More men are becoming nurses—but why?
Nursing is still a female-dominated profession but the gap is slowly shrinking, The New York Times points out.
According to a working paper published in October by a pair of economics professors, 13 percent of nurses in the U.S. are men—up from 2 percent in 1960. Those authors credited the slow but steady shift to expanding gender roles and a changing economy. There is less stigma around men being in caregiving roles and nursing is an in-demand profession that pays a livable wage.
“The pay is great, the opportunities are endless and you end up going home every day knowing that you did something very positive for someone else,” Jorge Gitler, a 50-year-old former business owner turned oncology nurse manager, told The Times.
The newspaper interviewed a dozen male nurses about their experiences in the profession and how they settled on their career tracks. Read the full story below:
Daniel joined TriMed’s Chicago editorial team in 2017 as a Cardiovascular Business writer. He previously worked as a writer for daily newspapers in North Dakota and Indiana.