Skip to main content
Chamberlain University, College of Nursing and Health Professionals
Menu

Mobile Main navigation

  • About
    • Accreditation
    • Alumni
    • Blog
    • Chamberlain Care
    • Diversity & Inclusion
    • History
    • Newsroom
    • Online Education
    • Our Vision
    • Student Consumer Information
  • Academics
    • College of Nursing
      • 3-Year Bachelor of Science in Nursing
      • RN to BSN Option
      • RN to MSN Options
      • Certificate Programs
      • Master of Science in Nursing
      • MSN - Adult-Gerontology Nurse Practitioner
      • MSN - Family Nurse Practitioner
      • MSN - Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner
      • Doctor of Nursing Practice
    • College of Health Professions
      • Public Health Certificate Programs
      • Master of Physician Assistant Studies
      • Master of Public Health
      • Master of Social Work
    • Academic Resources
      • Academic Calendar
      • College Catalog
      • Curriculum Plans
  • Campus & Online
    • Campus
    • AZ - Phoenix
    • CA - Irwindale
    • CA - Sacramento
    • FL - Jacksonville
    • FL - Miramar
    • GA - Atlanta
    • IL - Addison
    • IL - Chicago
    • IL - Tinley Park
    • IN - Indianapolis
    • LA - New Orleans
    • MI - Troy
    • MO - St. Louis
    • NV - Las Vegas
    • NJ - North Brunswick
    • NC - Charlotte
    • OH - Cleveland
    • OH - Columbus
    • TX - Houston
    • TX - Irving
    • TX - Pearland
    • TX - San Antonio
    • VA - Tysons Corner
    • BSN Online Option
    • Post-Licensure & Graduate
      • RN to BSN Option
      • RN to MSN Option
      • Master of Science in Nursing
      • MSN - Adult-Gerontology Nurse Practitioner
      • MSN - Family Nurse Practitioner
      • Doctor of Nursing Practice
      • Master of Physician Assistant Studies
      • Master of Public Health
      • Master of Social Work
  • Admission & Financial Aid
    • Admission
      • Transfer Guide
      • Catalog
      • Academic Calendar
      • Military Information
    • Financial Aid
      • Tuition & Expenses
      • Types of Financial Assistance
      • Financial Forms
      • Educational Healthcare Partners
      • Loans
      • Work Study
      • Grants
      • Scholarships

Mobile Secondary Navigation

  • Apply
  • Request More Info
  • Request More Info
  • Call
  • Apply
  • Request Info
  • Request Info

Mobile Utility Navigation

  • Current Students
  • Prospective Students
  • Transfers
  • Military
  • Alumni
  • Partners
  • Employers

Top Utility Navigation

  • Current Students
  • Information For
    • Current Students
    • Prospective Students
    • Transfers
    • Military
    • Alumni
    • Partners
    • Employers
  • Chat
  • 877.751.5783
Chamberlain University, College of Nursing and Health Professionals

Main Header navigation

  • About

    About

    Chamberlain University has a 130-year history preparing extraordinary nursing graduates and healthcare professionals. 

    • Accreditation
    • Alumni
    • Blog
    • Chamberlain Care
    • Diversity & Inclusion
    • History
    • Newsroom
    • Online Education
    • Our Vision
    • Student Consumer Information
  • Academics

    Academics

    Whether you're an aspiring nurse looking to launch a rewarding career, a nursing professional looking to advance your career, or a professional looking to impact public health, Chamberlain offers the degree programs, options and resources to help you succeed.

    • College of Nursing
      • 3-Year Bachelor of Science in Nursing
      • RN to BSN Option
      • RN to MSN Options
      • Certificate Programs
      • Master of Science in Nursing
      • MSN - Adult-Gerontology Nurse Practitioner
      • MSN - Family Nurse Practitioner
      • MSN - Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner
      • Doctor of Nursing Practice
    • College of Health Professions
      • Public Health Certificate Programs
      • Master of Physician Assistant Studies
      • Master of Public Health
      • Master of Social Work
    • Academic Resources
      • Academic Calendar
      • College Catalog
      • Curriculum Plans
  • Campus & Online

    On Campus & Online

    Interested in becoming a nurse?
    Earn your BSN at one of 23 campuses located across the country, in just 3 years

