David Tennent, a registered nurse at the Royal Victoria Hospital

In the 2000 film Meet the Parents, much is made of the fact that Greg Focker, played by Ben Stiller, is a nurse.

He faces the usual jokes and innuendo. But what is most significant is that the term ‘male nurse’ is still in use at all.

True, the number of men in nursing and midwifery remains low - only 6.2 per cent in Northern Ireland - but it’s hard to recall someone being referred to as a female teacher, solicitor, architect - or even a female journalist.

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Chris Maguire, an A&E nurse at the Ulster Hospital, Dundonald

Men in caring professions continue to be viewed as slightly curious. They are lucky if people simply assume they are gay; if unlucky, that they have darker motives for choosing a caring role.

This gender apartheid is based on archaic assumptions about gender roles and risks condemning another generation to a life of gender inequality, which is why a group of local nurses, both male and female, have been working hard to change the image of nursing to that of gender neutrality, and promote the profession to anyone with the right attributes and academic abilities.

David Ferran, from Carrickfergus, a registered dermatology nurse at Belfast’s Royal Victoria Hospital, is chair of Northern Ireland Men in Nursing and co-chair of Valuing Diversity in Nursing Northern Ireland, both of which aim to promote diversity at all levels of the nursing profession.

The 32-year-old came to nursing as a mature student and said the profession simply wasn’t offered to him as an option when he was younger.

‘‘I was at an all-boys school and healthcare and nursing weren’t promoted to us at all.’’

It was through working as a healthcare assistant that David could see the work of nurses and discover it wasn’t just a job for women, men could do it too.

‘‘That drove me to want to start my nurse training,’’ he said.

‘‘I was lucky enough to be sponsored by my employer, the Belfast Trust, while I worked as a care assistant and they put me through my nursing degree. I qualified two years ago at the age of 30.’’

David and his colleagues have been carrying out school visits, both primary and secondary, educating young people, boys and girls, their parents and teachers as to the role of a nurse, its academic requirements and vast career opportunities.

He said: ‘‘What we find at schools is that children know very little; they don’t know that nursing is a profession, that you do a degree and that it is also quite an academic job.’’

Northern Ireland Men in Nursing also plan to visit farmers’ markets and careers events, to let members of the public see that men can also be nurses.

The work of the group has been supported by the province’s chief nursing officer Charlotte McArdle, all five health trust in Northern Ireland, trade unions, universities and service users who all recognise the benefits of a diverse nursing workforce who are caring for a diverse patient population.

David said: ‘‘It is of benefit to all patients to have a diverse nursing workforce caring for them, with some patients finding conversations or examinations of an intimate or sensitive nature uncomfortable when a nurse of the opposite sex is providing care.

‘‘A diverse workforce also allows staff to use their own unique lived experience to relate and truly empathise with patients, potentially improving the care provided.’’

He added: ‘‘Although there’s fewer men in nursing, there are more men in management within nursing - so our group is calling for diversity throughout the career span of a nurse.’’

So with only 923 men in nursing here, out of a total of 14,900 full-time equivalent nurses, what is putting males off the profession?

‘‘Stereotypes,’’ said David. ‘‘People automatically assume that nursing is a profession that is more suited to females.

‘‘On television there is often a derogatory portrayal of nurses as being a doctor’s assistant and that is not the case; nurses are autonomous and are highly educated. Also a male nurse will commonly be portrayed as a gay, or made a mockery of - that’s what feeds and perpetuates the stereotype.’’

David said using gender as a prefix to your job implies that there is something different about you being a male nurse, rather than just a nurse.

‘‘That’s why we are targeting children so young, in Primary 1 and 2 because that is when kids are playing with toys and the female is always the nurse and the male is always the doctor, so we are trying to let them see that men can be nurses too to try and change that perception of what nursing is, or who it is for.’’

Of course, there are many other reasons why men may be hesitant about entering the profession; it is common to read news headlines of nurses being demoralised and demotivated by low pay.

David said: ‘‘The starting salary for a graduate nurse is £21,500 per year and the pay scales climb the more experience you get.’’

The average salary for a nurse in Northern Ireland is £32,344 and, indeed, whilst there are low numbers of male nurses, there is no indication that they suffer in their career. Pay disparity results in male nurses earning more than their female counterparts, and anecdotal evidence suggests that male nurses are more likely to be fast-tracked into management positions. Furthermore, a report into the role of men in nursing found there to be more focus on human caring amongst male nurses.

‘‘It is a very rewarding profession,’’ said David. ‘‘I feel incredibly lucky to nurse and to be able to look after people. It is such a versatile career so that you can be a teacher and a nurse, you can be a ward manager - nursing ticks every box for any career anyone would want. There are so many opportunities and it can take you anywhere in the world.’’

Chris Maguire, 24, from Enniskillen works as a nurse in the A&E department at the Ulster Hospital.

Like David, he said he didn’t realise nursing was an option for him when he was growing up.

‘‘It’s not really something you consider when you are a young male growing up in Northern Ireland, it’s all pointed towards engineering or medicine or construction and then whenever you say you are going to do nursing, some people think it’s a bit strange, but then they realise it’s a very good profession.’’

He also believes the stereotypes are putting men off taking up nursing.

‘‘You are not considered a ‘nurse’, you are a ‘male nurse’ - that’s used by everybody. I think it’s a result of what we have been brought up with through society; nobody has been promoting nursing for males.’’

Chris also believes that it is time to drop the short-sighted prejudices about men’s ability to care.

‘‘Traditionally women were seen as more caring, but the reality is that men do care and there’s a whole other argument that men don’t talk about their feelings enough, but you get past that to work in nursing.’’

Chris loves his work and has no regrets about taking up a role in one of the most gender-segregated professions.

‘‘It’s the most rewarding job that I have ever done and that I can ever imagine doing.

‘‘You are affecting people’s lives in their most desperate state, especially in A&E, you can change that person’s day from being one of the most horrible experiences in their life to a little less.