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Nursing career: The majority of my career has been spent in emergency rooms starting in level II trauma centers in the Chicago area. I did a few stints in ICU, CCU, phone triage, and supervising in a long-term care/rehab center.   
 
Something unique about you: I always believe that you have one chance to make a difference for a critically ill patient, so do it right the first time. I also believe that your attitude affects the people that you work with, so if you walk around with a smile and offer assistance to your coworkers it will lift up the work environment. I also believe that no patient ever wants to visit an emergency room, so lending an ear and giving a smile goes a long way to meeting your patient’s needs. 
 
Men make up six percent of nurses in the U.S. and 12 percent of the nursing student body. What do you think of this statistic? Do you think there will come a time when there is gender parity in this profession? No. Unfortunately, nurses have a habit of eating their young. Until nurses, both male and female, become a team and respect each other these statistics will not change. There are many nurses who have washed out of a job but do a marvelous job in their next one because there is someone that takes the time to nurture the new nurse and helps them develop into a professional. That doesn’t happen overnight.

What attracted you to the nursing profession? I spent many years as a nurse aid, ortho tech and EMT and eventually decided to go back to school to do more for the patient.
 
Did you get resistance for your career choice? My father was raised in Harlem, the Lower East Side of New York, and when I told him I had made my decision to become a nurse he had a few choice statements referring to gender. He also expressed his concern that I would always be poor because the pay was much lower back then compared to other professions. Shortly after my dad was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. Two weeks before he passed away we met his oncologist at the hospital where I worked as a house orderly. He was told that his time was almost over and was given the choice to stay in the hospital or die at home, and then he looked at me and asked if I would take care of him at home until he died. We set up sick room in our living room and two days before my dad passed away, he kept on saying to my mother, “Look at your son. He will be a good nurse.” So I decided I may not have made bad decision after all.
 
What challenges did you encounter in nursing school, if any? When I went to nursing school, there was a feeling of reverse discrimination toward male students, that they should not be in nursing school. For example, for many instructors, learning to catheterize a woman was embarrassing to teach a male nursing student. However, in all fairness, I also had a few younger instructors who still worked in clinical areas that accepted and enjoyed having men in the program.

Advice for men entering the nursing field: When you get into school, hang on tight, smile a lot, work hard, and don’t give up until you walk across the stage and receive your diploma.