krebs.cycle

My previous statements about being a male nursing student where more directed towards the classroom dynamics than towards the clinical setting. The nursing program that I attend is designed and implemented by an entirely female faculty, and as a Collaborative program with several other colleges and universities, is also influenced by several other all female faculties. Therefore it only goes without saying that the program would be more favourable to a majority of females learning styles (and don't get up in arms over that comment because men and women are not the same nor usually learn the same ways). This has made it difficult to retain the few male students that start the program. In the first year we wrote several essays on our "feelings". If we did not do an adequate job, that met the female instructor's requirements, we got a poor mark. I know there are females who found these assignments difficult too. As a male, I was raised to never explain or share my feelings in great depths. In the hospital setting I have not noticed any detrimental prejudices about my gender, but some on being a student. To date the majority of my clients have been over 50 and I do get the occassional comments of "Are you the doctor?" All seem pleased when I explain that I am a nurse that happens to be male. I do all I can to promote a positive image of the nursing profession and hope to do so throughout my career. I just want to carry on the tradition the title "nurse" stands for: Caring, Understanding, and Professionalism. However................I am sure I can't be the only person that wonders why males make up such a small percentage of RNs in Canada. In 2002 there were 230,957 RNs total, with only 5.1% (11,796) being male. Before the term "nurse" came into being with Florence Nightengale, it was the male who did the majority of nursing, throughout history, for the sick and dying of the many wars and battles (ie. Holy Wars, front-line medics, pre-Crimean War). Can someone explain to me though, why is it that 44.7% of the male RNs work in Quebec? Is there some benefit to working in this province or recruitment strategy that the other provinces don't know about?

I am a male nursing student in the midst of my second year of schooling towards a degree. I find the underlying of most everything in this program to be oriented towards women, whether it be the lack of pictures of male nurses in the text books or the necessity of describing one's "feelings" for a good grade. My working years, to date, have been in male oriented areas, and I am increasingly aware of the inequity of acceptance and opportunity available to men entering nursing. The stereotype of nursing being for "women only" greatly influenced me by decreasing my desire to be a nurse, for many years, and still at times I feel the subtle segregation of being one of only three males in a class of 26. Positive promotion of men in nursing is absent. The most recent portrayals have been "Oswald" from "The Drew Carey Show", "Jack" from "Will & Grace", and Ben Stiller's character on "Meet the Parents", which have all had negative connotations attached to them. It would be great to see a "male-friendly" image of nursing that would encourage more men to decide on nursing as a career option. Opinions and comments on ways that this can be accomplished or on my experiences and thoughts would be appreciated.