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Historical development of nursing
Historical development of nursing
Historical development of nursing
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Despite having the majority be women, nursing has started to become a profession for males as well. Men make up around 10% of the nursing workforce in both the UK and USA. Nurses are typically regarded as a female role and males in nursing often find themselves being referred to as 'male nurses ' or a 'murse ' to distinguish them from the female nurses. With increasing expectations of workplace equality during the late 20th century, nursing became an officially gender-neutral profession, though in practice the percentage of male nurses remains well below that of female physicians in the early 21st century. The number of active nurses in general that are working has started to decrease. Because of the low amount of active nurses, hospitals …show more content…
Before the foundation of modern nursing, members of religious orders such as nuns and monks often provided nursing-like care. Examples exist in Christian, Islamic and Buddhist traditions amongst others. These traditions were influential in the development of the ethos of modern nursing. Nursing has been labeled as a job for a female, as a doctor is a man’s role. Nursing historians face the challenge of determining whether care provided to the sick or injured in antiquity was nursing care. In the fifth century BC, for example, the Hippocratic Collection in places describes skilled care and observation of patients by male "attendants", who may have been early nurses. During the Reformation of the 16th century, Protestant reformers shut down the monasteries and convents, allowing a few hundred municipal hospices to remain in operation in northern Europe. Those nuns who had been serving as nurses were given pensions or told to get married and stay home. Nursing care went to the inexperienced as traditional caretakers, rooted in the Roman Catholic Church, were removed from their positions. The nursing profession suffered a major setback for approximately 200 …show more content…
Stereotypes of taking up a female position, lack of male interest in the profession, low wage, nursing job nicknames, such as Sister and Matron, and the assumption that male nurses will have a harder time in the workplace carrying out their duties are just a few examples. There is a shortage of male nurses at the moment, but there is no sign that they suffer in their career. Despite equal opportunity legislation, nursing has continued to be a female-dominated profession. For instance, the male-to-female ratio of nurses is approximately 1:19 in Canada and the United States. Evidence suggests that male nurses can be fast
The articles were to be peer reviewed, and have a minimum of one nurse as an author. The research was completed on the EBSCO online research database using the Cumulative Index to Nursing database and Allied Health Literature with full text. The concept of nursing being a predominantly female profession is currently being influenced by the media, and society as a whole (Lou, Yu & Chen, 2010) This is being portrayed through movies with how frequent you see females as nurses within television series but you rarely or never see males. When you finally see the ‘male nurse’ they are usually portrayed negatively such as portrayed in this film. Jack tries persistently to persuade Greg to switch career paths because he considers it a female line of work. Constant portrayal of nursing being a female role in movies and television shows is leading to the population being misinformed about the male nursing profession. The truth is that males have an equal role in the nursing work force. David Stanley stated in an article that male nurse’s are considered to be aggressive. (2012) When Greg got upset, and started yelling, “bomb” on the plane, he had to be detained. This could be considered portraying a male nurse as being an aggressor. This proves the statement previously stated about males could be viewed as more aggressive. Just because there is a correlation of males nurses
“Registered nurses treat patients and help prevent disease, educate patients and the public about various medical conditions and health issues, and provide advice and emotional support to patients’ family members both physically and mentally.”(Registered). It is important for the individual going into this occupation to search out the pros and cons of the different areas of nursing. Sometimes gender plays a part in choosing the specific area of an RN. For instance, the strength of males is needed in areas of physical therapy. While the gentle attributes of women are needed in the care of babies. “A nurse must like people and want to help them, and must also have self-reliance and good judgment, patience, honesty, responsibility, and ability to work easily with others.”(Jacobi). The occupation of a registered nurse includes many advantages such as having the ability to assist your family in medical needs, the salary is attractive and above the average scale, and it offers great job security.
The biggest stereotype about nurses is that they are all women. According to the website Esquire.Com, people believe that men should be doctors, algal field monitors, independent
There was seldom a mention of male and male students choosing to become nurses. Along with the belief of nursing being a career choice more female-directed, there was also the repeated mention of the career being for middle-class women (Price, 2008). Historically, women have been the dominant face of nursing and it has always been considered a suitable career for women, whereas most careers in the past would never be acceptable for a female. For some of the female students who were interviewed, this stereotype was part of a deferent to choosing nursing. They did not want to be thought of as a stereotypical women, and be casted into a mould of what most women choose (Price, Hall, Angus, & Peter, 2013). In a modern society, more and more women are wishing to push the boundaries on what use to be referred to as a male dominated territory. This is true in careers as well. Many females second guess their decision in choosing nursing due to
The image of nursing has changed throughout history. According to ten Hoeve, Y., Jansen, G., & Roodbol, P. (2013), “Florence Nightingale saw nursing as an independent profession that was not subordinate, but equal to the medical profession (physicians), for a long time nursing was seen as inseparable from the medical profession” (p.2). The image and the position of nurses was influenced based on the orders of a physician. Nurses were viewed as feminine and caring, not as healthcare providers. As a result, nursing seemed to be viewed as a profession with limited career opportunities. The image of nursing has evolved over time as well as the roles and practices in order to meet the needs of society.
