Tuesday, November 04, 2008
Male Nurses
This is my WISP homework. Something to be done on elearning week.
Male nurses defy stereotypes and discrimination to find satisfaction in a female-dominated profession
Male nurses are a rare sight in the society. About 6 percent of nurses today are male ( as reported on the webstie of Nurseweek magazine).
In most places, men are not seem as a care giver. Like in hospitals, it was only until in the recent years that men are accepted into the whole idea of being good nurses. In the 1990s, hospitals prohibit male nurses on certain floors, especially the delivery floors and women health wards. This is because they think male nurses invade the privacy of those of the women. They have a stereotype that men cannot be nurse-midwives.
Born in Nigeria and educated in the United States, Emodi spent two years at a California university as an associate professor in the department of nursing. The environment was hostile, he said.
"I remember going to a rotation at a local hospital. The head nurse made it difficult for me to be able to supervise students in labor and delivery, pediatrics and postpartum, I think, because I’m a guy. She’d say, ‘You are not a medical doctor, you cannot go into labor and delivery.’ After a while, I had had enough, so I went to the doctor directly and said, ‘I need to be here with the students. The students need to see what is going on.’ The doctor said, ‘Sure, help yourself. Come on in.’ "
The head nurse in the end apologized for her rude behavior, but the hostility continued in other areas, Emodi said that he even experienced this during his interactions with other faculty members. Emodi left the university and the hospital. He’s now supervisor of the psychiatric unit at the Palo Alto VA Health System in California. Despite the hurdles, Emodi said he's never regretted chose nursing as a career.
Emodi is one of the many people that have been through this stereotyping.
This kind of sterotype also appears on the media, Ben's Stiller character(a nurse) in the movie (Meet the Parents) is a good example. It shows a sterotype of male nurses. Ben Stiller as a male nurse is portrayed as someone who lacks of assertiveness always being critizied for being a nurse by his future father in law and he always submits to his insults to gain favour with his girlfriend's family.
Posted by dear benji at 1:36 PM