Villanova has one of the best undergraduate nursing programs in the nation, providing students with incredible resources. There is a variety of student organizations designed to help integrate nursing students into their field, such as Student Nurses’ Association of Pennsylvania (SNAP) or Nursing Without Borders. While Villanova provides so many great resources for nursing students, there is a lack of support and community for male nurses, a minority in a female-dominated field. 

Because of this lack of much-needed community, a group of men in the nursing program has formed the Men in Nursing Society, also known as MURSES. 

President and founder of this organization is junior PJ Scarperi.

“When I came to Villanova, I quickly realized that there were not a lot of men in nursing, and I found it odd that there was no community between the different grades, there is with SNAP and other organizations, but nothing specifically for men in nursing,” he said.

Being able to relate to people while sharing the same future goals is important in a university setting. This same value is seen in clubs like Women in Business, a club for women to gather and collaborate in a male-dominated field where they are the minority. Even though most fields seem to be male-dominated, such as business or engineering, nursing is one of the exceptions, and it is vital for male nurses to find the community that they need to thrive.

Scarperi also notes that other schools have provided a club of this stature for men in nursing, while Villanova has not.

“I got the idea for this club because other schools like Johns Hopkins have it and we were the last top nursing school without one,” he said.

Scarperi and his fellow classmates and executive members of the club have worked hard to fill this void for murse community here at Villanova. As a team, they are working to provide different opportunities socially, through service and philanthropy, and with mentorship. The group has had social events such as a back-to-school BBQ and has had outings to local restaurants such as Pho Street. This year, they are even working with CHOP’s Homeless Health Initiative to instill their caring values as nurses into the community surrounding Villanova. 

“I think our first goal is community and I think a lot of that ties into membership and guidance, that was something that I didn’t get as a freshman which also might have had to do with Covid,” Scarperi said. “We’re also trying to start service opportunities to build community.”

The club has around 40 members, which is almost 100% of all male nurses at Villanova. However, people who are not male nurses are welcome to support and join the club and attend its events. 

“I actually have friends in the club that are just friends with a lot of the murses, and they just like to come to the events,” Scarperi said. “We even have a couple of members who are in CLAS but are trying to transfer into the nursing school.”

This club was formed to help support a smaller group of people on campus and is super inclusive and laid-back. For more information see @novamurses on Instagram.