    • Campus
    • AZ - Phoenix
    • CA - Irwindale
    • CA - Sacramento
    • FL - Jacksonville
    • FL - Miramar
    • GA - Atlanta
    • IL - Addison
    • IL - Chicago
    • IL - Tinley Park
    • IN - Indianapolis
    • LA - New Orleans
    • MI - Troy
    • MO - St. Louis
    • NV - Las Vegas
    • NJ - North Brunswick
    • NC - Charlotte
    • OH - Cleveland
    • OH - Columbus
    • TX - Houston
    • TX - Irving
    • TX - Pearland
    • TX - San Antonio
    • VA - Tysons Corner
    • BSN Online Option Clinical in select states
    • Post-Licensure & Graduate
      • RN to BSN Option
      • RN to MSN Option
      • Master of Science in Nursing
      • MSN - Adult-Gerontology Nurse Practitioner
      • MSN - Family Nurse Practitioner
      • Doctor of Nursing Practice
      • Master of Physician Assistant Studies
      • Master of Public Health
      • Master of Social Work
  • Admission & Financial Aid

    Admission & Financial Aid

    Chamberlain is committed to providing quality and accessible healthcare and nursing education. Our team is with you every step of the way, providing the information you need to make the decisions that best serve you.

    • Admission
      • Transfer Guide
      • Catalog
      • Academic Calendar
      • Military Information
    • Financial Aid
      • Tuition & Expenses
      • Types of Financial Assistance
      • Financial Forms
      • Educational Healthcare Partners
      • Loans
      • Work Study
      • Grants
      • Scholarships

Secondary Header Navigation

  • Apply
  • Request More Info
  • Request More Info
  • Call
  • Apply
  • Request Info
  • Request Info

Featured

nursing student holding tablet and glancing out of a window
8 Great Reasons to Earn Your Master of…
Dr. Melani Bell mentors Chamberlain student
Why I Chose Chamberlain… Again
Nurse fist bumping with child
5 Great Reasons to Earn Your MSN Degree…

Tags

Browse articles by category
Alumni
Campus News
Careers
Health Professions
Nursing Today
Tips for Students

Share

Blog Social Share

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Email
  • LinkedIn
  • Home / Blog / Home / Men in Nursing: Pursuing a Passion, Making History

Men in Nursing: Pursuing a Passion, Making History

June 18, 2013 by Danielle Logacho
men in nursing

As a high school student in Virginia in the mid-‘60s, Richard Cowling, PhD, APRN-BC, AHN-BC, FAAN, decided one day to start volunteering at a local hospital.

He did it, he admits, out of boredom – but what he found there lit a fire inside of him and set a life’s pursuit in motion.

“I just fell in love with what nurses did,” he explained. “It was the relationship between the nurses and the patients that was the attractive thing to me. There was this ability to be there for them, whatever they needed, and also be there for their families. It was something that really felt right for me.”

Cowling began skipping class to spend more time at the hospital. In fact, he spent so much time there that administrators offered him a part-time job as a nursing assistant.

Despite his admiration for nurses and attraction to their work, the thought of joining their ranks professionally never crossed his mind.

“I didn’t realize that I could be a nurse because there were no male nurses,” he said.

When a group of student nurses told him otherwise, a whole new doorway opened for him.

Gathering Support for a Non-Traditional Career

But the path forward wasn’t necessarily easy. Telling friends or teachers that he wanted to go into nursing was difficult. Summoning the courage to tell his father – a military man – was equally tough.

“I went to tell my dad with some trepidation,” Cowling explained. “But the funny thing is, when I told him, his reaction was totally opposite of what I thought it would be. He was 100 percent supportive. He said, ‘That’s phenomenal. The good thing about this is that you love what you’re doing and you’ll always have a place.’”

Even with his family’s blessing, however, there was the little problem of his academic qualifications (or lack thereof). He had skipped so much class to be at the hospital that his grades were, in his words, “horrible.” It was his interest and enthusiasm that won over the instructors at the hospital’s diploma program in nursing.

Challenges and Rewards of Being a Male Nurse

Richard Cowling was the second man to enroll in a nursing program in the state of Virginia. In the years that followed, he went on to earn bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degrees in nursing. He became a clinical specialist in adult psychiatric mental health nursing and an advanced holistic nurse – board certified and was named a Fellow of the American Academy of Nursing (FAAN).

That’s not to say that the road for a man in nursing was always smooth.

“You have to remember, we’re talking about 1966 in the South when I started the diploma program. I loved what I was doing, but I got a lot of teasing,” he said. “I also got a lot of reward. People were kind of intrigued with what I was doing and I made a particularly strong connection with families.”

As time went on, his number of male colleagues in the profession has steadily increased.

“In my life, it’s been extraordinary to see a shift,” said Cowling.

While organizations such as the American Assembly for Men in Nursing are pushing for an increase in the percentage of registered nurses who are male, Cowling focuses less on the numbers.

