Why are most nurses female?

Most primary teachers are also female these days. Something to do with pay rates perhaps ?

At one time, if you were married and female, the only acceptable job was a nurse or a teacher. This is what i was told when newly married and becoming a service wife.

I thought Chardy`s comment was tongue and cheek tbh.

Sorry I think it’s much more about the pay scale and the long unforgiving hours

Back in the 1970’s I had a wonderful male health visitor. He said he didn’t know of any other males who had the same role, although I’m sure there must have been 1 or 2! He was excellent but apparently many families wouldn’t let him near their homes as the men saw him as a threat to their women. He was a really kind, gentle man and very well suited to his role. Hopefully he paved the way for others to follow.

Newatthis

At one time, if you were married and female, the only acceptable job was a nurse or a teacher. This is what i was told when newly married and becoming a service wife.

Yes. By the time my mother started teaching in the early fifties, single women who go married were able to carry on with their teaching job. I don't know how long that had been the case though.

I remember years ago (1992) getting a male midwife when i had my youngest DD- the others (all female, mostly trainees) had come and gone over 24 hours and not helped much -but when he came on duty and my waters broke he took over calmly and smoothly and i had her in under an hour.He was very good, knew his job well.Male midwives were pretty scarce in those days.(they had just shown one before this on 'Only Fools and Horses' tv show i think- and my hubby said "hope you don't have a male one"- haha famous last words??

I had a male midwife back in the 80’s. Also a male health visitor. Both were excellent at their jobs. The HV went everywhere by bicycle at a time when all other midwives & HV’s used cars. He had a wicker basket on the front, a la Call The Midwife, including scales to weigh the baby!

The hospital I work in, has a surprising number of Male Nurses, including a significant number of Male nurses from Abroad.
All caring very able men, and a lot of senior Nursing staff on a ward are men. On today's wards having a Male Nurse or 2 is a bonus.
Most careers in the NHS are still mostly female dominant but there are lots of men, I reckon the Labs probably more Men than women, it's all change.
Even the" Archers "has a storyline running at the moment ref one of Archer boys trying to become a Male Nurse.

Not true of learning disability nurses and mental health nurses. Lots of males in those branches.

DD3 is just starting her nursing degree this coming academic year, at the campus tour all the students were female

Probably because women have more compassion than men. Plus as a woman I much prefer to be dealt with by a woman, on occasions where I have seen a man I haven’t felt 100% comfortable as they don’t seem to have as much common sense or bad bedside manner. Doctors it is fine whether they are male or female, suppose they are not hands on like nurses.

I think it's basically MONEY and STATUS.

The best NHS midwife my daughter had was a male one.

And "midwife", comes from with woman, ElderlyPerson.

Impressions can be misleading I think. I took this off the NMC website.

‘There are currently over 690,000 registered nurses in the UK. In 2017 the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) reported that just 10.8% of registered nurses were men (NMC, 2017). The fact that only 74,580 registered nurses are male means that nursing is one of the most gender-segregated jobs in the United Kingdom.9 Jan 2021’.

Of the 10.8% of male nurses, here’s the percentage for mental health:
‘An early study showed that 32% of psychiatric nurses were male (John, 1961), compared to the 34% in this study. This figure matches that in a recent report (Ferguson et al., 2004), which also shows that among new recruits to mental health nursing, the proportion of men is lower (27%).‘
This was from a recent report by City of London ac.

So, it’s not actually changed that much in at least the last 20 years.

Traditional attitudes to male and female roles do play a part as you all have said, and those that mention poor pay are right too.

However, in most countries after a positive period during the 1970s towards equality of the sexes and men beginning to seek jobs traditionally associated with women and women seeking jobs traditionally associated with men, we seem now to have regressed to a certain extent.

Any profession or job that can even remotely be seen as "caring" has in the course of the 1990s onward to today has become more and more the province of women.

It is difficult to interest men in the teaching profession, in working in social services, working in kindergartens, working as home-helps or carers and even in entering the church as ministers or becoming vets. So it is not only nursing and midwifery that are seen as the province of women.

