When you  hear the word "nurse" you probably think of a woman, right?  Well, there have been a lot of men coming into the nursing business lately.  Now you get to think of women AND men as nurses.

 

Bob: I keep seeing spots before my eyes. Ed: Have you seen a doctor? Bob: No, just spots.

A lot of nurses work in hospitals so that they can take care of sick people and help them get better, but they don’t work in just hospitals…  Nurses also go to homes where there are sick people.  Others lend a hand to doctors and dentists.  And still more work in medical clinics, schools, stores, factories, war zones, and aboard ships, trains, helicopters, and airplanes.  Nurses can be found anywhere their skills are needed, like in big cities, tiny towns, on farms, and everywhere on earth.

As well as taking care of people who are sick, nurses help people who are healthy to stay healthy.  They teach kids and grown-ups how to protect their bodies from diseases.  Nurses who have advanced learning can teach in schools and in colleges of nursing.  Some nurses with high clinical skills have started their very own clinics, giving patients services such as physical examinations, nutrition and mental health counseling.  The two most popular groups of nurses are professional nurses and technical nurses.  Professional nurses are generally former students of four-or five-year college programs.  Technical nurses are graduates of two-year neighborhood colleges or three-year hospital programs.

A different group of nurses, called practical nurses, complete a training program that usually lasts 1 year.  Practical nurses perform lots of tasks that let professional and technical nurses go do other things that requires more skill and preparation.
The majority of nurses are women.  More women than men are nurses and teach nursing.  On the other hand, more and more men have been coming into the nursing career.  Up until the 1960’s, men made up only 1% of the total number of professional nurses.  But by the early 2000’s, men made up over 10% of pupils signed up in apprentice professional programs and about 5% of all practicing professional nurses.  

Credits

Online Media

Pamela J. Maraldo, “Nursing”, World Book Online Reference Center, <http://www.worldbookonline.com/ar?/na/ar/co/ar397200.htm>, October 23, 2003

Images

Image of nurse with babies from "Microsoft Office Online" <http://office.microsoft.com/clipart/default.aspx?cag=1> Images free for non-profit and personal use. (October-February, 2003-2004). 

Book

Bernstein, Joanne E. and Paul Cohen.  Dizzy Doctor Riddles. Niles, Illinois: Albert Whitman & Company. 1989.