Texan Mosaic

Story & Photos by Elena Hart-DeLeon from Newswriting COMM 2311-00

Picture a room full of nurses.  What do you see? Is the room full of women? If so, you’re thinking in stereotypes.  But you’re probably not alone.

SPC instructor Holly Scrivner has been a part of the SPC Associate Degree Nursing program for three years now. In that time alone, she says she’s seen a shift in how many male nursing students are enrolled.

“From when I started”, she says “we probably have twice as many this semester as we did three years ago.”  

SPC nursing student Julius Okpulor is one of the male students enrolled this semester.  

“I really just like helping people out,” he says, “and helping them reach their goals. I’ve always prioritized wanting to better people, and like wanting to help out in any way shape or form I can.”

Okpulor says he used to be a camp counselor for about five summers starting as a sophomore in high school.

“So, I really like working with other people, working with youth, and empowering them,” he says, “trying to be like somebody they could look up to.”

Okpulor says he’s happy with being a role model. In fact, he says he sees it as a goal he wants to continue in nursing. He says he feels the common belief that nursing is for women is a myth that should be “challenged”.

“I feel like health care is something that requires a team,” he says, “and regardless of like gender, as long as you’re there and can contribute to that I think that’s the bigger picture.”

As it turns out, even outside SPC, evidence shows the stereotype of nursing being a career for women only is changing.

For instance, according to  AB Staffing Solutions, a company in Arizona that describes itself as a “nationwide leader in travel nurse and healthcare staffing”, the number of male nurses has increased by an exponential rate in the last 40 years.

And, an article called “Breaking Stereotypes:  The Reasons Why Men should Embrace a Nursing Career and the Benefits that Come With It” appeared on Nightingale College’s blog in June 2022.  Nightingale is a private, for-profit nursing school in Utah.   The authors of the article write, “Often, male patients may feel more comfortable, supported, or at ease in front of a male caregiver.”

The Nightingale article goes on to say some specialties are more popular among male nurses. 

These, it says, include: military nursing, nurse anesthetist, family nurse practitioner, E.R. nurse, and flight nurse.

“I think women are more drawn to nursing initially,” Scrivner says, “but as things get especially nurse practitioners, things that go out of that more advanced degrees I think more men are drawn into the profession.”

Okpulor says he hopes to graduate with his RN in December 2025.  “Afterwards I would like to get a job in the emergency department,” he says. He wants to further his education at Texas Tech and to get his BSN.

In the meantime, he says he doesn’t feel like he faces obstacles because of his gender.

“I feel like the instructors are all very invested in each of our success and they are super helpful,” he says.

Even though things are changing in the terms of numbers, Okpulor admits there are only five guys in his class out of 26 students.

“So, there are way more women than men in the program, but still, we all get along nicely,” he continues.  “We all help each other out and we are kind of like a family.”

Overall, is there a need for more male nurses?

“I think it’s always good to have a mix of men and women and any time you have a group of people together in the workplace,” Scrivner says.

Okpulor would agree.

 “Don’t let the thought that ‘Oh, I don’t want to do this profession because it’s female dominated’ or ‘because it’s male dominated’ don’t let it discourage you,” he says.  “If that’s what you want to do, that’s where your mind and heart is, I think you should pursue it.”