February 23, 2015
Male nurses determined to break reverse glass ceiling
Meet the male nursing student breaking the stereotype to find his dream job.
When 50-year-old Simon Lovatt graduates with a Bachelor of Nursing at the end of this year, he will join a growing cohort of male nurses determined to break into the traditionally female dominated industry.
It took the father of two more than 25 years to realise his dream of studying nursing, after 18 years in banking and a further eight years in telecommunications (in which he was perpetually the first aider and work health and safety representative).
“I had always thought I would work in health care in some capacity. My father was a nurse, and later, a paramedic on board oil rigs,” Simon, who is studying at UOW’s Bega campus, said.
Acting Head of Nursing at UOW, Dr Joanne Joyce-McCoach, said 382 male nursing students are currently enrolled at the 精东传媒.
“Around 13 per cent of our nursing students at UOW are male, which is ahead of the national average of 10 per cent in the workforce.”
Mr Roy Brown, Head of Students for nursing at UOW, has been a nurse for more than 40 years. He said male nurses in the past had to contend with stereotypes; however more recently their positive contribution to the profession and to the Australian community is being valued.
“Representation by all aspects of the population in any profession is vitally important so that communities feel appropriately valued and supported. Male, as well as female, nurses bring a balance to that ‘community’ feel about care in our communities,” Mr Brown said.
“Many men in nursing come to this position, as did Simon, later in their lives when they have experienced another career – as I did in engineering in the South Yorkshire coal mines in the UK. That breadth of life experience is invaluable to the community.”
“If you are male and mature age, and want to study nursing, I would absolutely say ‘go for it’,” Simon said.
“You may not think that your previous experience is relevant, but believe me, it is. People are people, and whether you are dealing with them as clients, customers, colleagues or patients, your previous people experience is invaluable.”
After he graduates, Simon hopes to specialise in critical care and midwifery, joining the 1.9 per cent of Australian midwives who are male.
“I would love to become a flight medic and these two specialisations are the prerequisites," Simon, who has held a private pilot's licence since 1986, said.
For the moment, Simon is concentrating on finishing his final year at UOW.
“We are lucky in that we are a small group and as such we are all helping each other and making sure that we get over the line. The staff are fantastic, and being such small group, we can get plenty of one-on-one time and help if and when we need it.”