Nursing career: I graduated from the University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, in 1987. I have worked in medical-surgical, nursing home, mental health, ICU, burn, emergency care, community health nursing, as a family nurse practitioner, and as faculty at ASU and the University of Otago and Otago Polytechnic in New Zealand. I am currently working on my Ph.D. at the ASU College of Nursing with research emphasis in asthma and genetics.

Will gender parity be achieved in nursing? I do not see gender parity occurring in my lifetime. Children in the United States are not nurtured and acculturated in a way that empowers more men to enter the nursing profession, so many men may choose a profession in hopes that it will bring fame and fortune; nursing may not do that but it will bring job security, job satisfaction and other amazing rewards. It takes a unique and strong individual to choose the nursing profession.

What attracted you to the nursing profession? I originally started out in premed and after two years I did not feel that the science was connecting me to the complex dimensions of patients and healthcare the way I wanted. Nursing is a healthcare profession that places the patient first and it’s an opportunity to work with individuals across the lifespan to promote their health and minimize disease.

The term “male nurse” — Yes or no? The reality is I am a nurse first. There should not be any gender identity in that professional title. We have been nursed/cared for by mothers, fathers, grandfathers and grandmothers, and the nursing profession, at a higher level, pulls from the science of health and well-being that our relatives instilled in us.

Do you find that patients accept nurses who are men? A helping hand comes in many sizes and strengths.  To be a nurse is to respect the dignity and wholeness of the patient. With that honor, patients respect and trust nurses whether male or female.

Advice for men entering the nursing field: Nursing is a profession that touches all other areas of the community fabric, and people really understand this bond and trust this relationship. There will be opportunities to work in schools, hospitals, nursing homes, community centers, clinics, insurance companies, law, correctional facilities, hospice, travel industry, parishes, research, military, legislation and home health, so this profession is never boring.