Assessment of Knowledge and Perception of Senior Secondary School Students Towards Nursing as a Career Choice for Men in Selected Local Government of Lagos State, Nigeria

The number of men in nursing has remained low despite the many benefits and opportunities associated with the profession. Currently, males make up only 6.6% of the three million nursing professionals in the United States. The study assessed the knowledge and perception of secondary school students towards nursing as a career choice for men in selected Local Government of Lagos State, Nigeria. This is a descriptive cross-sectional study that was carried out on 293 respondents. A multi staged sample technique was used to select study participants. Results revealed that majority of respondents (91.4%) knew nursing as a profession and 88.9% knew that a legal certificate was required to practice nursing, Respondents generally demonstrated a good knowledge of Nursing. There was also a general positive perception towards Nursing as a career (93%). Even thou there was a positive perception towards nursing as a career choice for men generally (53%), half (50.2%) of the students in this study disagreed that nursing was a career choice for female only. Thirty-seven (37%) percent of the students stated that nursing was not a masculine type of career for males to pursue. Also, 65.6% of respondents agreed that nursing was more appropriate for females because they are more caring. There is a need for secondary school students to be aware of what nursing as a profession entails and that gender is not a determining factor of being a better nurse.