Let’s face it, when most people hear the word “nurse” they still picture a woman holding that job. And that’s not surprising, because according to a 2004 survey by the Department of Health and Human Services, only a little over 5 percent of Registered Nurses in America are male.

That number does seem to be increasing, however. In 1980, according to the Department of Health and Human Services, only 2.7 percent of Registered Nurses in America were male.

Going a back a bit in history, it is interesting to note that centuries ago, most caretakers were male. Of course, women then rarely had careers and pretty much stayed inside their homes. Many of the earliest caretakers were monks and religious men who considered caring for the sick to be a holy calling. As a matter of fact, the Benedictine order was established by St. Benedict in the 1800s primarily to care for the sick.

However, in modern times nursing has for some reason been considered to be feminine, and a traditionally female job, to the point that even to this day many men don’t enter this high-demand, high-paying field.

But for men who want to pursue a nursing career, the best school that they can be in right now is Excelsior College, says the American Assembly for Men in Nursing. Although they still are far from having an even distribution of men and women attending the nursing school program at Excelsior College, 21 percent of the pre-licensure nursing students are male.

Excelsior is an online college, which offers several nursing degrees through their online program, including an LPN to Associate’s Degree in Nursing program and an LPN to Bachelor of Science in Nursing Program.

Now Excelsior may be the best nursing school for male nurses today, but there are a lot of great nursing school programs for both men and women. Visit us to know which nursing school programs is just right for you!