Need to summarise and paraphrase in own words - Essay Example

Article Summary: McCurry, Timothy B. . The image of male nurses and nursing leadership mobility. Nursing Forum, 46(1), 22 – 28.The labour force in the US experiences the problem of gender segregation. While majority of focus on previous research studies has been on the experience of women in male-dominated occupation, little has been researched on the likelihood of men entering female-dominated jobs. The latter presenting higher probability of occurrence, this article examines the underrepresentation of men in nursing profession, the difficulties they face and the advantages attributable to their gender.

The researcher in this article uses literature review, borrowing from both nursing research and social science to achieve the objectives of the study. Even though the two sources overlap, they differ in focus as social science evaluates social processes and structures while nursing concentrates on the dearth of men in nursing and recruitment and retention approaches. Additionally, social science asserts that male nurses experience difficulties in their profession while nursing opposes this assertion.

According to the author, historically, men were greatly involved in nursing in war and during the monastic movement. But in the 19th Century, Florence Nightingale introduced reforms in training based on the perception of women as being biologically endowed in caring and nurturing which saw men being replaced by women in nursing as men solely took up combat roles.The challenges that men face in nursing include cultural norms that makes people in other professions to discriminate against them. In addition, the support from supervisors, clients and colleagues and the discrimination from outsiders considering them as feminised males also present a challenge.

Therefore, male nurses adopt labour practices that would shield them from stereotypic segregation. Despite these discriminative aspects, the researcher notes that men would not experience prejudice or discrimination in female-dominated occupations as would females in male-dominated occupations. Their minority representation advantages them for promotion as opposed to hindering them. The discrimination in hiring places them at an advantaged context as female-dominated specialties have been noted to attract more males.

Sexist attitudes hinder females from breaking the invisible barriers for promotions to highest positions.