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By Morish Dramadri Arua city As nurses across the country mark International Nurses Week, male nurses in West Nile have renewed calls to break gender stereotypes in the nursing profession, challenging the long-held belief that nursing is only meant for women.
By Morish Dramadri
Arua city
As nurses across the country mark International Nurses Week, male nurses in West Nile have renewed calls to break gender stereotypes in the nursing profession, challenging the long-held belief that nursing is only meant for women.
According to the Uganda Nurses and Midwives Council, the nursing profession in Uganda continues to attract more men, with thousands of male nurses now serving in hospitals, health centers and private clinics across the country. However, the strong misconception and gender stereotype has remained embedded in the minds of many.
Naxious King, a registered nurse currently working in Terego district, designated nursing as a profession built on compassion, care and service, dismissing the stereotype that nursing is a feminine career.
“The profession of nurse is just a compassionate profession where you put yourself in the shoe of a dying person to save this person from danger, to save the life of the person back to life. This profession there’s always a belief it’s supposed to be for women and the men should be doctors, no!” Naxious said.
Despite the growing number of men in the profession, many male nurses say they still face resistance from some patients who refuse to be attended to by them, especially in maternal and child health sections.
Adia Biajo, a professional nurse with eight years of experience working in Arua City, declared some clients, particularly mothers, still shy away from receiving services from male nurses due to public misconceptions. He however fortified more young people, especially men, to join the profession and help change the negative perception surrounding nursing.
“The people’s perception when the profession nurse is mentioned, this is actually something for women; this is something that is always misleading. Client whenever they come to the labour ward they have been having negative perception whenever they see men especially us as the young nurses, there’s always suspicion who is this person, am not supposed to be delivered by a man. They young men who are vying to join us join with positively because it is a call, eliminate other factors,” Biajo testified.
The Ministry of Health says Uganda still faces a shortage of nurses and midwives, making the contribution of male nurses increasingly important in strengthening healthcare delivery.
Agnes Baku Chandia, the Commissioner for Nurses and Midwives at the Ministry of Health, accredited the public’s negative perception toward male nurses to deep-rooted African cultural beliefs associated with privacy and dignity.
“Up to now the mindset of the people is that the people who can do caring are women, we encourage men to join even midwifery, here in Africa we grew up with our strong culture, that dignity every woman have it but we encourage the males to be there to dismiss some of those wrong perceptions,” Agnes said.
The National Nurses Week 2026, being observed from Wednesday May 6th to Tuesday May 12th under the theme “The Power of Nurses,” recognizes the strength, expertise and influence nurses have in shaping healthcare, improving patient outcomes and serving communities with compassion and dedication.