On the other hand there are still relatively few women in the ranks of merchants seamen, lorry drivers, blacksmiths, carpenters or joiners, bricklayers and stonemasons.

When I was at school in the sixties there were expectations that I would become a nurse as I loved medicine. I opted to be a technician at medical research council instead as I realised nursing was largely servicing people. The MRC sent me on day release to do A level zoology. I was the only girl. The boys, from local grammars ( there were dissections that schools didn’t have facilities for) of very mixed abilities and I am being polite here, were all going to be doctors. No one had ever said I could be a doctor. That’s when I became a feminist. It really wasn’t that long ago.

The original 'nurses' were whet nurses, paid to feed new-born babies when the mothers couldn't or wouldn't suckle them.

Well, men couldn't do that job, could they!

Many carried on after the child was weaned and became their 'nurse'.

Same reason as most primary school teachers and nursery nurses and nursery workers are female - tradition and sexism towards both genders - these professionals were seen as “nurturing” and females more suited ! On the same way as once upon a time all secretaries were female as considered a “lesser” job and more suited to us poor dim females !!

one could ask why are most GPs female too these days and only working two days a week so no continuity. Great career for women but not so good for patients !

Because from the year dot, it has really only been promoted as a vocation for women and in the past, the main reason males were employed in nursing was in the mental health sector.
With so many mixed wards it is important that both male and female nurses are available and I think that more men are choosing nursing as a career.
Each time I have been treated by a male nurse I have been quite unwell - the first time, was after a miscarriage when I was put onto a general ward and the second time was when I was suffering from a bleeding ulcer.
Quite frankly, both times I was past all caring about what parts of my body was being seen by a strange male!

DiscoDancer1975

Ps..as for midwives. Well, my personal opinion is they should all have given birth themselves. So men shouldn’t be doing that. It is just my opinion though.

Odd response to be honest ! I have four children, both midwives who attended throughout my pregnancies and at the actual births were female and childless and no intention of having their own babies and were fabulous !

Granygranby my female friend applied to study medicine in the 60’s. She was turned down for a place because no one in her (very small) family had any medical connections. She’d have been an excellent doctor. She studied chemistry instead.

One of my daughters is a hospital doctor and she says she constantly has to explain to patients and families that she’s a doctor, not a nurse or physio or health care assistant. She sometimes sees a patient, explaining their condition and what treatments are available etc and then the patient ends the session by saying something like ‘I’ll decide what to do when I’ve spoken to the doctor as well.’

It’s like her knowledge and the information she can give are only valid if they come from a male voice.

It’s definitely to do with pay. The reason most nurses are female is because it’s so poorly paid compared to other degree qualified professions!

Today 11:34 Severnsider

The original 'nurses' were whet nurses, paid to feed new-born babies when the mothers couldn't or wouldn't suckle them.

Well, men couldn't do that job, could they!

Many carried on after the child was weaned and became their 'nurse'.

Great in Victorian times ! I’d like to hope we’ve moved on somewhat now….to be honest I know of no professions which any gender would be less suitable than any other….there is an enormous drive to recruit women into science, technology and construction and men into teaching and I think this is how it should be !!!! My children were fortunate enough to attend a primary school with a nursery attached with a male nursery nurse and almost equal male/female teachers and a male school cook !!!

After working as a qualified nurse for over 40 years I've seen alot of changes to nursing but not to the pay. There has been a slow increase to males entering the profession and alot of it is due to pay and conditions. It is hard work and you rarely and I do mean rarely get off duty on time. I worked as a Sister and I admit I was first to arrive in work, earlier than shift began and always left after all, nearly always after shift end. It's hard both mentally and physically. I have a husband that works for NHS , but not in caring and he too works more hours than he gets paid for. Alot of men are still the main bread earners, regardless of hours worked, so why should they work for less money that won't cover the household bills. Nursing is also 24 hours so alot of unsocial hours to be covered.