KOZHIKODE: At a time when the fair sex grabs headlines for gender discrimination in workplace, their male counterpart in the Malayali-dominated nursing industry has a different tale to tell. As unemployment looms large, male nurses in Kerala are finding it even harder to get a job as the unofficial ban on their recruitment in the state is gaining ground. Their bad time started after they undertook widespread agitations for better salary and service conditions, alleged the United Nurses Association (UNA), which spearheaded most of them. The figures with the UNA show that only 26 male nurses were recruited by private hospitals during the last three years. This is when more than 6,000 such vacancies have been reported across the state. Around 2,000 male nurses were recruited in 2010 and 2011. Male nurses are considered potential ‘trouble makers’ by hospitals and the popular management perception is that they are tough to be ‘managed’.
That would mean that healthcare professionals like Satheesh and Johnson (names changed), who passed out with first class from a private nursing college in Thrissur, have to take up unrelated jobs like that of marketing executives. UNA state president Jasmine Sha said that every year around 1,000 male nurses pass out from various nursing schools in the state. The total number of nursing graduates, including women, would come to 6,000 per annum. “It is a panicky situation for many. Some face the threat of penal action by banks as they have failed to repay the loans,” he said. According to him, more than 1,000 male nurses used to be appointed annually in private hospitals, prior to the agitations.
“Despite their ability to perform in areas like critical care, male nurses are being neglected by recruitment agents too,” he said. Kerala Private Hospitals’ Association state president Dr Mohammed Rasheed, while discounting the figures put forward by UNA, admitted that male nurses are not being recruited because they are “tempting the entire nursing community to agitate. It is true that the male nurses are getting a raw deal from the managements. It happens not only because they are prone to strike but female nurses have proven to be better when it comes to providing care for patients.”
Rejecting the claims by UNA, Rasheed said they still prefer male nurses for orthopaedic duties as they are capable of handling critical situations. The UNA has filed a Public Interest Litigation in the High Court against the discrimination.