Pitt creates Men in Nursing club
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) - From doctor's offices to urgent care clinics to operating rooms, men make up just 13 percent of the nation's nursing workforce.
Only on KDKA-TV, Meghan Schiller sat down with one of the founding members of a new nursing club at the University of Pittsburgh trying to change that statistic.
"This is how we typically intubate someone," nurse Adrian Bermudez said, showing KDKA-TV just one of the skills nurses need to master. They practice on mannequins inside the school's skills lab.
"My favorite part of nursing would have to be the patient interaction. You meet some of these people at their worst days of their lives, and taking care of them and talking to them," said Bermudez.
Bermudez is in his second year of studying at the University of Pittsburgh to become a nurse anesthetist, but the makeup of his classes still looks the same.
"Even now when I'm a current grad student, you look around the classroom and males are usually the minority," Bermudez said.
Associate Dean Julius Kitutu tells KDKA-TV that of the nursing school's 1,070 students, about 140 are men.
That's why Pitt's School of Nursing just created the Men in Nursing club. It's a space for networking, mentoring, socializing and recruitment.
"I'm very impressed because it removes the stigma from males, that nursing is also a profession for men and you can advance professionally in the line of being a nurse," said Julius Kitutu, Pitt's associate dean for student affairs and alumni relations.
The club comes on the heels of a big award. Pitt just got named one of the best schools for men in nursing.
"We have been put on the map in the country as one of the best schools that has enabled male nurses or students to come here and do the program and complete it successfully. In addition, we have also told people that we are inclusive," said Kitutu.
For Bermudez, the club is not just a chance for him to serve as a role model for younger nurses, but to honor his own as well.
"I was fortunate to have two role models in my life, my mom was a nurse, and my grandmother was a nurse and they kind of influenced me that I can go into the nursing profession and can be very successful," Bermudez said.
Pitt's School of Nursing hopes to reach out to local high schools in hopes of reaching young male teens. If you're affiliated with a local high school and would like to learn more about Pitt's program, and men in nursing, reach out to Pitt's School of Nursing on Facebook.