Indonesian Contemporary Nursing Journal (ICON Journal)
Vol. 10 No. 2 (2026): Volume 10 Number 2 February 2026

Time to Care for Male Nurses: Confronting Stigma and Workforce Imbalance

Saldy Yusuf (Faculty of Nursing, Hasanuddin University, Makassar, Indonesia.)
Muhammad Arsyad Subu (Nursing Program, College of Health Sciences, University of Sharjah, United Arab Emirates)



Article Info

Publish Date
17 Feb 2026

Abstract

Nursing remains predominantly female worldwide, even as the need for a diverse healthcare workforce grows. Nurses are the largest group of healthcare professionals; however, the profession faces an increasing shortage. Although nursing has expanded rapidly (Kouta & Kaite, 2011), it is often associated with traditional, female caregiving roles. In the Western world, Florence Nightingale is celebrated as a key figure in nursing (Turkowski & Turkowski, 2024), whereas Rufaidah Al-Aslamiyah is recognized in the Islamic world (Bodrick et al., 2022). Both are women, and their status as pioneers perpetuates the idea that nursing is a feminist profession. Historically, Indonesia has limited nursing education to female students, reinforcing this stigma. This perception has become a global issue (Subu et al., 2022), leading to fewer male nurses at all educational and professional levels in the field. For instance, a nursing school noted that a male student withdrew because he was the only male participant. Research indicated that male nurses often feel isolated or marginalized (Yip et al. 2021).

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