Male nurses: ‘Thorns’ among the roses

Male nurses are outnumbered by their female counterparts by 36 to one in Malaysia. — NORLIDAH RAMLI/The Star

Women usually dominate the field of nursing.

After all, it takes a special kind of compassionate personality and calm head to care for patients in their times of need.

And often, these traits are associated with females.

Nurses care for people during some of the most vulnerable and scary times of their lives.

They are also usually the most regular and accessible point of contact for patients and their families.

Worldwide, there is a dearth of male nurses, but that doesn’t mean that they cannot perform the role well.

In fact, there is no significant difference between the quality of care provided by female and male nurses.

Interestingly, the country with the highest number of male nurses is Jordan.

At 38%, it is far higher than anywhere else in the world.

In fact, nursing is so popular among the men that the country has restricted male admissions into nursing schools to 30%.

According to the Health Ministry’s 2018 statistics, the ratio of female nurses to male nurses in Malaysia is 36:1 in public hospitals (not including university hospitals), with the majority of the males serving in the Klang Valley.

Yet, male nurses are in demand, especially for critical care areas such as in intensive and cardiac care units, trauma departments, and orthopaedic and rehabilitation care.

Being physically stronger on average allows male nurses to perform certain tasks better, such as moving a patient from one bed to another.

International Nurses Day is observed around the world on May 12 every year.

This date happens to be the birth anniversary of Florence Nightingale, the English nurse who was also a social reformer and a statistician.

To commemorate the day, we speak to two male nurses to find out how they cope in a traditionally female role.

Being physically stronger on average makes male nurses more in demand for certain tasks, like carrying a stretcher. — Photos: MOHD AINUDDIN AHMAT MISKAM

You want a slap?

Like most youngsters, Mohd Ainuddin Ahmat Miskam, 34, had no clue what he wanted to do after leaving school.

Engineering was on his mind, but knowing his retired army officer father wouldn’t be able to finance his education, he brushed the thought aside.

“My family actually forced me to go into the science stream although my interest lies in art and history.

“When my father asked me what I wanted to do after Form Five, I said I didn’t know ... I really didn’t!” he shares.

A village boy at heart, Ainuddin had a happy childhood in his Batu Pahat, Johor, hometown.

Every school holiday, he would run around doing manual jobs to earn pocket money.

One day, he stumbled upon an advertisement in a vernacular newspaper offering scholarships for nursing students at a university hospital, with priority given to males.“I didn’t even know there was such a thing as a male nurse!

“In my kampung, I had only seen male medical attendants.

“The only images I had of nurses were females wearing blue- and white-striped uniforms.

“The ad piqued my interest and I did some research.

“I discovered that nurses are in demand internationally and there was a chance for me to travel.

“Plus, hostel facilities were provided so my dad wouldn’t have to pay for much,” he says.

He applied, and a month later, received a phone call notifying him to come to Kuala Lumpur for an interview.

Ainuddin’s older brother accompanied him on his first trip to the city.

As the only male in a sea of over 150 eager women who turned up for the interview, the smalltown teenager was naturally intimidated.

He had never seen so many women in a room before!

All eyes turned to stare at him as he started sweating buckets.

He remembers, “I told my abang I wanted to back out and go home because I was too scared and would rather find a job in my village.

“Instead he scolded me, ‘I’ll slap you if you don’t go in!’

“Just then, one of the interview panellists walked past and casually asked why I wanted to become a nurse.

“I had to think fast and answered that I would become a father someday and hoped to assist my future wife to deliver our babies.

“She smiled.”

He got the scholarship, and another month later, Ainuddin found himself waving goodbye to his family to begin a new chapter in Kuala Lumpur.

There were seven other males in his course.

He worked hard, graduated with good grades and has never looked back since.

“When I did my first delivery, it was ‘nasty’! Many of my male coursemates fainted, but I managed to remain standing.

“I love to see a new life emerging: the baby’s cries and the mother’s smile – it’s the sweetest moment,” he says.

Making sacrifices

Since the Covid-19 pandemic began, Ainuddin has been pulled back into critical care, spending half his work hours in an ambulance fetching ill patients to the hospital.

The once introverted village boy has now transformed into an extroverted man, working in critical care at the university hospital’s emergency department.

Ainuddin says, “In the early days, I worked with my heart and couldn’t wait to see my patients daily.

