Males In Healthcare

9 Pages 2342 Words

aware of the patient’s concerns and be able to overcome their own intrinsic fears to provide Family Centered Care in the maternity unit. This paper discusses the issues facing the male nursing student entering into the maternity unit and how they can facilitate family centered care.
History of Males in Nursing
Historically, the first people who provide nursing care were men (Davis & Bartfay, 2001). Formally trained nurses were first schooled in the Hippocratic era, 5th century B.C. At this time, all the trainees were men and practically all nursing procedures were supervised by men (Lodge et al., 1999). The first nurses in Canada were also men. The French Garrison in 1629, Port Royal, Acadia housed males who were attendants and they provided nursing care for ill people within the colony (Lodge et al., 1999). Presently, in Canada, male nurses make up a fraction of the practicing nurses. In a study conducted by Davis & Bartfay (2001) male nurses comprise about 4.6% of the 230,000 practicing R.N.’s in Canada. The progression of the nursing field is an evolutionary process and has contributed to the decrease in male nurses in today’s profession.
Societal forces and trends can be attributed to the uneven ratio of female to male nurses (Davis & Bartfay, 2001). The man, during the Victorian era, was responsible for his family. Men were forced to seek employment elsewhere in order to receive a better income and provide a better life for his family (Davis & Bartfay, 2001). The nursing profession, at this time, offered only a small amount of money compared to the industrial work force (Davis & Bartfay, 2001).
Schooling was another factor contributing to the decrease in male nurses and was evident with the opening of formal training facilities by Florence Nightingale, who was considered the first lady to provide modern nursing care (Davis & Bartfay, 2001). These nursing schools denied access to male student who were in...