More pictures of male nurses in school advertisements and job openings please!!

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I think the field would get more men applying to be nurses if the advertisements would put a male face as a part of nursing more often. I am on the path to be either a CNA or a RN, and it is difficult because all the advertisements and magazines have women as the face of nursing. I know women are more attractive to look at but come on!

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Why does it matter? A nurse's responsibility is to advocate for patients' of all walks of life. To do this, they have to look beyond their own ethnic, social, and personal values. And that doesn't even include understanding the whole medical aspect. I don't believe being of any particular gender or race helps a person to be a better nurse. I don't believe that forcing diversity or even creating the illusion of it necessarily adds anything either. I think if the pictures in advertisements are what make you struggle with this career decision then you are probably looking into the wrong field.

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Why does it matter? A nurse's responsibility is to advocate for patients' of all walks of life. To do this, they have to look beyond their own ethnic, social, and personal values. And that doesn't even include understanding the whole medical aspect. I don't believe being of any particular gender or race helps a person to be a better nurse. I don't believe that forcing diversity or even creating the illusion of it necessarily adds anything either. I think if the pictures in advertisements are what make you struggle with this career decision then you are probably looking into the wrong field.

It does matter!! And that isn't what I am saying. There are aspects of the job that a male nurse will find easier and patients will find more comfortable with male patients than female.

I don't have a problem but I am guessing others do. All I am asking is for some diversity.

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Specializes in Med Surg - Renal.

Why do you want more men - or more of any gender - applying to nursing school? We have too many new grad RNs as it is.

That being said, there is nothing wrong with advertising that reflects the current situation - there are far more women in nursing than men. The smattering of males I see in nursing program advertising is reflective of the actual situation.

The bottom line is that if you are a male in nursing, you are going to be working with a lot of women. I personally think that is a good thing.

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Specializes in Critical Care, Progressive Care.

It very much matters.Images in advertising and in film/tv collectively create a normative view of any profession. Showing men in these images suggests that men have a place in nursing. Young men need to be able to visualize themselves as nurses before the decide to become a nurse. This may involve direct interaction with a male nurse, but it also might involve interacting with film, tv, ads, video games etc.

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Interesting comment, since it seems to me that I v. rarely see a nursing "publicity"-type photo or illustration these days that doesn't include men (as well as ethnic/racial diversity). How many portrayals, or what percentage of portrayals, of males are you looking for? As far as I can roughly estimate, they are already waaaay over-represented in illustrations compared to their representation in the nursing population. :)

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I think the field would get more men applying to be nurses if the advertisements would put a male face as a part of nursing more often. I am on the path to be either a CNA or a RN, and it is difficult because all the advertisements and magazines have women as the face of nursing. I know women are more attractive to look at but come on!
Female nurses account for 95 percent of all nurses. We do need more male nursesand not for lifting, many male patients prefer male nurses for intimate procedures.
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Specializes in Med Surg - Renal.
Female nurses account for 95 percent of all nurses. We do need more male nursesand not for lifting, many male patients prefer male nurses for intimate procedures.

Actually, female nurses account for 92-93% of all nurses. (Look it went down 2-3% since you wrote your post!)

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