Basseterre, St. Kitts, December 06, 2018 (SKNIS): Nursing, which is traditionally affiliated with women, remains a noble profession that men can play an important role in by entering the female-dominated field.
Against this backdrop, the idea of male nurses is not a stigma, said Dr. Rondalyn Dennis-Bradshaw, Dean of the Division of Health Sciences at the Clarence Fitzroy Bryant College (CFBC) during her appearance on “Working for You” on December 05, 2018.
“Nursing is a service to mankind. The idea that men can’t provide care in the way that women can is part of that broad cultural narrative and misunderstanding of what nursing is about,” said Dr. Bradshaw, adding that it is important to talk to young people about “caring as a gender-neutral idea and also as something that is rooted in skills and expertise.”
She said that, as a division, it is important to improve the recruitment strategies in order to attract more male students into the nursing programme at CFBC. She strongly encouraged males to apply to the Bachelor of Science Degree in Nursing (BScN).
“We know that there is stigma that males cannot do nursing… I do agree that, right now, nursing is predominantly female, but despite the stigma we must encourage our males to have a progressive attitude about gender roles because, universally, more men are entering the nursing profession,” said Dr. Bradshaw.
Michelle Crawford, graduate of the CFBC BScN Nursing Programme, also said that nursing is not just for females. She said that there is a need for male nurses in the profession.
Only one male student has enrolled in the programme since its inception in 2014.
The BScN offered at the Health Sciences Division of the Clarence Fitzroy Bryant College (CFBC) is franchised from the University of the West Indies School of Nursing (UWISON) Mona, Jamaica. The full time programme of study is comprised of 139 credits accomplished over four (4) academic years, eight (8) fifteen (15) week semesters and three summer session of ten (10) weeks each. The courses cover both theory and integrated clinical practice.
