Nursing News:
The next action hero, the male nurse

by CHRISTINE FREY
You've been shushed by the librarian. Now you can be treated by the male nurse. Accoutrements, the Mukilteo-based company that created a librarian action figure modeled after local book lover Nancy Pearl, has introduced its next hero-on-the-job ‹ the male nurse action figure.
The 5-inch plastic toy is dressed in blue scrubs and equipped with a stethoscope and X-ray clipboard. ³We wanted to do a nurse action figure, and we thought we would be more specific than last time,² said spokesman David Wahl. ³People accused us of promoting stereotypes² last year when the company released its librarian action figure, which holds a finger to her lips to hush noisy library patrons.
While some Accoutrements toys have immortalized historic figures or poked fun at offbeat characters, its latest action figure attempts to honor a profession that is ³underappreciated but important,² Wahl said. It comes with a brief history of nursing and statistics on the number of male nurses around the world.
³That's not bad actually,² said 40-year-old Steve Hoppe, a registered nurse at Swedish Medical Center on First Hill, after hearing about the toy. ³To be a male nurse you really have to be pretty confident in what you do. ŠYou do battle a lot of stereotypes of who should be a nurse.² Male nurses only make up about 5.4 percent of the 2.7 million registered nurses in the United States, according to the most recent statistics from the U.S. Department of Heath and Human Services. But the industry has tried to encourage more men to enter the profession. The Oregon Center for Nursing at the University of Portland, for instance, launched an advertising campaign with posters asking, ³Are you man enough to be a nurse?²
Although the nurse action figure is humorous, it isn't totally accurate, said Jerry Lucas, a registered nurse in Columbus, Ind., who runs the Web site MaleNurseMagazine.com. ³I don't carry a clipboard with an X-ray around,² he said. Of all of its action figures, last year's librarian is the most popular at its Ballard store, Archie McPhee. The company has one other action figure depicting a profession -- a barista, complete with tattoos. Accoutrements wanted to model its toy nurse on a former employee who was also a nurse, but the employee declined to pose because he didn't want the publicity, Wahl said. The company received some e-mails from upset librarians following the release of its Nancy Pearl look-alike. But so far it hasn't heard any complaints from nurses. ³It just came in and so far all the reaction has been positive,² Wahl said. ³My mom's a nurse, and I sent her one, and she gave it the thumbs up.²
For more information, go to www.mcphee.com