News
December 2008
It's a Family Affair
For the Southards, nursing is a family affair. What makes this family unique is that all three Southards—father Greg and sons Zach and Sam—are nurses. And two of the three have studied at the University of Wisconsin–Madison School of Nursing. Zach is a 2008 graduate; Sam is a senior nursing student.
Three male nurses in one family confound statistical probability. According to the National Sample Survey of Registered Nurses, 5.4 percent of American RNs are men. In contrast, male students make up 15 percent of the newly admitted 2008 undergraduate class at the UW-Madison School of Nursing. As part of the commitment of the school to increase diversity, says Louise Root-Robbins, PhD, RN, director of diversity and community outreach initiatives, it is making a concerted effort to recruit men into nursing.
Zach (left) and Sam (right) Southard learned early on from Greg, their father and role model, that nursing was indeed a career option for men.
While father Greg Southard admits that his gender has always been in the minority since he entered the nursing profession twenty-one years ago, he says that he has never felt a trace of discrimination. "There have been very few gender issues that I’ve been aware of," says Greg, who is a staff RN in the recovery room at St. Elizabeth’s Hospital in Appleton. "There are now a considerably higher number of males in the profession than there were twenty years ago, which is good. Male nurses complement the profession very well. In some ways, males and females are very different. But I think that difference makes for a well-balanced team."
The one-time welder who went to nursing school at the age of thirty has been a powerful role model for his sons. He says that his nursing career has been extremely fulfilling and believes that his professional satisfaction was not lost on his sons.
"I definitely was influenced by the fact that both my dad and my brother were nurses," says Sam. "But I also went into the profession because I enjoy health science. Nursing allows me to study what I enjoy most and to work in a hospital, which I think is a great environment.
"You have all sorts of people involved in taking care of a patient—respiratory therapists, occupational therapists, pharmacists, social workers, doctors, physician assistants. They all have something different to bring to the table."
Sam’s academic experience at the School of Nursing has been extremely positive, he says. He believes that he is getting a superior education and an unbeatable experience. He recently completed a ten-week externship at the University of Wisconsin Hospital and Clinics (UWHC) and loved the teamwork and exposure to professionals from different disciplines. The externship has led to a job offer in the coming year at the hospital, which he has accepted.
Sam’s brother, Zach Southard, graduated this past May from the School of Nursing. He is already working at the UWHC as an RN in the cardiothoracic unit. According to Zach, he has seen procedures and treatments that are unique to an academic medical center. The professional experiences gained here and at the School of Nursing, he says, are what initially led him to Madison.
"I chose the UW-Madison School of Nursing because it’s renowned as one of the finest schools of nursing in the country and certainly one of the best in Wisconsin," Zach says. "Being in Madison and working with these patients, you see things you just wouldn’t see at other places. I did an externship in Appleton, but you just don’t see the acute populations, transplant procedures, and some of the different devices that you see here."
Like his brother, Zach says that his father was a strong influence on his decision to pursue a career in nursing. "Seeing him do it while I was growing up definitely influenced my decision," Zach says. "He’d come home from work and talk about it, and it was clear he got a lot of satisfaction from working with and helping people. As a profession, it gives you a lot of possibilities, too. At some point, I’d probably like to go to anesthesia school. The UWHC and the School of Nursing encourage that.
"A lot of hospitals shy away from someone who’s going to turn around and pursue a career specialty. The UWHC and the school really support professional career advancement."
Zach adds that being a male nurse and, therefore, in the minority, was never a factor when he was in nursing school, either. "I never felt any kind of attitude or feeling about it in any way, shape, or form," he says. "I never had a single complaint about the faculty, and the vast majority of my professors were just great. I wouldn’t go back and change anything about the school. I would highly recommend it."
Please contact Steven Rush, PhD, RN, director of undergraduate programs at the School of Nursing, at srush2@wisc.edu for information on Men Engaged in Nursing (MEN) and the Madison Chapter of the American Assembly of Men in Nursing (AAMN), both student-initiated organizations.