CINCINNATI -- It's not uncommon to see a female doctor treating patients in the hospital, but some would say it's still unusual to see a male nurse.
The University of Cincinnati is trying to change the image of nursing and attract more men.
Gordon Gillespie is the interim associate dean of research at the UC College of Nursing.
"I've been a nurse for 21 years and obviously I'm a guy in nursing, and we're kind of rare," he said.
Statistics show women dominate the field, making up 91 percent of the U.S. nursing workforce. But there's a push to attract more men to the field.
"The goal is to have 20 percent of the nursing workforce be men by 2020," Gillsepie said.
Working toward that goal, UC is trying to recruit more male nursing students and debunk old stereotypes.
"There's always going to be people out there that are going to go through and say, 'Oh, you're a guy in nursing?' But, it's just about knowing that I'm going to be there for the patient," sophomore Ryan Gehringer said.
Junior UC nursing student Jack Stigler said he was attracted to the field because he loves science and anatomy.
"The first thing I thought was, 'Oh, this would be an awesome job because it's the healthcare field," he said.
About 20 percent of the nursing students at UC are men. But they'd like to see those numbers higher. They purposely include men in nursing school marketing materials and offer scholarships.
The American Association of Men in Nursing has a chapter on campus. Students said they plan to hold recruiting events at local male high schools.
"I take pride in being someone who's kind of changing that mindset in people, and it's been great so far," Stigler said.
