Male Florence Nightingale Stands Tall

By Voon Miaw Ping

KUALA LUMPUR, May 12 (Bernama) -- People like Mohd Hafiz Hamzah are a minority in a profession dominated by females.

But as a male nurse in a society where nursing is still viewed as a profession for the fairer sex, he and the few others like him have managed to stand tall and be proud of the career they have chosen.

Mohd Hafiz has worked at the Sultan Abdul Halim Hospital in Sungai Petani for three years now.

"I came across nursing as a profession during a career expo after I had just completed SPM. I was able to develop my interest in the subject and since then I have had no regrets, " he said.

Speaking to Bernama at the International Nurses Day celebration officiated by Health Minister Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai at the Putra World Trade Centre (PWTC) here today, Hafiz, 25, said that besides the constant challenge of working at the general surgery section, the job also offered a promising future.

"The prospect is very good. Well-trained nurses, especially those who specialise in certain areas, always command good demand in a situation now where the people are placing high priority on healthcare," he said, adding that he was considering specialising in intensive care.

For Muhamad Kamil Che Hasan, also 25, his launch into a career as a male nurse has been the beginning of an exciting journey.

He started work at the Tengku Ampuan Afzan Hospital in Kuantan six months ago.

"I studied Health Science and Nursing at USM (Universiti Sains Malaysia) and I chose to specialise in nursing despite very few male students having opted for it.

"My family was supportive of my career choice. Acceptance from fellow nurses and colleagues was no problem and they are ever willing to teach me the trade," he said.

Rather, he said, the discrimination was from society at large which still perceived nursing as a female profession.

"This view needs to be corrected. In fact, it provides the men with lots of career opportunities to progress.

"At the same time, I also hope more guys will take up nursing because, in some cases like what I have experienced, some male patients would feel more comfortable when dealing with male nurses, especially when it is related to masculine issues," he added.

To date, there are only 461 male nurses nationwide compared to 78,483 female nurses.

Earlier, when speaking to reporters, Liow said he also hoped to see more males joining the profession in the future.

He said the ministry was committed to increasing the number of nurses, especially in the specialist and sub-specialist areas such as coronary and pediatric care.

He also hoped to improve the nurse/patient ratio from the present 1:375 to 1:200 by the end of 2015.

Liow said the 64 nursing colleges in the country produced an average of 6,000 graduate nurses annually.

He said he would propose to the Cabinet to gazette May 12 as Malaysia Nurses Day.

-- BERNAMA