More men taking up nursing now

Star: KUALA LUMPUR: Don’t be surprised when the next time you are in a hospital and you call for a nurse, a man shows up instead.
This is because more men have joined the traditionally female-dominated profession.
Deputy Health Minister Datuk Dr Abdul Latiff Ahmad said more men were beginning to take up nursing as a career and that it was untrue that the profession was monopolised by women.
Dr Abdul Latiff said that from the yearly intake of some 3,000 trainee nurses, about 10% were males.
“These figures are from the ministry and there are a lot more male nurses who go for private training.
“There is a need for more male nurses in certain aspects of the services,” he told a press conference after launching the 1st International Nursing Congress 2007 at a hotel here yesterday.
The theme of the three-day congress organised by the Universiti Malaya Medical Centre is Innovations in Nursing: Trends, Issues and Strategies.
Dr Abdul Latiff said more nurses should pursue higher education and aim for Masters or PhD qualifications in the field and not just stop at diploma level.
“It is better to have mature and responsible nurses,'' he said.
He added that most countries around the world faced a shortage of nurses and Malaysia was no exception, as many trained nurses hopped over to the private sector or went overseas due to better salaries.