International Nurses Day (IND), celebrated around the world every May 12 on the anniversary of Florence Nightingale's birth, is set to mark the contributions that nurses make to society.

As the great Nightingale, "The Lady with the Lamp", becomes the symbol of modern nursing, and most positions in the field have been taken by women in past decades all over the world.

However, in recent years, some men have risen to enter the "women's profession".

Men in Nursing

Wang Dong is the first head male nurse in the subsidiary hospital of Nantong University, in east China's Jiangsu province. He has been working as a nurse in the ICU for eight years since graduating from nursing school.

There are only some ten male nurses in the hospital, and just like other men in nursing, Wang Dong sometimes encounters misunderstandings and difficulties at work.

"I have to do the best since I chose to be a nurse," says Wang Dong.

What he can do is to dispel the questions from patients with his professional skills. In January this year, Wang Dong was promoted as the head nurse of the burn and plastic surgery department.

30-year-old Zhang Xinming is a native-born Beijinger and has been working as a nurse in Beijing Chaoyang Hospital for seven years.

He was dreaming about studying medicine since he was in middle school. After the College Entrance Exam, he was admitted into nursing.

Working in the ICU, Zhang usually has to witness the heart-breaking parting moments.

"I used to take care of a pregnant woman who caught H1N1 when I just started my career. We tried all our best but she still passed away, which made me feel so depressed that I couldn't help crying at that time," Zhang said.

Yan Shengrong, a 32-year-old nurse working in Peking University People's Hospital based in Beijing. As a member of the first batch of male nurses that universities the city recruited, Yan became a nurse just by accident.

He wanted to study pharmaceutical medicine but failed in the exam, he then transitioned into nursing.

"I blushed when I first came to the obstetrics department," Yan says, "Some patients would even refuse my help, which was really awkward."

Eight years past, Yan now is the head nurse of the supply department in the hospital.

"Murses" in the future

According to statistics in 2015, male nurses in China account for only one percent of the total involved in the field, compared with the proportion of over ten percent in many developed countries.

However, with the rapid development of the society, some men have risen to step into the female-dominated field in recent years. The market demand is growing in a faster pace, making these men ever-more needed in the future.

A nursing college in south China's Guangdong province held a graduation ceremony on May 11, 2016. There, 511 graduates in the nursing major, including 16 males, took the oath before the portrait of Florence Nightingale and wore their nurse caps.

It is reported that the 16 male nurses of the college were "snapped up" by hospitals before their graduation.

Zeng Zhipeng, one of the 16 male nurses of the college says due to the stronger physical power, men prevail over women in some departments in the hospital.

"The operating room, ICU and emergency department would like more male nurses," Zeng said.

According to a medical and health development report in 2015 of Guangdong, the province still has a large shortage of nurses under the circumstance of two-child policy.

Ma Xiaowei, deputy head of the National Health and Family Planning Commission, said on Wednesday that China will have 4.45 million nurses by 2020, with more than 1 million new nurses to be trained before then.

If the target is met, there will be about 3.14 nurses for every 1,000 members of the population, compared with the current 2.36, said Ma.

(CRIEnglish.com.cn May 12, 2016)