Nursing is one of the most widespread and complex medical fields. Despite the fact that the specifics of the work lies in constant and close contact with people, the sphere is subject to the presence and abundance of gender stereotypes. At the same time, it must be emphasized that certain prejudices and distinctions are associated with both patients and employees, which creates some difficulties and even discrimination. In my own experience, I need to explain how it is necessary to interrupt the social discourse about this or that gender.
The fact is that in our clinic where I practice, the vast majority of nurses are women. Because of this, there is a prejudice that this profession is intended for women. In addition, even patients often interpret the situation in such a way that women are more caring, sensitive and accurate workers, and men should be the attending physicians (McIntyre & McDonald, 2019). However, there are guys studying or practicing nursing, but their number is small. I can give an example of a new male co-worker being hired who was not well received by the staff and patients. If the opinion of the patients was noted above, then the nurses were not used to seeing male colleagues, which caused distrust or disdain in them. As a result, the atmosphere was toxic to the specialist, so he decided to leave his job.
Now, looking back at this situation, I understand that I should have tried differently, namely, to conduct classes on the study of the genera and its features. This would lead to an increase in culture and knowledge among professionals who would be guided not by stereotypes, but by objective information (Zaccagnini & Pechacek, 2019). In addition, it is important to emphasize that this knowledge is not complex or voluminous for perception, so it would not take a lot of time and would not interfere with the workflow. As for the behavior of the patients, I am sure that it is negative due to the transmission of a high level of distrust towards the man (Ayala, 2019). In other words, if this had not happened, then the patients would not have expressed dissatisfaction.
References
Ayala, R. A. (2019). Towards a sociology of nursing. Springer Singapore.
McIntyre, M. and McDonald, C. (2019). In Realities of Canadian Nursing: Professional, practice, and power issues (5th ed.). Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.
Zaccagnini, M. E. and Pechacek, J. M. (2019). The doctor of nursing practice essentials. A new model for advanced practice nursing. Jones & Barlett Learning.