Some nurses with advanced clinical skills have started their own clinics, providing patients with such services as physical examinations and nutrition and mental health counseling. The two main groups of nurses are professional nurses and technical nurses. Another group of nurses, called practical nurses, complete a training program that generally lasts 12 months. Practical nurses perform many duties that relieve professional and technical nurses for other tasks that require more preparation. Most nurses are women.
More women serve in the field of nursing than in any other profession except teaching.
However, more and more men have been entering the nursing profession. Until the 1960's, men made up only 1 percent of the total number of professional nurses. By the early 2000's, men made up over 10 percent of students enrolled in undergraduate professional programs and about 5 percent of all practicing professional nurses. She was born in North Oxford, Mass., and began her career as a teacher. Soon her humanitarian interests led her into the field of health.