BILLINGS - Nursing. The word might conjure up images of a Florence Nightingale-type nurturer, but as National Nurse Week wraps up Monday, KULR-8 takes a look at what it's like to be a man in a female-dominated profession.
While the number of male nurses is on the rise, sometimes, their presence can take a patient by surprise. "Some eyebrows go up and they say, oh are you the doctor?" said nursing student Joey Traywick. "No, I'm just a nursing student," he responds.
"Or they'll say, oh, can I get a nurse in here and little things like that where they realize you're a guy and you're the nurse." And with a nursing shortage looming, intensive care nurse Chris Candelaria says the nursing schools are especially short on men. "I was the only guy in my class."
However, recent statistics from the U.S. Department of Labor say male nurses represent about 7% of the nursing population, that's up from less than 3% in 1980. But regardless of gender, male nurses say a passion for quality care got them started and keeps them going.
"I was working with nurses that really encouraged me and motivated me to consider nursing school and it was great because I realized I could do more good for more people in nursing," said Traywick.
"I think the feeling that I get is when I can see that patient has gotten better and improved because of the care that you've given," said Candelaria. Experts say the number of male nurses will keep increasing, as nursing jobs provide security in an unstable economy.