titles have changed because men as well as women can be nurses. it was, in most countries, a wholly female occupation. the titles were designed for females and have now been revised to be genderless. the exception to this is midwife, a term still used because it seems natural that a nurse helping a mother through childbirth should be a female. there are some males acting as midwives. the supervisory body for uk nursing is the nursing and midwifery council.