All the young men gone: losing men in the gentrification of Australian nursing circa 1860-1899.

Men played an important role in nursing in colonial Australia. However the number of men undertaking nursing duties declined dramatically in the second half of the nineteenth century. Reasons for this are explored in relation to ramifications of the introduction of the Nightingale pattern of nurse training in Australia, which occurred within the Victorian ethos of gentility and decorum. In this context, nursing came to be seen as a calling that was natural and appropriate for women. The controlled, decorous ambience of nursing, its subservient relationship to medicine and the attractiveness to employers of female pay rates are all associated with the decline in male participation over this period.