BEAUMONT: School sees more male nursing students

By ERIN WALDNER
The Press-Enterprise

Elmer Ramos had worked in distribution nearly 20 years when his company went bankrupt in 2008 and he lost his job.

"I sat around the house for three months," said Ramos, of Hemet.

Ramos, 37, considered looking for another job in distribution but decided to pursue a vocation that offered more job security, he said. He enrolled in the licensed vocational nursing program at Beaumont Adult School.

The 16-month program concluded Friday night with a commencement ceremony. Ramos plans to take the state licensing exam as soon as possible and if he passes, could be working as an LVN by early next year.

Nursing remains a female-dominated profession, with only 5.8 percent of registered nurses in the U.S. being male.

"There's a stigma that nursing is for women," said Lori Edwards, medical arts coordinator at the Beaumont Adult School. "But I think it's getting better."

Seventeen students graduated Friday night and two are men: Ramos and Russell Bailey, 24, also of Hemet. The next LVN class starts Tuesday with five men among the 29 enrolled students.

The adult school has seen an increase in the number of men inquiring about the program.

"I think it's because of the economy," Edwards said.

She said some of the men have been laid off and others are looking for a job with more stability.

"We're always going to need health care workers," Edwards said.

Before he enrolled in the LVN program Bailey worked in drywall.

"It got slow," he said.

Licensed vocational nurses are respected and there's job security, he said.

Bailey's mother is a nurse as is Ramos' longtime girlfriend.

"I felt comfortable going into the profession," Ramos said. "I was apprehensive about going back to school. It's been 14 years."

Bailey said he has friends in construction who tease him about going into nursing.

"There's a lot of jokes about being a murse," shorthand for male nurse, he said.

Ramos has been teased as well but the men said it doesn't bother them. Bailey plans to continue his studies and become a registered nurse.

In drywall he made $11.50 an hour, he said. As an LVN he can expect to make $15 to $22 an hour.

"I tell every one of my friends to come get their butts down here," Bailey said.

Ramos said men should consider nursing because "there will always be patients. ... They will always have a job."

Reach Erin Waldner at 951-763-3473 or ewaldner@PE.com