How did Nursing Become a Female Profession

How did Nursing Become a Female Profession
By Patricia Walling

When you make a visit to a doctor's office, clinic or hospital you have a far greater chance of meeting a female nurse than a male one. While the proportion of men entering the nursing profession has been growing, it remains a female-dominated occupation. Men constitute a mere 7.9 percent of all nursing jobs in the United States despite being predominant in nearly every other sector of healthcare, from medical transcription to cardiology. It's difficult to say where exactly this trend started, but peering back through the veil of time makes it easy to see that this is a recent development.

Male-Dominated

In examining the history of nursing, it seems only right to acknowledge the origins and development of Western medicine in general. Following the advent of formal medical study in the wake of Hippocrates, what we consider nursing was originally a task assigned to apprentice doctors, nearly all of whom were men. Throughout recorded history, healthcare roles have been dominated by men. For instance, St. Camillus is famously credited with first associating the sign of the red cross with medicine, and while midwives might be thought of as the basis for the future takeover of nursing by women, this is not the case. As medical science spread, the traditional role of the midwife was often assumed by a doctor.
Male domination continued even after the nursing discipline had been formally established. Nearly all healthcare positions in the world were held by men clear through to the early 20th century. However, by the 1930s a mere one percent of nurses were men. This baffling change came swiftly and almost without warning, but makes sense when examined in its context.

Female-Dominated

The word nurse itself came into use sometime in the 12th Century. From the French nurrice, it applied exclusively to wet-nurses, women who suckled the children of the wealthy in lieu of their biological mothers. As this practice died out in the 14th and 15th Centuries the word's meaning changed, eventually coming to mean “to care for the sick” by the 1530s. Professionals who aided the sick, but were not qualified to be called doctors, were nurses; and while the field remained dominated by men, the secondary definition and female connotation remained.

In addition to this, three major factors contributed to the change of hands that occurred in nursing: industry, war and publicity. As options for workers developed in the wake of the industrial revolution, nursing, with its low pay and high risk of disease, became a less desirable occupation. As men stepped out of the field, women stepped in to fill the labor gap. This, in conjunction with the increased demand for nursing professionals and lack of male candidates brought on by the American Civil War, Crimean War and First World War gave women a chance to increase their presence immensely.

However, a less obvious major contributor to female nursing was Florence Nightingale. Following her lifetime of nursing throughout the 19th century, Florence became a cultural icon of the age synonymous with the practice of nursing. Romanticized accounts of her life fueled public perception of what nurses should be: compassionate, selfless, faithful and female.

Lingering Stereotypes

Although most people would like to consider themselves as forward thinking, the bias and prejudices toward men in the nursing profession still exist to this day. While there are no physical or legal barriers arrayed against male nursing students, educational materials frequently use feminine pronouns in their texts and most classes are taught and attended primarily by women, creating a more awkward social atmosphere. Worse still, male nurses pursuing work in obstetrics, gynecology or maternity may face unwarranted prejudice among other hindrances, sometimes resulting in legal action.

The evolution of nursing as a female profession did not occur overnight. Yet due to the sheer number of female nurses currently in the field, it is hard for males to regain their status and dignity in the current social and professional climate. However, if men persist in their desire to pursue nursing, these biases and prejudices will wane over time just as they did for women.