Nursing: It’s not women’s work

Even after the pandemic showed nursing’s critical value to the country, the profession is still undervalued as unskilled “women’s work”. How can we fix gender inequality in nursing? Is nursing paid so poorly simply because of sexism or is the issue more complex? And should we recruit more men into the profession – or by trying to make nursing seem less “feminine”, are we tacitly accepting a sexist perspective that holds women nurses back?  Nursing Matters is presented by PNC chair Rachel Hollis with Kendal Moran, a former Army sapper who retrained and transferred to the Queen Alexandra’s Royal Army Nursing Corps. This week’s guests are nurse Leanne Patrick who tweets @FeministRCN and Rachael McIlroy, RCN Senior Research Lead. We’d love to hear your questions. Tweet them to @theRCN tagged #NursingMatters  •   “We’ve traditionally seen nursing as a moral good, not a productive good – but nursing is crucially value in economic terms.”– Rachael McIlroy •   “If we’re legitimising men’s reluctance to do a job that’s considered feminine, we’re legitimising misogyny.” – Leanne Patrick •   “The job gets bigger, but the pay packet doesn’t.” – Rachael McIlroy Presented by Rachel Hollis and Kendal Moran. Audio production by Alex Rees. Assistant producer Jelena Sofronijevic. Music: ‘Snappy’ by Jonathan Boyle under licence from premiumbeat.com. Nursing Matters is a Podmasters Production for the RCN. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Om Podcasten

Welcome to Nursing Matters, the brand new podcast from the Royal College of Nursing. The pandemic is bringing out the very best in nursing – and reminding the public just how invaluable the profession is. What have we learned from this once-in-a-generation crisis? How can we use that knowledge to make the profession more effective in future? And what kind of new deal do nursing staff deserve after all their efforts? Every two weeks on Nursing Matters, we’ll bring together experts from the RCN Professional Nursing Committee along with some special guests to talk about what really matters to nursing. From inspirational innovations and pioneering practice to pay, conditions and health and care policy - we’ll look at it all. And we’ll stand up for nursing all the way. That’s Nursing Matters – available now wherever you get your podcasts. Nursing Matters is a Podmasters production for the RCN.