Once upon a time, my best friend, Bryan Martinez, often heard his mother’s medical conversations with friends. One day at school, our teacher confronted Mrs. Martinez and told her that she was able tell that Bryan was a son from a nurse. Apparently there was an incident at school where a little boy was acting out and Bryan told our teacher that the little boy was agitated, and to give him some medication to calm him down. As demonstrated by Bryan, nursing is ongoing profession that promotes the health and well-being of individuals.
When people think of a nurse they normally come to the conclusion that most nurses are women. I would have thought the same, due to the qualities I have mentioned. I would like to research why men are entering the nursing profession. I feel that a male would join the profession because of the hours a nurse works. Men who like to fish and hunt can work as a nurse three days a week full time and have four days to enjoy leisure activities. The nursing profession is drawing more men into the field and usually thought for the same reasons as women. By a series of an observation, a survey, an interview, and a personal history, I will prove that men join the nursing profession because of money.
Nursing was a recognized role in society by the end of the middle ages. Because of a shortage of caregivers in the 16th century, women of low social status were forced to become caregivers. Modern nursing came about because of social reforms in the 19th century, allowing for the advancement of women such as Florence Nightingale,
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; however, gender discrimination throughout the society still exists, which may discourage them from entering the profession. Gender segregation has separated male nurses into the minority group that faces many obstacles within the profession, in which negative stereotypes are the primary obstacle for men who want to enter the nursing force.
Furthermore, the lack of male teachers and male role models in nursing education programs enhance the discrimination issues. In the absence of male teachers, male students remain exposed to a female dominated teaching faculty, in addition to feminine orientated interpretations of the nursing profession (Mohamed, Mohamed, 2015). It was perceive male and female student’s encounter different learning experiences, however this was based on the sexist fact men lack maternal instinct. Also observed in practical classroom settings teachers generally selected males for gender role-play activities and rarely selected males for the nurse role. Evidently, nurse educators frequently refer to a nurse in a female context during teaching situations, furthermore nursing textbooks project a strong feminine tone. The exclusion of male nursing students from certain practical and clinical training programs can negativity impact a students future career decisions (Kouta, Kaite, 2011). Improvements to teacher training and the updating of nursing resources, acknowledging nurses of both gender, can facilitate positive male student nurse outcomes to future career pathways (Mohamed, Mohamed,
Just 2.7 percent of the working nurse population in the United States are men. To understand why nursing is dominated by women, we have to examine the its history. Male nurses may belong, but there?s still not many around. According to the U.S. Labor Department statistics, "6.7 percent of registered nurses were male"(statistics). Gender discrimination in nursing exists because of prejudices male students encounter in the classroom, in the workplace and with the patients.
Currently in the nursing industry males make up as little as 10% of the nursing population in places like the UK (Whittock & Leonard, 2003a) even though many male nurses state that nursing is a rewarding and meaningful career (Rajacich, Kane, Williston, & Cameron, 2013). Nursing is still seen as female dominated industry (Hoffnung, 2013) and as stated by Sherrod, Sherrod & Rasch, nursing has yet to break the gender roles that other professions have managed to (Rajacich et al., 2013) even though women have to reach a higher standard to progress in male dominated professions (Hoffnung, 2013).
The nursing profession has changed drastically over time. The roles and responsibilities that nurses take on have increased and become far more complicated. Nurses are managers, leaders, supervisors and have become experts in many areas of care. Every day nurses are faced with the task of improving and strengthening professional leadership within their work environment. Managing good quality and eliminating risk is the major challenge in health care. All members of the team must work together to accomplish outstanding patient care. Budget cuts and nursing shortage in all areas of health care leads to less licensed staff, where use of unlicensed personnel have been used widely, where delegation is not an option, but a necessity. Nurses must be aware of delegation guidelines, what tasks to delegate,when to delegate for the safety of patients, liability of nurses and the facility.
Nursing as a profession has faced many barriers over the centuries. One of the most defining barriers discussed in regard to the historical experience of nurses is the effects of its being considered, and for the most part being, work done by women. In evaluating nursing history it is necessary therefore to evaluate the ways in which society has evolved over time in terms of its views on the roles of nurses of women within the society and its institutions. In the U.S., the inception of nursing both as an occupation and later as a profession, has strong ties to the challenge of women's perceived role as a wife and mother whose sphere was solely domestic. In many ways, significant progress has been made from that time in what women and nurses are able to do within society. However, the interplay between nursing and the Feminist movements which paralleled its development as a profession was far from being mutually respectful and supportive. In fact, in spite of the influence of prominent nursing leaders as supporters of women's suffrage, nurses were either unconcerned or actively avoiding involvement in women's rights. Feminism meanwhile, in its later endeavors, developed a poor perception of nursing due to its ingrained status as a stereotypical female occupation. The relationship of nursing and Feminism being so close while at the same time noticeably antagonistic in many ways has had profound effects on the profession and its modern-day challenges.
...ld. Women are most often stereotyped as only being nurses or other lower-end health professionals. There is a huge difference between the percent of males and the percent of females when it comes to more advanced medical fields. A study conducted by Reed and Fischer found that women are not promoted at the same rate as men in medical fields. They feel that women are under-represented in higher medical positions. The CEJA found that there is a large difference in salaries between men and women. Studies show that the average female physician earns 34 percent less than her male counterpart. Female physicians are more likely to earn a relatively low income and are less likely to gain a relatively higher income. For example, while 19 percent of female physicians earned less than $60,000, only 7 percent of male physicians earned less than that same amount (CEJA, 1994).