Becoming a nurse: Don’t let the feminists stop you

06 Apr 2011 3 Comments

by littlenursey in Experiences, Placements Tags: feminism, feminist, nurse, nurses, nursing, Nursing Times, student nurse

The other day I went to take a patient’s observations and she was particularly interested in my uniform because it is white instead of blue. I explained that I was a student nurse. She looked pleasantly surprised, smiled at me and said “Ooh, that’s brilliant. I wanted to be a nurse when I was younger, but my mother wouldn’t let me.”
When I asked why, she explained that her mother was against the idea as, just because she was a woman, it didn’t mean she had to become a nurse. Her mother viewed nursing as something women did when they didn’t know what else to do – the easy option and a worthless job, but a job nevertheless. Even my own grandmother shares this view.

On the same day, a different patient saw the word ‘student’ on my ID badge. She asked if I wanted to become a nurse or a doctor. When I told her I wanted to become a nurse, she lost interest.

These events reminded me of an article I read a few weeks ago on the Nursing Times website, ‘The image of nursing: Not good enough for a feminist?’

I can be a feminist sometimes. I am annoyed at how the government decided to do the right thing by making car insurance prices equal between men and women, but still haven’t changed anything when women continue to be less paid for jobs that women can do just as well as men.
It annoys me when the argument ‘yes but men are physically stronger and more aggressive therefore work harder’ is used to defend unequal pay, when these people are talking about jobs such as banking and teaching which require no physical strength. Women are just as work driven as men are, regardless of whether they want children one day or not.
It disappoints me when a young, attractive and hard-working woman makes a name for herself, becomes well-known to the media, and then gives in to the pressure of taking her clothes off for the cameras and allowing the images to be heavily airbrushed. Even my Dad agrees on this one – they immediately become more known for their raunchy images and looks rather than what they worked so hard for.
It REALLY annoys me when I see women’s magazines that ridicule celebrities with photographs of their cellulite and muffin-tops, and then 10 pages later, see articles all about how to get rid of cellulite and how to lose weight.

But when it comes to some feminists (not all, but some) going as far as to say that a woman who wants to be a nurse should abandon the idea and become a physician or a lawyer instead, I draw the line.
If these feminists knew how much knowledge nurses must possess, exactly how much hard work they have to do (much of which a consultant or physician would never have to do) and how organised and responsible they have to be, maybe they would think twice about branding nursing as ‘lowly women’s work’. If they knew how painfully difficult it is to qualify with a degree or diploma in nursing, maybe then they would lighten on their opinion.

If some feminists stopped portraying nursing as ‘something women do when they don’t know what else to do’, then maybe more men would be interested in becoming a nurse too. I have worked with many male nurses – they are just as brilliant and caring. Some of my best mentors have been male nurses. It shouldn’t even be an issue. I wish we had more male nurses.

Of course, it’s obvious that there will always be more female nurses than male – it’s just the way things are. Type in ‘nurse’ on google images and the majority of the images will be of female (and sometimes naked) nurses. But feminists shouldn’t make this out to be some form of weakness of women. Afterall, we really need nurses, and nurses should be very proud of themselves regardless of their gender. I am never going to see myself any lower than a physician.

A favourite quote of mine by my friend and fellow student nurse Jess:

“Feminists would hate us. We want to take care care of people, get married and have kids, and then stay at home and bake cakes all day.”