“If they didn’t make it, I would go to the prayer room and break down, but I’m better at controlling my tears now. We’re taught how to mask our feelings.

“Many men think nursing is about changing diapers and giving medications to patients, but it’s so much more than that.”

As he progressed in his career, he was tasked with more administrative responsibilities, but due to the Covid-19 pandemic, he is presently back in critical care.

Like all current frontliners, Ainuddin is overwhelmed with work, pulling double shifts regularly; he hasn’t even taken leave in more than a year.

“It’s extremely stressful, but our coping mechanism is very high.

“I have experienced going through different pandemics such as the H1N1, JE (Japanese encephalitis), etc, but this is threefold!

“Half of my work is out of the hospital, in an ambulance.

“We have to strike a balance between admitting Covid-19 patients and those with other illnesses such as dengue or leptospirosis, but it’s getting harder.

“I’m having sleepless nights from seeing Covid-19 patients suffer and that is causing me insomnia; my blood pressure has also gone up,” he reveals.

To date, Ainuddin has been swabbed 11 times to test for the SARS-CoV-2 virus and quarantined on five occasions, each time at the hospital.

“There was a time when many of my team members tested positive, so I did my bit by sending them food to cheer them up,” says the secretary of Malaysian Male Nurses.

This is a non-governmental organisation established in 2017 to bring together the male nursing community and engage in collaborations with other agencies.

Still, Ainuddin has no regrets entering the profession, even though he hardly has time to spend with his five kids.

“My wife also works in the same hospital, but she is in the administrative side.

“She’s very supportive and understands that I’m now ‘married’ elsewhere.

“I know she’ll reclaim me once this pandemic is over!

“This will be the second Hari Raya I’ve not been able to return home (to Batu Pahat) – in fact, in my 16 years in KL, I’ve only been able to go back four times due to work.”

Caring nature

When Yap Xue Zheng, 26, tells people he is a nurse, they give him “that look”.

Although Yap did not initially consider going into nursing, his ex-nurse mother, who was the main caregiver to his grandparents, inspired him when he dropped out of his first diploma course. — YAP XUE ZHENG

“Everyone asks me why I became a nurse, just because I’m a male,” he says, laughing.

“While growing up I never imagined I’d be a nurse, but I’m definitely enjoying my work.”

After secondary school, Yap enrolled in a science diploma course, but had to drop out as he couldn’t cope with the advanced mathematics.

Thinking of what he should do next, the thought of nursing entered his mind.

“Nobody encouraged me to take it up, but my mother was a nurse and I remember how she had to quit her job to take care of my grandparents because her siblings were too busy working.

“My grandparents came to live with us. And my mother never once grumbled, but did the best she could as a caregiver,” he shares.

Yap was a teenager then and would sometimes help sponge or feed his grandparents and assist with other daily living chores.

“Since I had a bit of ‘skill’ and have a caring nature, I decided to give nursing a try and my parents agreed.

“The diploma programme was completely different and the subjects were challenging, but I had very supportive tutors and managed to complete the course,” says the registered nurse who studied in Penang.

Although there are a few other male nurses at the private hospital where he works in Petaling Jaya, Selangor, Yap, who is in the high dependency unit, notices some differences when it comes to female nurses.

He points out: “Female nurses are fussier when it comes to passing over the shift – they take about half an hour, but we males can do it within five minutes!

“However, I must admit that females are more responsible when it comes to paperwork, whereas we guys are more patient-centric.”

As a critical care nurse, Yap does his best to treat all patients and their families with respect, absorbing their worries and fears, and even using humour as a way to offset any angst.

From the moment he clocks in, he goes around tending to his patients and fulfilling their requests if any, before attending to paperwork.

“With dementia patients, they tend to be forgetful and keep asking the same questions.

“I have to repeatedly go around and educate them on what they can and cannot do,” he says.

When confronted with death, he is sad, but Yap says he doesn’t get too emotional as he is able to detach himself.

“We see ups and downs all the time so I try to comfort the family members and prepare them mentally and physically,” says Yap, who also works for a healthcare company as a part-time home nurse to stroke patients.

He shares, “The hospital environment is different, but when you go to the patient’s house and they are happy, it makes my day.

“My goal for every client is the same – I share my knowledge with them.”

In his free time, he either goes hiking or plays sports or video games.

He says: “My mom is proud of me, and sometimes, we will sit down and discuss my work challenges.

“She’ll give me advice on how to deal with certain issues.”