http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/natio...s/2504803/
Economic benefits attract males to female-dominated profession
Ryan McFarland never let gender stereotypes stand in the way of his decision to become a nurse.
He considers it "a manly job," a description he is happy to explain.
McFarland is a registered nurse at Sumner Regional Medical Center in Gallatin, Tenn., where he has worked since graduation.
He helps make up the small percentage of male nurses, which has steadily, but slowly, been on the rise since the 1970s.
As of 2011, 9.6 percent of all registered nurses in the U.S. were male, according to a recent report by the U.S. Census Bureau. That percentage has tripled in three decades, from 2.7 percent in 1970.
"I guess my friends thought, since I played sports in high school, that I would take on a more manly job," McFarland said. "But this is a manly job. There are so many things in this field that aren't easy — most people don't have the stomach for it."
Economic benefits attract males to female-dominated profession
Ryan McFarland never let gender stereotypes stand in the way of his decision to become a nurse.
He considers it "a manly job," a description he is happy to explain.
McFarland is a registered nurse at Sumner Regional Medical Center in Gallatin, Tenn., where he has worked since graduation.
He helps make up the small percentage of male nurses, which has steadily, but slowly, been on the rise since the 1970s.
As of 2011, 9.6 percent of all registered nurses in the U.S. were male, according to a recent report by the U.S. Census Bureau. That percentage has tripled in three decades, from 2.7 percent in 1970.
"I guess my friends thought, since I played sports in high school, that I would take on a more manly job," McFarland said. "But this is a manly job. There are so many things in this field that aren't easy — most people don't have the stomach for it."