Perception towards Male Enrolment in Nursing among High School Students at Selected Schools of Bharatpur, Chitwan

Abstract

Nursing profession has been a gender lopsided profession which has limited the opportunity for male students to prefer nursing as career choices. However, the perception of male enrolment in nursing among the students is extremely important to maintain the diversity in nursing workforce. This study aimed to assess the perception towards male enrolment in nursing among the students at selected schools of Bharatpur, Chitwan. A cross-sectional survey design consisted of 222 students studying in private and government schools of Chitwan districts. Samples were selected purposively and self-administered structured questionnaire containing of 28 items for perception of male enrolment in nursing were used to collect data. Collected data were analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics. Majority of participants (54.5%) showed positive perception towards male enrolment in nursing whereas less than half (45.5%) showed negative perception towards male enrolment in nursing. The result indicated that perception towards male enrolment was not significantly associated with socio demographic variables. Despite having a positive notion about male in nursing, considerable number of participants were negative about male in nursing. The hiring and maintaining of male nurses in the nursing field is a very apparent issue nowadays. Therefore, this indicates the urgent need by concerning authorities in identifying the predictors in improving the professional nursing image and misconceptions regarding the gender based profession for better health care outcomes. Key words: Perception, Male enrolment, Nursing.