Every day for 10 years, Ahmad simply shows up for patients, whether they require major trauma assistance or basic caregiving. He has never once stopped to question whether such caregiving work is a man’s or woman’s role. After all, what has gender got to do with taking care of others in our community?
A GUY’S GUY IN A FEMALE-DOMINATED WORLD
Yet, traditional gender stereotypes still exist. Ahmad admitted that some among the older generation still call nurses “Missy”, including male nurses such as himself.
If you were to see the 1.71m-tall nurse, you would find it hard to imagine anyone calling him “Missy”.
In fact, working as a nurse at the emergency department requires a lot of strength. And it is not just because Ahmad sometimes has to carry 100kg patients from wheelchair to trolley bed with his colleagues.
Working at the frontline of healthcare takes great emotional resilience because it constantly puts one face-to-face with life’s most harrowing moments. “I’ve seen so many cases such as road traffic accidents. I see blood and amputated limbs,” Ahmad said.
In such cases, he retains his composure. “I assess patients and mark out any external injuries such as bleeding, laceration or ablation. Then, I do whatever is necessary to sustain the patient and call on specialists and the trauma team to assist the patient,” he said.