Nursing as a profession is termed as a calling. This could be because of the intense engagement that is required while on duty. The skills, patience, remorse and nurturing aspects are some of the qualities a nurse should possess. Gender equality in nursing:
Statistics indicate that nursing is dominated by women in most parts of the world. This could be attributed to the nature of women being nurtures and home makers. They tend to treat patients like their children and for this makes them dominated the compassionate department in health. Unlike others like doctors, laboratory assistants and other fields within health that are male dominated.
Midwifery and nursing have been dominated by women for a number of years. This has led to concerns by gender equality advocates who wants equality in the nursing practice. Let’s discuss further on gender equality in nursing.
What is gender equality in healthcare?
This is the unbiased consideration of one gender to deliver and enjoy the proceeding that come from the health. The equality dictates that men and women have the equal rights and potential to be nurses, deliver in their respective posing and enjoy the proceedings.
What are some examples of gender inequality in healthcare?
There are a number of gaps that have remained unresolved for a while. The male figure and the female figure in nursing has become a tussle even though they coexist in the hospital environment. Listed below are some of the major gaps of gender inequality in healthcare:
- Education biasness with more focus on girl child
- Less of no health care facilities in some areas
- Misdiagnosis of different genders
- Gender parity on gender based violence among others
- Discrimination at work place as women tend to be bullied by male colleagues and vice versa
Gender and nursing as a profession
Nursing as a profession has been overly dominated by women while men who were as well competent have been given less coverage. Men are coming up strongly to take their place in the nursing profession.
Nursing have been mostly identified by women because they are culturally known for their caring attitude while men on the other hand are associated with hard jobs because of the cultural nature. Atypical example is in the crew and pilots, women are more in the airhostesses while men are in the pilot crew.
Typically, in the hospital set up, in a theater the dominant surgeons are male while the supporting team are the female nurses. This has become a concerned in the health sector and more males are encouraged to become nurses to break the old tradition. Gender bias in nursing research shows that almost 90 percent of nurses in the world are women.
While there is a concern of gender balancing, most male have a negative attitude towards nursing as they term it as ‘womens’ job’ and for that they literally avoid the opportunities even if it presents itself.
Importance of gender equality in nursing
So, why is equality important in nursing? Well, nursing just like any other profession should be diverse and offer equal opportunities to both genders without prejudice. Why is gender diversity important in nursing? Having diversified gender presence in public health farcicalities is very important because of the following reasons:
- Choice for patients
They say like poles repel and unlike poles attract. Some of the male patients would like to be attended to by female nurses while on the other side some female patients would like to be attended to by male nurses. They might not have ill intent but just their preference and for their conformability while some could be out of a bad previous experience
How to attain gender equality in nursing
The main question is how we balance the gender in the nursing as profession. Well there are a number of ways this can be done to ensure that the nursing as career recognizes men too. How can we promote gender equality in health care? Below are a number of ways gender equality can be attained and sustained:
- Provide equal rights to both genders
In the recent world much focus has been directed to the girl child leaving the boy child with less or no attention. Likewise in the nursing as a profession women are giving a higher priority as they are termed the weaker vessels and men seen as the stronger ones.
- Equality in rising to higher levels of management
Most of the health sectors are headed by men and the women tend to face a lot of opposition when they rise to the administration level. Such levels have been predominantly dominated by men. If this is addressed adequately it could be one of the ways of attaining equality.
- Discrimination
Discrimination is one the factors that is affecting the equality in nursing. The males tend to feel they are looked against and regarded as people doing women’s job. The women on the other hand are also not given enough opportunity to rise to management levels.
Is there any gender differences in nursing?
Ideally, there is no much of a difference in gender in nursing as a profession. Male or female the dispensation of their duties are the same because of the same training background. There is no supporting evidence to show any major distinction.
Gender inequality in nursing leadership
Leadership positions are male dominated leaving women at the assisting level. This could be as a result of some men feeling threatened by the leadership of a woman. It makes them feel inferior.
Women to need to be empowered to know that leadership positions are not just for the male gender but for all who qualify.
In the light of leadership in the nursing as a profession, women in nursing should not only stop at the degree level but strive higher in education to be able to occupy the high and the leadership positions.
What is the effects of gender inequality in nursing healthcare policy making? Well, in the past, women in the nursing profession have always been sidelined in the major national policy making, capacity building and health plans. The health sector needs equal treatment and attention to enable women rise to the leadership positions.
What are the roles and responsibilities of nurses in gender issues?
Nurses have been found to play an important role in the gender issues. Yes the field is dominated by women and the entry of a man possess a threat to the women. While it is true that the two genders need to work hand in hand to accomplish some tasks, the gap is still very visible. Some of the roles and responsibilities of nurses are as below:
- Discrimination
In most cases, the male nurses in the institution will be referred to as ‘male nurse’ or ‘the nurse was a male’ instead of referring to them as just ‘a nurse’
- Stereotyping male nurses
Yes by now we all know that most nurses are females and this could attribute to their emotional attachment and soft spots. This has put the male nurses on the spot light of being inconsiderate but ideally the trait is present in both genders.
- Patient preference
Some patient prefer same gender nurse while others prefer the opposite gender nurse. For example, a man might not feel comfortable being a handled by a mother lady because of their religious background while on the other hand a woman patient might not like to be attended to by a lady nurse. The two genders need to coexist in the profession to deliver to the clients/patients accordingly.
- Masculinity vs feminine energy
This is evident that the male have more masculine strength than the women. For instance, a patient with extra pounds is to be transferred to another ward, the female nurses might not be able to lift the patient and instead will call upon the male nurses to assist.
Summary
The nursing profession is women dominated since time memorial when the men would go to war and the women would nurse their injuries. In the recent past, the idea of gender inequality has been discussed deeply. Men and women are all competent for the job. The moment men will stop viewing nursing as a womens’ job they will be at ease. Currently a number of male nurses have taken up the challenge and are as competent as women nurses.
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