Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

Calling nurses 'sister' and 'matron' is putting men off the profession, RCN warns

Female-centric terminology is a 'hang up' that has been done away with in Scotland, says college chief executive

Alex Matthews-King

Health Correspondent

Tuesday 15 May 2018 10:51 BST

Efforts to address a 38,000 nurse shortfall have so far been fruitless with hte number of registered nurses falling two years in a row (Getty)

Calling nurses “sister” or “matron” may be deterring men from joining the profession, the head of the Royal College of Nursing has warned.

Chief Executive Janet Davies, said that a lot of the language in nursing is still “very female” and this historical “hang-up” might not be suitable to the changing face of the profession.

In Scotland, and in some English NHS trusts, the term “sister” has already been done away with and everyone in the role is referred to as a charge nurse, she said.

Ms Davies was speaking ahead of a debate on whether a targeted male nurse recruitment drive is needed, at the RCN annual conference in Belfast this week.

While women still make up the majority of the nearly 300,000 nurses in England, there are currently 38,000 unfilled full-time nursing posts. More men in the role could tackle this.

“We still use the word ‘ward sister’ because there was a vote on that at some point,” she said. "But they’re not called ‘ward sisters’ in Scotland, everyone is called a 'charge nurse' regardless of your sex and that’s another good debate. Lots of the language in nursing generally is very female but we do have matrons who are men.”

“That’s another whole debate because there are some men who don’t mind being called “matron” – otherwise you get “male matron” and then it’s discriminatory.”

The debate at the RCN conference rejected a targeted recruitment drive aimed at men, instead calling for both men and women to be targetted equally.

A report by the college over the weekend, warned that staff shortages were biggest reason for nurses leaving the profession. Many said they were being forced to choose between “paperwork and patient care”.

Everyone the Government blames for the NHS crisis – except themselves

Show all 6

1/6Everyone the Government blames for the NHS crisis – except themselves

Everyone the Government blames for the NHS crisis – except themselves

The elderly

“We acknowledge that there are pressures on the health service, there are always extra pressures on the NHS in the winter, but we have the added pressures of the ageing population and the growing complex needs of the population,” Theresa May has said. Waits of over 12 hours in A&E among elderly people have more than doubled in two years, according to figures from NHS Digital.

Getty

Everyone the Government blames for the NHS crisis – except themselves

Patients going to A&E instead of seeing their GPs

Jeremy Hunt has called for a “honest discussion with the public about the purpose of A&E departments”, saying that around a third of A&E patients were in hospital unnecessarily. Mr Hunt told Radio 4’s Today programme the NHS now had more doctors, nurses and funding than ever, but explained what he called “very serious problems at some hospitals” by suggesting pressures were increasing in part because people are going to A&Es when they should not. He urged patients to visit their GP for non-emergency illnesses, outlined plans to release time for family doctors to support urgent care work, and said the NHS will soon be able to deliver seven-day access to a GP from 8am to 8pm. But doctors struggling amid a GP recruitment crisis said Mr Hunt’s plans were unrealistic and demanded the Government commit to investing in all areas of the overstretched health service.

Getty

Everyone the Government blames for the NHS crisis – except themselves

Simon Stevens, head of NHS England

Reports that “key members” of Ms May’s team used internal meetings to accuse Simon Stevens, head of NHS England, of being unenthusiastic and unresponsive have been rejected by Downing Street. Mr Stevens had allegedly rejected claims made by Ms May that the NHS had been given more funding than required.

Getty

Everyone the Government blames for the NHS crisis – except themselves

Previous health policy, not funding

In an interview with Sky News’s Sophy Ridge, Ms May acknowledged the NHS faced pressures but said it was a problem that had been “ducked by government over the years”. She refuted the claim that hospitals were tackling a “humanitarian crisis” and said health funding was at record levels. “We asked the NHS a while back to set out what it needed over the next five years in terms of its plan for the future and the funding that it would need,” said the Prime Minister. “They did that, we gave them that funding, in fact we gave them more funding than they required… Funding is now at record levels for the NHS, more money has been going in.” But doctors accused Ms May of being “in denial” about how the lack of additional funding provided for health and social care were behind a spiralling crisis in NHS hospitals.

Getty Images

Everyone the Government blames for the NHS crisis – except themselves

Target to treat all A&E patients within four hours

Mr Hunt was accused of watering down the flagship target to treat all A&E patients within four hours. The Health Secretary told MPs the promise – introduced by Tony Blair’s government in 2000 – should only be for “those who actually need it”. Amid jeers in the Commons, Mr Hunt said only four other countries pledged to treat all patients within a similar timeframe and all had “less stringent” rules. But Ms May has now said the Government will stand by the four-hour target for A&E, which says 95 per cent of patients must be dealt with within that time frame.

Getty Images

Everyone the Government blames for the NHS crisis – except themselves

No one

Mr Hunt was accused of “hiding” from the public eye following news of the Red Cross’s comments and didn’t make an official statement for two days. He was also filmed refusing to answer questions from journalists who pursued him down the street yesterday to ask whether he planned to scrap the four-hour A&E waiting time target. Sky News reporter Beth Rigby pressed the Health Secretary on his position on the matter, saying “the public will want to know, Mr Hunt”. “Sorry Beth, I’ve answered questions about this already,” replied Mr Hunt. “But you didn’t answer questions on this. You said it was over-interpreted in the House of Commons and you didn’t want to water it down. Is that what you’re saying?” said Ms Rigby. “It’s very difficult, because how are we going to explain to the public what your intention is, when you change your position and then won’t answer the question, Mr Hunt”. But the Health Secretary maintained his silence until he reached his car and got in.

Getty

“We need more Charlies,” Ms Davies added, referring to Charlie Fairhead, the long-running male nurse character in the BBC's Casualty. She also called for more high profile male nurses in other TV shows.

The profession should look to depictions of fatherhood in the media, where men are increasingly represented and more men are taking a larger role in the home, she said.

“Nurturing and caring roles", she added, were "typically seen as a female type role".

She said: “We’re moving quite a long way in that but with nursing is still a bit of a hang up. People often refer to ‘she’."

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies