Celebrating Men in Nursing

While historically women have typically dominated the nursing field in Canada, those numbers are slowly starting to change as more and more men enroll in nursing programs across the country. This change is the result of growing incentives, active recruiting and the deconstruction of social obstacles that have traditionally kept men away from the nursing profession.

Nursing with its challenging roles and vast number of different opportunities is more than ever, recognized by both men and women as an exciting career choice. In a time when jobs are scarce and over-educated individuals are accepting any entry level position available, the field of nursing lets new grads, that have completed the NCLEX-RN, start work almost immediately in a variety of fields that offer a completive salaries.

Schools are showing a definite increase in the numbers of male students registered in nursing programs and different areas are looking at creative ways to support and engage with our male nursing colleagues.

In Calgary, male students are taking a proactive approach by creating their own groups to encourage and support their gender in the nursing profession. And masculinity studies are an interesting area of gender research occurring in nursing and social sciences.  Calgary's Nursing Guy's Club pledges to promote positive messages regarding male nurses by developing a community where men can speak freely about their experiences in nursing.

Another exciting example of male leadership in nursing can be found in a British Columbia nurse Jae-Yung Kwon, whose book: “A lonely Bee in the Land of Flowers” detailing his experiences as a male nursing student is available on Amazon. Groups like the Calgary student group and nurses like Jae-Yung are one of the many ways the nursing community is working to break down the gender stereotypes of the profession.

At PRIMED one of our most experienced nursing educators is Ken McDonald. Ken is a graduate of Kwantlen University College. He also received his Masters in nursing from the University of British Columbia and currently works in nursing leadership and administration, with a keen focus on mental health nursing.

At PRIMED we are thankful for Ken's ongoing contributions to our program, as well as to the many other men that are actively engaged in the Canadian HealthCare System as registered nurses.