BY Anu Coker
Fundamentally, women are assumed to be better care-givers than men and there are some profession that because of our perception of it, are attributed to either men or women without actually doing a full analysis of the job specifications.
I was one of the narrow minded people that always termed nursing to be a profession for women. Whenever I came across a male nurse I always wondered why this man would decide to be a nurse, he should have opted for medicine. It’s nearly the same amount of years to have a B.sc and Masters and being a doctor (4 years in the UK and 2 years houseman-ship). Then in my naivety, I was fortunate to work within the medical sector and it open my myopic mind to an understanding that nursing isn’t a women’s only profession and Nurses do very hard job that 90% of the population will not opt to do. There are some patients that you’ll wonder why they could not have a bath before they come to the hospital in a country with so much abundance and water and electricity supply yet the nurses have to clean them up … there are all kinds of people …the one’s that will insult the nurse attending to them, the ones that are good mannered and well presented, the ones that are drunk and come only to drink the sanitizing gel (It’s about 90%) alcohol. Some with no ailment but just would rather come sit in the waiting room in hospital because they have no one to talk to at home…you meet all kinds of people.
I really appreciate the male nurses because, they are very empathetic and do a lot of the physical hard work their female colleagues cannot do and they tend to control the patients, funny enough I like the feel and ambiance male nurses bring to the profession. They make me see the profession in a new light and with structure. Men are more methodical in nature and they bring this into the profession and it is really nice to have a mix of sexes and there is more work done and less gossips.
I hope more Nigerian men go into the Nursing profession, and it’s never too late to change professions. I think Male Nurses in our medical system will restructure the medical environment. Men have a way of agreeing with other men to make changes in their environment.
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