments should be displayed more often to draw more men into the profession” (Cohen 2007).

Many male nurses offer the physical strength needed for tasks like moving patients and heavy equipment.

New advertisements for the nursing field include posters designed for this campaign aimed to boost the attractiveness of the image of men in nursing by illustrating concepts of brotherhood, belonging, men helping men, and leading the way. One of the recent posters out there shows a student nurse "reverse mentoring" another nurse with technology proving that this is an educational line of work. AAMN, American Assembly for Men in Nursing, hopes that these contemporary images of professional, compassionate, and competent nurses will chip away at stereotypes about men in nursing (Stokowski

“Males make up about 5% of all RNs working in the United States today” (Poliafico). Nursing is a profession in the health care field that concentrates on the nurturing care of individuals. The United States currently lacks testosterone (the male hormone) in the nursing field. The subject is something many people have thought about at least once in their lives. Some may argue nursing is a career meant for a woman, while others may argue it is a non-gender specified career option. Either way, the world has come to accept the lack of men in nursing. The nursing profession should be for both men and women, but society puts a stereotype on the ‘average nurse’ preventing men from being accepted into this career.

Nurses in the USA make up the biggest workforce of any country in the world. However nurses continue to be in short supply even with an aggressive campaign to attract foreign nurses (Brunetto et al., 2013). It is estimated that “the United States will need to have produced 1.13 million new RN’s to fill the future demand” (MeMenamin, 2014). Of the current-working nurses in the United States, “males represent approximately 7% of the nursing workforce…”(Colby, 2012). The percentage of men in nursing must improve if nursing is to become diversified. Although the number of men in the nursing profession is slowly growing, they will not have an impact on the future nursing shortage. In order for men to choose nursing over other professions, men should be exposed to the historical contributions of men in nursing, as well as changing the perception of male nurses. The lack of male representation in the field of nursing is due to “the feminization of modern day nursing by Florence Nightingale” (Colby, 2013) in the nineteenth century. Nightingale saw all women as nurses and believed that those who entered the nursing field “were doing what came naturally to them as women (Evans, 2003).” According to Evans (2003), “The failure to recognize their contributions leaves male nurses with little information about their professional background and historical position, a situation in which nurse Okrainec (1990) suggests perpetuates the notion that male nurses are anomalies.”

This report explores the changes in gender roles since the 1980’s and their impact on the nursing profession

Females are in a position of power in nursing and to continue to be seen as just leaders, advantages need to be available to all persons in society (Morrisson, 2011). To benefit our society as a whole nursing should promote differences within our profession as an advantage and promote and support anyone who can attend a university or college to become leaders in our field.

Even after decades, not much has changed regarding men in this specific career path. When we see movies like “meet the parents” in which the father in law constantly makes fun of Ben Stiller for being a male nurse when he clearly loves his job doesn’t seem to be fair. It is interesting to note that women today have taken positions in programs such as engineering, medicine, and law. However, they are not talked about as much as men in nursing field. Although females continue to exceed men as nurses significantly, the stats of male nurses have increased. The document “Men in nursing occupations” by liana Christian

The field of nursing has its origins dating back to the 19th century. This is when women reformers wanted to make a difference in social and political issues. To have an active voice in the process, these individuals had to have a strong sense of independence and determination. At the same time, many ethical beliefs shaped the views of individuals who wanted to make a difference (i.e.

Nurses are known as the heart of health care. Being a nurse is a demanding job that requires commitment, but does not lack rewards. A fact stated by the American Association of Colleges of Nurses claims that “Nurses comprise the largest single component of hospital staff, are the primary providers of hospital patient care, and deliver most of the nation 's long-term care” (“Nursing Fact Sheet”). With many roles throughout the healthcare system as a whole, nurses are a large, very important role that interacts with every other part of the health care system. They have great qualities that not everyone has. They are highly compassionate, caring, professional, diligent and understanding individuals. A nurse experiences people at their worst and still care for patients in a way that no one else would. All these honest points prove that nurses are the most important members of the health care system because, nurses spend the most time with patients, nurses are the managers of patient care; they are teachers and are great with conflict resolution.

While there are a lot of responsibilities that nurses have to do most of the nurses being female or males do their work good

Among twenty leading female-dominated professions, registered nurses (RN’s) are the second most occupation that employed women in 2006¬. Similar to many traditionally female professions, the percentage of male in nursing is small. In fact, male nurses only comprised eight percent of RN’s in 2008. Although much effort has been made to recruit more men into nursing, many contributing factors have driven them away from this profession. Those factors include poor nursing image, negative public perception, low economic status, and gender stereotypes. One of the most significant factors that deter men from entering the profession is stereotypes. Research shows that men might be more likely to encounter stereotypes than discrimination;