[davebd]

Hi,

I am interested in nursing as a second career (I'm in my late forties, tired of software development). I'd be interested in hearing information and opinions about which nursing programs are most male-friendly.

[BumblebeeRN]

Originally Posted by davebd

Hi,

I am interested in nursing as a second career (I'm in my late forties, tired of software development). I'd be interested in hearing information and opinions about which nursing programs are most male-friendly.

nursing is nursing there is no "male" friendly programs. They are all the same! we had 3 men in our class, 2 were married with kids, and 1 was gay. the rest of us were women.

[nursemike]

I'm not aware of any programs that are particularly male-friendly (or unfriendly), either, but I did attend an associates degree program at a community college that had quite a few "non-traditional" students, including guys. I enjoyed the mix of youngsters and middle-aged career changers. Some of the support courses were a bit more flexible in their scheduling than might be true at a four-year school. Be aware, though, that the nursing program itself did not make a lot of provision for students with lives outside of school. We were expected, and pretty much had to, make nursing school our top priority and work everything else around that. Since I only attended that one program, it's hard to know how others compare, but I imagine it's fairly typical. Clinical schedules, a limited number of instructors, and covering a lot of material don't leave a lot of room to accomodate individual students.

That said, some of my instructors were pretty enthusiastic about the idea of recruiting more men into nursing, and all were helpful and encouraging.

[psalm51]

not aware of any programs that are specifically "male friendly".

choice of 2 or 4 year program depends upon your resources, financial and otherwise. also, what type / how many programs are in your vicinity. are you willing to re-locate?

2 years actually usually takes 3. look at various course requirements and i hope you have a GREAT support system.

and just know that no matter which program you choose, a common theme among most students is that YOU HAVE NO LIFE as a nursing student. all your relationships, hobbies, recreation, and issues are temporarily placed on the "back burner" for a LIFETIME of REWARDING WORK - despite all the crap you hear about in nursing.

also, at least in a 4 year program, you usually get summers off.

[czyja]

The one that accepts you.

I looked around for a mighty long time - nationwide, all the big names, small ones too, and some no names. Frankly I did not find a single a program where I said "geez, looks like they are not to keen on men here." Just about every program seemed to want to men to apply as evidenced by the use of gender neutral or gender inclusive language in application materials, photographs of male students on webpages etc.

That said, I did look for institutions with male faculty. If you wanna know how a university/college/school truly feels about a group look at the composition of the faculty.

Good luck in your search!

[SoxfanRN]

Originally Posted by czyja

That said, I did look for institutions with male faculty. If you wanna know how a university/college/school truly feels about a group look at the composition of the faculty.

Good luck in your search!

That is not necessarily true. Men make up a very small portion of the nursing workforce. That alone severely limits the probability of finding a male professor. Add in the fact that PhD prepared nursing professors make an average annual salary of $65,000, you will have even more difficulty finding a male professor, especially if he is the breadwinner of the family.

[elkpark]

Originally Posted by czyja

That said, I did look for institutions with male faculty. If you wanna know how a university/college/school truly feels about a group look at the composition of the faculty.

I also disagree. I've taught in one small ADN program that was very "male-friendly" and had no male faculty, and one large BSN program that was also very "male-friendly" and had only three male faculty (one long-term, tenured professor and two newer instructors) out of a very large over-all group. It wasn't because either school was reluctant to hire male faculty; it was because males didn't apply when faculty openings were posted. You can't manufacture the job applicants you'd like to have! As Soxfan noted, males are still only a tiny percentage of the overall nursing population (what is it these days, 5%?), there are not enough nursing faculty/instructors overall out there to meet the demand, and nursing faculty jobs are notoriously low-paying (comparatively) ... Put it all together and it spells not many male nursing faculty , regardless of how good the school's intentions may be ...

The same is true of other minority groups (and their representation in nursing faculty positions ...)

[czyja]

Originally Posted by elkpark

it was because males didn't apply when faculty openings were posted. ...

The same is true of other minority groups (and their representation in nursing faculty positions ...)

Sorry, but I gotta jump on my high horse for minute here...I do not suggest that only schools with large percentage of male faculty will be male friendly. I am sure there are schools with no men on the faculty that welcome male students.

I do, however, strongly argue that a commitment on the part of a program to recruit, mentor, and tenure male faculty speaks volumes about their commitment to men in nursing. The same is true for a university's commitment to non-white faculty. This process is not easy for the reasons outlined by previous poster - low percentage of men (and non-whites) in nursing, and low faculty salaries. Thus, when one sees men and non-whites on the faculty one knows the program is committed to diversity.

The argument that "none applied" no longer works. For years no women applied for Chemistry professorships - so universities encouraged women to go for PhD's, mentored them, and hired them. Women certainly do not make up even a substantial minority in the field (Chemistry), but they are represented because universities wanted them there.

So, if no men every apply for nursing faculty jobs then they ought to broaden their search a little, pay a little more, whatever. Who knows, they might even recruit better women in the process!