Camp urges males to consider career in nursing

"No girls allowed" might seem a peculiar theme for a nursing camp for high schoolers.

But that was the whole point -- it was even printed on the T-shirts -- for Southeast Missouri Hospital, which held a two-day guys-only nursing camp that was intended to encourage young men to consider entering a field that is dominated by women.

"These are middle-of-the-line basketball and baseball players," said Easy Stilson, a nurse recruiter at Southeast and organizer of the camp. "These guys are brave enough to say 'I'm interested in nursing.'"

Of the 2.4 million registered nurses in the United States, 186,000 were men in 2005, or 7.75 percent, according to the U.S. Department of Labor. That figure is actually down from 2004, when 193,000 were men.

With a national nursing shortage, now is the time to recruit men to consider nursing, Stilson said. The labor department estimates that 800,000 more nurses will be needed by 2020 than there are now.

Nine high-school students attended the two-day camp, hailing largely from the rural areas of Dexter, Jackson, Advance, Kelso and Cardwell. The men stayed in a Southeast Missouri State University dorm and shadowed male nurses throughout the day, getting firsthand looks at what male nurses do.

Eric Wilson, an 18-year-old from Dexter, said he has been considering nursing for a while.

"I think it's a really good career," he said. "You'll always have a job. I don't care about the male thing. They need more guys and want more guys, and I really like it."

Wilson got to watch recovery nurse Glen Dirnberger in action Tuesday morning. Dirnberger, 41, said he got into nursing 13 years ago. If he had known the job was so rewarding, he would have done it sooner.

"There's a lot of job security," he said. "Men have a lot of fields to chose from. I would encourage them to get into it, and I think they'll realize it's a good job."

Lou DesPres, a nurse anesthetist at Southeast who also participated in the camp, said he doesn't worry about telling people what he does.

'I'm a nurse'

"I muster my deepest voice and say: 'I'm a nurse,'" he said.

DesPres said he doesn't believe the stereotype of male nurses is as strong as it used to be. Nurses can be more technically trained and never have to change a bedpan or fluff a pillow.

"And the salary can be good enough to support a family," he said. "It's a good job."

Seventeen-year-old Jared Lacy on Tuesday was wearing hospital scrubs and a surgical mask. Lacy plays baseball and runs cross-country at Advance High School.

When asked if he ever took any grief over what he wants to do, Lacy smiled a bit: "Maybe just a little, just a hair."

But when Lacy learned that even nurses just starting out make three times the minimum wage -- and highly skilled nurses can top out at $100,000 -- his insecurities faded.

"If the job's that good, I'm not worried what kind of reputation I'd have," he said. "Plus, I've seen how rewarding it can be. To see somebody come in here sick and to help them get healthy again ... well, I want to be a part of that."

smoyers@semissourian.com

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