There's no denying the fact for many people, the term "nurse" conjures images of a lady in white uniform. And that's actually no small wonder because in actuality, male nurses comprise only a small percentage -- slightly over five percent -- of all registered nurses in the US. That's according to a survey by the Department of Health in 2004.

But it doesn't mean to say that that number is not getting higher. Records in the Department of Health and Human Services reveal that way back in 1980, only 2.7 percent of Registered Nurses in America were male.

Going a back a bit in history, it is interesting to note that centuries ago, most caretakers were male. Of course, women then rarely had careers and pretty much stayed inside their homes. Many of the earliest caretakers were monks and religious men who considered caring for the sick to be a holy calling. St. Benedict in the 1800s founded the Benedictine order to look after the sick.
However, in modern times nursing has for some reason been considered to be feminine, and a traditionally female job, to the point that even to this day many men don't enter this high-demand, high-paying field.

One of the best nursing schools today for men in nursing, according to the American Assembly For Men in Nursing, is Excelsior College. Although they still are far from having an even distribution of men and women attending the nursing school program at Excelsior College, 21 percent of the pre-licensure nursing students are male.

Excelsior is an online college, which offers a number of nursing degrees through their online program, including an LPN to Associate's Degree in Nursing program and an LPN to Bachelor of Science in Nursing Program.

However, any nursing school in the country would welcome male nurses as well; Excelsior College is only one of many options for the male nursing student today.