Health Care Practice

The concept that is strictly a feminine profession is conveyed to boys in earliest childhood when they are exposed to the idea that being a nurse or participating in functions is something that should be avoided by the male. Such psychologic and sociologic inhibitions and barriers undoubtedly continue to influence the male even when he has become a man(1,2). The feminine connotation also pertains to most definitions of nursing. Thus, among the 10 definitions of the word nursing in the unabridged edition of the Random House Dictionary of the English Language that pertain to the provision of personal assistance, nurturing, or care to others, six refer specifically to the feminine role of the nurse or allude to a process, suckling, that can only be performed by the female. No wonder men hesitate to enter a profession that is almost universally perceived as being related to the feminine role and feminine activities.