DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVE MORE MEN PURSUING NURSING JOBS.Byline: CONNIE LLANOS llanos (yä`nōs), Spanish American term for prairies, specifically those of the Orinoco River basin of N South America, in Venezuela and E Colombia. Staff Writer VALENCIA - With just a semester to go until graduation, 35-year-old Patrick Currid is excited about his new career. It combines technology with fast-paced action, four-day workweeks and a five-figure salary. He just never imagined nursing would be his dream job. ``If you would have told me four years ago that I was going to be a registered nurse, I would have never believed you,'' Currid said. The father of two toddlers, 3 and 15 months, Currid already had a bachelor's degree in liberal arts liberal arts, term originally used to designate the arts or studies suited to freemen. It was applied in the Middle Ages to seven branches of learning, the trivium of grammar, logic, and rhetoric, and the quadrivium of arithmetic, geometry, astronomy, and music. , but a recent layoff at a local aerospace manufacturing plant motivated him to look for a recession-proof career. ``All the research I did pointed me toward the medical field,'' he said. After initially thinking about respiratory therapy respiratory therapy Medical profession concerned with assisting the respiratory function of individuals who have severe lung disorders. Practices include suctioning to clear secretions from the airway, use of aerosol mists (sometimes medicated) or gases to ease breathing, , Currid settled on nursing as his second career. Although nursing was long thought to be a woman's field, Currid is part of a growing number of men who are entering the trade. Motivated by increased salaries, hefty benefits packages, flexible schedules and job stability, men are ignoring the social stigmas associated with nursing and finding that the job is not just women's work. Men are being targeted as new recruits to address the nursing shortage, which medical professionals continuously describe as an impending im·pend intr.v. im·pend·ed, im·pend·ing, im·pends 1. To be about to occur: Her retirement is impending. 2. crisis. According to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. research from the National League of Nurses, in 2005 men made up 14.1 percent of registered nursing students in the Western states. James Wambolt has been working as an R.N. in the intensive care unit at Henry Mayo Newhall Memorial Hospital for nearly six years, after being a laboratory technician for a number of years. He said he was drawn to the ICU ICU intensive care unit. ICU abbr. intensive care unit ICU see intensive care unit. ICU primarily because of the technology. ``All the monitors, invasive and non-invasive, that I get to use are enjoyable for me, as a guy,'' he said. ``Several factors lead to nursing, like the hours, three-day, 12-hour shifts and the wide diversity in nursing,'' he added. Stereotypes are common, Wambolt admitted. He is frequently called upon to lift heavy patients and fix run-down machines. Wambolt even said some male doctors favor him over the women. ``Sometimes male doctors perceive me as easier to talk to and sometimes I am treated with a little more respect, but I don't think that's fair,'' Wambolt said. But he admitted that being in the minority has its advantages. ``I am kind of spoiled. I like being the only guy.'' At College of the Canyons College of the Canyons is one of the fastest-growing community colleges in the state. According to the National Junior College Research Association, College of the Canyons consistently ranks in the top 50 community colleges in the nation. , the R.N. program has seen a major increase. In 2000, just one man was enrolled -- in 2006, there were 12. ``I am pleased to see men entering the profession because it is a good profession,'' said Sue Albert, dean of Allied Health at the college. A nurse educator A nurse educator is a nurse who teaches and prepares licensed practical nurses (LPN) and registered nurses (RN) for entry into practice positions. Nurse Educators also teach in graduate programs at Master’s and doctoral level which prepare advanced practice nurses, nurse since 1979, Alberts said she's seen this trend before. ``Anytime there is a slowing in the economy we will see more men in nursing,'' she said. Steven Brown, a 36-year-old nursing student, agrees. ``This is not my second career -- it's my seventh,'' Brown said. As the father of a 2-year-old, Brown admits the money was a huge reason he decided to get into nursing, as well as job stability. But after getting his hands on patients, Brown knew there was more to this profession. ``It's like therapy,'' he said. ``It gives you a new perspective once you start caring for patients, a sort of awakening.'' Brown added that age and maturity were common denominators among his peers, allowing them to ignore any stigmas regarding men in this female-dominant industry. ``If someone is crass enough to tell you that you are in a girly girl·y adj. Variant of girlie. profession, you are mature enough to know that you are playing an integral part in saving a life,'' Brown said. Recent U.S. Bureau of Labor statistics Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) A research agency of the U.S. Department of Labor; it compiles statistics on hours of work, average hourly earnings, employment and unemployment, consumer prices and many other variables. show male nurses are still in the minority. In 2004, men made up 5.7 percent of the nation's nurses. Mark Pulao, director of Human Resources The fancy word for "people." The human resources department within an organization, years ago known as the "personnel department," manages the administrative aspects of the employees. at Henry Mayo Newhall Memorial Hospital in Valencia, said the ratio of male nurses there has remained steady. However, the percentage of new registered nurse hires who are men has grown from 11 percent in 2005 to 15 percent in 2006. If that continues, the total percentage of male nurses will grow, hospital officials said. For longtime nurses such as Jerry Lucas Jerry Ray Lucas (born March 30, 1940) was a legendary basketball star from the 1950s to the 1970s, and is now a world-renowned memory education expert. In 1996, the NBA's 50th anniversary, he was named one of the 50 greatest players in National Basketball Association history. , getting more men into the nursing field is not just a way to even out the sexes. After spending 30 days at New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of City's ground zero, Lucas, registered nurse and online editor of Male Nurse magazine, saw the resulting effects of the nationwide nursing shortage. ``I felt compelled to do something to motivate men to get into nursing.'' Five years after Lucas established the free online publication, it is getting 6,000 hits a day. Lucas said revenue from advertising goes into a scholarship fund for young male nursing students. ``I tell all the young men I talk to, if you really want to be a person cares about people become a nurse,'' Lucas said. The senior nurse has taken his pledge to help save lives to heart, traveling the country to volunteer at national disasters including the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in New York City New York City: see New York, city. New York City City (pop., 2000: 8,008,278), southeastern New York, at the mouth of the Hudson River. The largest city in the U.S. and the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina  Editing of this page by unregistered or newly registered users is currently disabled due to vandalism. on the Gulf Coast.
But nothing hit him like the hours he spent working trying to save his daughter's life last July. She was on her way to drop off his grandchildren GRANDCHILDREN, domestic relations. The children of one's children. Sometimes these may claim bequests given in a will to children, though in general they can make no such claim. 6 Co. 16. when her vehicle was hit by a car head-on, in front of Lucas' home. ``I did not save my daughter, but I had the ability to be there for my daughter, to do everything I could to save her life,'' Lucas said. ``This is the greatest job in the world if you make it that.'' connie.llanos@dailynews.com (661) 257-5254 CAPTION(S): 3 photos Photo: (1 -- 2 -- color) Registered Nurse James Wambolt of Valencia prepares medication for a patient while working in the intensive care unit at Henry Mayo Newhall Memorial Hospital. Alex Collins/Special to the Daily News (3) James Wambolt, R.N., of Valencia admits that, in his new profession, ``I am kind of spoiled. I like being the only guy.'' |
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