Being a male nurse:pride or stigma

Syed Mohsin Ashraf
Wearing a white apron in the premises of crowded hospitals Curing the ill, counseling the stressed touching a new life or experiencing the agony of losing someone we nurses fight all odds to give our best in promotion of health and delivering our duties. but who knows for a male professional pursuing B.Sc hons in nursing is physically and mentally harsh to tackle in Kashmir valley as people often make fun of us and ascribe female tags to us which has a harsh effect on our cognitive abilities..here in valley from very past nursing has been considered a profession designed for females and word nurse is itself catogerized in female gender, we face bullying in society, clinical settings and in peer group to such an extent that majority of us are not satisfied with our profession despite of being competitive and able.the point to ponder is whether really nursing is a profession suitable for females only or in Kashmir people are not fully aware about this noble work? The word nurse means to ‘nurture’, so it has nothing to do with gender, these days majority of kashmiris opt for B.Sc nursing after being dropped from MEET exams and lot of colleges have been added in Jammu and Kashmir to raise the quantity of nurses so that arising need can be fulfilled, in past males remained aloof from this course and only a few students used to go for diplomas or GNM irrespective of their competence level, but now the candidates prefer nursing only after being dropped from NEET exams by couple of points or in case they can’t afford to go for it.So the standard of this profession has raised and we are no more less than doctors. We work hard and have to follow almost same circullum as that of doctors in 4 year duration but after so much hard work and dedication why do we face so much criticism why aren’t we provided much dignity and preference despite of being talented and competitive.
There is a dire need of changing our level of perception so that more and more youth are guided towards this profession and it ends the unemployment crisis and negligence in medical settings which has resulted in numerable loss of precious lives.
A doctor diagnosis and prescribes medicines but we nurses take care of patients and administer the same medicines within criteria and moreover show empathy sympathy and remain side to side at times of grief. The male nurses are always taunted by a same line common in Kashmir”Baya Che chukha nurse kene chak”? This is a simple humorous question but it has a deep effect on us as some of us leave this profession and others lack job satisfaction. Why on earth we focus on such things when this beautiful profession is all about care and love. This profession earns us reward here and hereafter but alas we nurses especially male candidates are facing lot of discrimination irrespective of our talent and knowledge. What on earth restricts males from this profession and what allows females to go for it? Has anyone taunting us ever thought it? No, but answer is that this profession demands strong heart to tackle crisis and trauma situations as knowledge alone can’t help which is evident more in males than females also in foreign hospitals there is no such concept of gender as male and female nurses are on same radar and even sometimes advise doctors about diagnosis. So it’s time for kashmiri people to realize that we must provide equal status to male and female nurses and raise the standard of this profession as nurses are backbones of hospital and have to deal with life and death. There is a dire need of changing our level of perception so that more and more youth are guided towards this profession and it ends the unemployment crisis and negligence in medical settings which has resulted in numerable loss of precious lives.
“Save one life you are a hero
Save million lives you are a nurse”
(The author is pursuing B.Sc nursing at South campus University of Kashmir. Views are his own, [email protected])