China's first batch of male nurses recently graduated from university has been described by People's Daily as "a fresh power on the medical battlefield in Beijing."

All 11 graduates from Capital University of Medical Sciences have been employed by third grade hospitals in Beijing including Chaoyang Hospital, Friendship Hospital and Anzhen Hospital.

According to the publicity office of the university, it started enrolling male students for the nursing major in 2002.

"They immediately became hot property when a number of hospitals scrambled to sign them up," said an office staff surnamed Zhao.

"It's a very exhausting job," said one of the graduates Li Yunsheng who's now working in Friendship Hospital as a surgery nurse. "You cannot eat or drink and have to stand for long periods of time, especially during a surgery. I remember one time I had to assist a doctor straight through from 8 AM to 4 PM."

Li said that he chose the nursing major out of curiosity at first. "Boys hadn't enrolled before, so I knew there'd be more than enough space for me in the class."

Although he is one of the first male nurses at his hospital, Li doesn't feel any different from the others.

Liu Xingliang, another graduate, now works in the Intensive Care Unit at Friendship Hospital. He said that male nurses are necessary particularly when a patient slips into a coma and needs to be lifted. Liu, too, doesn't feel that he is special or any different from other nurses. "I have the support of my family and friends. What I most care about at present is to get familiar with my job as soon as possible."

According to an official with the personnel department of the hospital, Liu was among the first male nurses recruited, and the response from colleagues and department supervisors has been good. The official said they would consider hiring more male nurses.

However, male nurses are still in short supply, which has to do mainly with conventional views of the nursing profession. Chinese parents don't usually encourage their sons to take up nursing. Boys themselves don't typically voluntarily enroll for nursing courses.

According to a survey conducted by Xuanwu Hospital, female patients aren't comfortable being tended to by a male nurse because of the physical contact.

Another survey suggested that most women wouldn't like to have a boyfriend who was a nurse. Only 9 percent of those polled said they would consider marrying a nurse; 69.1 percent said they would never consider it because of the "special" nature of the job.

(China.org.cn by Zhang Rui, September 8, 2005)