Gender Roles In The Nursing Profession

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).

This essay focuses on the impact of historical development of nursing on contemporary representations of the nursing profession. It examines the professional identity of nursing and further discusses the contribution of modern nursing, social, cultural and political factors that influences the professional identity of a nurse. The essay also looks into the professional regulations and the role of the nurse’s and midwifery Council (NMC) in the protection of the public. Finally, this essay will discuss nursing education, the media, stereotype, and their impacts on nurses as well as demonstrate my understanding as a student nurse to challenge the professional identity of nurses.

However, when her career as a nurse started, it was not in the maternity ward. It started in general care, where she witnessed first-hand the disparity in care between male and female patients.

Nursing as a profession is often portrayed by the media in demeaning ways. “Nurses have often been unfairly and unrealistically portrayed as “battle axes” or psychologically compromised. And that’s if they are written into the script at all.” (Berkowitz, 2014). “They are often portrayed as physician helpers, not the highly skilled independent clinicians that we know they are.” (Berkowitz, 2014).

This essay will focus on how historical developments of nursing impact on contemporary representations of the nursing profession. It will examine professional identity of the profession and further discusses the value of modern nursing, social, cultural and political factors that influence the professional identity of the nurse. I will also discuss the professional regulation and the role of the nurse’s midwifery Council (NMC) in the protection of the public. Finally, this essay will discuss nursing education, the media, stereotype, and their impacts on nurses as well as demonstrate my understanding as a student nurse to challenge the professional identity of nurses.

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.

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

Up until the 1800’s, the job of a nurse belonged to the male population because of its affiliation with the military and religious orders. Early religious orders such as the Benedictine nursing order and St. Alexis were brotherhoods delegated to holy men. The military utilized male nurses during a time of war in the front lines, while female nurses worked in the hospitals. But because of the shortage of male nurses during the civil war, women were recruited to take the place of the men and the emergence of nursing schools dedicated to women started to flourish while diminishing the male role as a nurse. Unfortunately, in today’s society, the role of a nurse is thought to be that of a females job and men who enter the field are considered

Nursing is a profession that has been around in one form or another since the beginning of civilizations. It has moved from an art that was handed down from generation to generation to the formal education and training programs of today. During this evolution, nursing has been influenced by four main themes: the folk, religious, military and servant images (Ellis, 2012, pp. 3-45, 71).

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

Like any scientific discipline, the nursing profession has evolved over time. Nurses, once regarded as housemaids and lower class citizens, now hold positions of authority and stature in our modern society. These changes in the profession are attributed to the many nurse theorists who devoted their lives to the improvement of patient care. Through their theoretical advancements, the public perception of nursing has gone from dismissive to reverential. Today, our culture considers the nursing profession to be one of the most rewarding and respected career paths an individual can pursue. Through a review of one such patient theorist, Dorothea Orem, one can witness this change in the perception of the nursing profession. As a first semester student in a professional nursing course of study, Orem has already influenced my personal nursing philosophy.

The roles and functions of nurses have a very fascinating history and have evolved since the 19th century. Landale (1895), in her letter to the editor of the Nursing Record and Hospital World gave us a glimpse of what a nurse should be during that period. Referring to a nurse as a woman in uniform, it gave us an idea that nursing was a female dominated vocation and not to be treated as an economical occupation for financial gain. Landale (1895) placed an emphasis on the characteristic of being a servant and being devoted to service in order to be a nurse who was worthy of the uniform.

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;