UN I V E R S I T Y D A I L Y K A N S A N
11C
Male nurses face discrimination
Patients rarely are ones to complain about nursing care
Paul Rayson, emergency room registered nurse at Lawrence Memorial Hospital, checks Marlena Durflinger's blood pressure. For Ravson, a nurse should be assertive and compassionate; gender shouldn't matter.
Gale Garber / KANSAN
By Kell Raybern Special to the Kansan
His fellow students didn't expect much from KU nursing student Scott Burpo, Ulysses senior, when he began teaching a parenting class to pregnant women.
"There's a misconception that women are the natural moms to teach about pregnancy." Burpo said. "People see nursing men as not capable of doing it."
Burpo's work in obstetrics, the care of women during and after childbirth, defied his classmates' low expectations and society's misconceptions about male inability to be nurses.
"When I did OB, all the women I took care of, I never had one feel uncomfortable with me. I was teaching them how to take care of their little ones," Burpo said.
In a culture and a profession that has sustained a decidedly female stereotypes, men who enter nursing say they face discrimination and sexist expectations. But those men who build careers helping the sick say their dedication and confidence can overcome traditional attitudes.
Burpo said most questions about his ability did not come from patients but from fellow students in the School of Nursing, 85 percent of whom are female.
"Nursing students have a stereotype that because I'm a man, I won't be able to do home health because older women won't let me in their homes. It's not the patients' perception, it's more the other nurses' perception," Burpo said.
Paul Rayson, a nurse at Lawrence Memorial Hospital, also said most concern about his gender did not come from patients.
"When I was in school, the nursing instructor was probably the most embarrassed," Rayson said.
In his professional career, objections also have come mostly from outsiders to the nurse-patient relationship. Rayson said objections could come from his fellow nurses, some of whom might have a problem if he wanted to work on the obstetrics floor.
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Those who objected when Rayson performed an exam on a female rape victim were even further removed from the situation.
"The people in charge of the exam and patients didn't have a problem. People from the community had a problem with it," he said.
Because of such concerns, the hospital requires a female be present Whenever Rayson or another male nurse performs a pelvic exam.
Some male nursing students fear concerns about their gender will limit their careers.
Kyle Winans, a first-year nursing student at Chabot College in Hayward, Calif., was surprised when a patient's mother requested his removal from the care of the female patient.
"At first I was in shock, thinking 'Did I do anything wrong?' Winans said. "I later learned that many facilities have special rules for male nurses caring for female clients. This experience showed me that my role will always be one on the defense."
Societal stereotypes against male nurses are diminishing, however.
At the University of Kansas, male undergraduate enrollment increased from 10 percent of the freshman class in 1993 to 19.5 percent in 1996.
"We try to make efforts to have more men," said Rita Clifford, assistant dean of the KU School of Nursing. "Our recruitment efforts focus on being welcoming and inclusive."
Clifford said the efforts included taking nursing students on recruiting trips and a organizing a recent tour of the school for a group of male high school students.
However, Clifford said the most important gains for men interested in nursing were not made only in the classroom.
"It's more of a societal change." Clifford said. "Men are more free nowadays to choose professions that might once have been stereotypically the other gender."
Rayson said the most progress toward this goal was achieved through the popular media.
"The biggest inroads in removing the stereotype are being made through TV shows," Rayson said.
"They have a male nurse on ER."
Often, a nurse's own attitude can make patient relationships comfortable regardless of societal stereotypes.
"If I walk in and am nervous about a situation, that nervousness is carried across to the patient, and they become nervous," Rayson said.
Burpo agreed his state of mind was more important in establishing good patient relations than his gender.
"Patients don't care if you're male or female," Burpo said. "They care about being treated with dignity and respect."
Rayson also said a nurse's sex was not always important to patients.
"In the midst of having a baby, nobody cares," he said. "They want to be helped."
However, Rayson said the field of nursing must improve its gender balance.
"The perfect nurse has both masculine and feminine qualities," Rayson said. "The perfect nurse is both aggressive and compassionate, both assertive and tender. As a profession, we need to have a balance to give that perspective."
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