“I’m really for supporting men in nursing and overcoming stereotypes, but I also believe very much that it’s not gender that is as important as the quality of the people in nursing.”

Steady Focus on the Patient

Chamberlain President Susan Groenwald and Dr. Richard Cowling, vice president of academic affairs, were recognized at the opening session of the National League for Nursing Education Summit.[pictured left]

His own varied career has included time as a hospital staff nurse, the director of nursing at a nursing home, a mental health nurse at the VA, a private practice nurse, college professor and director of a PhD program. Today, he is the vice president of academic affairs at Chamberlain College of Nursing and editor-in-chief of the Journal of Holistic Nursing.

Through it all, he has been inspired and transformed, time and time again, by his patients – whether it was the young man who was diagnosed with a malignant brain tumor, or the many women he has worked with who suffered from depression and despair as a result of childhood abuse.

Even after his nearly 45 years in nursing, patients and their families remain his focus.

“Nurses need to know all about the illness and the treatment, and they need all the scientific knowledge that’s required to provide the best care,” he said. “But we can never forget that underneath all of that is a person. For me, that’s what nursing is all about.”

Related Stories:

Brotherhood of Nursing Students Go Bald, Raise Boatloads

By Danielle Logacho

More from Home

View all >
girl holding resume
5 Tips for Writing a Nursing Resume
Read more
travel nurse poses in front of new york city skyline
Chamberlain Grad is Travel Nursing on the Front Lines of…
Read more
headshot of Sandy Pratt
Family of Front Line COVID-19 Nurses “Zoom” in to Stay…
Read more
nurses on boards coalition partnership
Chamberlain Supports the Nurses on Boards Coalition through…
Read more
Show more >

Request More Information

To receive the Chamberlain University Program Guide, including associated career paths, please select a program of study.

Chamberlain University, College of Nursing and Health Professionals

Secondary Footer Navigation

  • Apply
  • Request More Info
  • Request More Info
  • Call
  • Apply
  • Request Info
  • Request Info

Student Portal Login

Main Campus
Addison Campus
1221 North Swift Road
Addison, IL 60101 

National Management Offices
500 W. Monroe St, Suite 1300
Chicago, IL 60661

All Campus Locations
Contact

Footer Menu Column 1

  • Online Programs
  • Master of Physician Assistant Studies
  • Alumni Association
  • Chamberlain Marketplace
  • Military
  • Leadership
  • Catalog & Viewbook

Footer Menu Column 2

  • Student Portal
  • Student Consumer Info
  • Accreditation
  • Parent Organization
  • CA Performance Fact Sheets
  • CA BPPE Annual Report
  • CA BPPE Website

Footer Menu Column 3

  • Careers
  • Privacy Policy
  • Online Cookie Policy
  • Sitemap
  • Terms of Use
  • Accessibility
  • Student Disability Services
  • Office of Equity and Access

Footer Social Media Navigation

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • YouTube
  • Pinterest

2022 Chamberlain Universtiy LLC. All rights reserved.

Footer Menu Line 1

  • Online Cookie Policy
  • Privacy Policy
  • Sitemap
  • Terms of Use
  • *140,000 Chamberlain students, alumni and faculty

    † Chamberlain University is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission (www.hlcommission.org), an institutional accreditation agency recognized by the U.S. Department of Education. The baccalaureate degree program in nursing, master’s degree program in nursing, Doctor of Nursing Practice program, and post graduate APRN certificate programs at Chamberlain University are accredited by the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education, (https://www.aacnnursing.org/CCNE). The Chamberlain University Doctor of Nursing Practice (delivered via distance education) is accredited by the National League for Nursing Commission for Nursing Education Accreditation (NLN CNEA) located at 2600 Virginia Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20037 (202-909-2526). Chamberlain University’s Master of Public Health Program is accredited by the Council on Education for Public Health, www.ceph.org. For the most updated accreditation information, visit chamberlain.edu/accreditation. Chamberlain University’s Master of Social Work degree program is accredited by the Council on Social Work Education’s Commission on Accreditation, www.cswe.org. The Accreditation Review Commission on Education for the Physician Assistant, Inc. has granted Accreditation-Provisional status to the Chamberlain University Physician Assistant Program. 

    To report unresolved complaints to the Illinois Board of Higher Education visit their webpage at https://complaints.ibhe.org/ or by mail to 1 N. Old State Capitol Plaza, Suite 333, Springfield, IL 62701-1377. View Chamberlain's complaint process.

    Chamberlain University confers online degrees from its Main Campus in Addison, IL.

    Chamberlain University is a member of Adtalem Global Education, Inc. www.adtalem.com
    ©2022 Chamberlain University LLC. All rights reserved.