Bringing in the Boys: How to Attract More Male Nurses

[Melissa Mills]

Men in nursing - it's a simple phrase that can bring many emotions to the surface for nurses of both genders. You might feel that we need more men to level out the amount of estrogen on units across the country. Or, you may believe that the pay inequalities between male and female nurses are already enough of an issue that advocating for more men will only compound the discrepancy.

No matter what side of the aisle you land on, it's an argument worth discussing. According to the United States Census Bureau, the proportion of male registered nurses has increased from 2.7% in 1970 to 9.6% in 2013, and for licensed practical and vocational nurses, it has risen from 3.9% to 8.1% during the same time. And, whether you believe we are in the midst of a nursing shortage or not - there remain many nurse vacancies that could be filled by men.

So, what are some of the ways experts advocate using to increase the number of men in nursing? Let's discuss them below.

Starting Conversations Early

High schools help our young people choose professions. They complete personality tests that identify their strongest traits and passions to help determine a career that aligns with the strengths identified. But, are young men and women supported to break down the gender walls to choose the profession that is right for them? Are young men who score high in compassion and helping others encouraged to consider nursing as a career or are they encouraged to find a health and human services field more suited to men?

To increase the number of men in nursing, we must continue to break down gender roles. One strategy is to begin conversations with men from an early age about entering nursing school right out of high school or in early adulthood. Discussing non-traditional nursing roles with men might also be helpful. A few of the areas of nursing that tend to see a higher male population include intensive care, cardiac care, emergency rooms, and flight nursing. If we can attract men to enter nursing at an early age and sustain a long career, we will see diversity within the profession.

Offer Support in College

The first day of nursing school might be when many men receive the first glimpse into the future of their careers - one of being the minority. Whether you are in the U.S. or across the pond, nursing vacancies continue to be an issue, and many feel that attracting more men to nursing is a viable option to fill these vacancies.

So, how do we support men and offer encouragement to enter nursing school? Coventry University in the UK is offering male nursing students a $3,800 stipend for school to encourage men to choose nursing. The Oregon Center for Nursing launched their "Are You Man Enough to be a Nurse" Campaign in 2002 to inspire men to enter the profession. And, many schools around the globe are using their marketing dollars to run social media campaigns to attract young Millennial and Generation Zee's men to nursing programs.

Provide Mentoring

Every nurse needs a mentor. Finding a quality mentor is one of the best professional relationships you will ever have, regardless of your gender.

The University of Texas Arlington Online offers support for mentoring in nursing and states that one role of a mentor is to support minority and male students. Diversifying mentors and future nurses can lessen future health disparities in our society by providing diverse role models. It might also be a good idea for male nurses to find a fellow male nurse as their mentor. Offering strong male role models to new graduates can provide guidance in regards to all aspects of a successful nursing career.

Set Goals

If you want change in any area of life, you must set goals. Advancing Men in Nursing (AAMN) believed this and initiated a campaign to encourage men to enter the nursing profession. Their goal?

The AAMN wants to increase the number of men enrolling into nursing programs by 20% by 2020 - also known as the "20 X 20" initiative. As part of the program, they have created the Best School for Men in Nursing Awards Program. To be eligible for this award, AAMN will review the school's marketing material, strategic plans to increase gender diversity in nursing, course syllabi, and other information highlighting the program's dedication to expanding the diversity in nursing.

On Target?

Are we on the right track by offering stipends to men who want to become nurses? Should we continue to run campaigns and tell young men the benefits of a career in nursing? Or, should we stop and allow whatever happens to our profession happen? Tell us your thoughts about this important subject, we would love to hear them.

[nehneh14]

Yep.

Admin should use this discussion as a "honey trap."

Any poster who has been here 1+ years and only posts to threads like this is most likely a troll/duplicate account and should be banned.

One of them has been a member over 3 years and their ONLY post is to this discussion about how bad the "womenz" are.

I mean, my god. Imagine having all of the privileges and advantages of being male (let alone being a white male) in this society and still being bent out of shape that women feel they deserve equal pay. It's astonishing, really. Gotta laugh so you don't cry...

[labordude, BSN, RN]

BBM "If you are 100% sure that all else is equal" Oh FFS, are you STILL questioning whether my experience was real???? All things WEREN'T equal, I had a BSN (he did not) and I am a woman. And no, I didn't negotiate, I was a brand new nurse, first nursing job, over 20 years ago. There was no "negotiating" pay, they TOLD you what your pay rate was going to be as a new grad. I was 23 years old, I didn't know any better or that to file a complaint was even a possibility. Apparently things are different now and there's all kinds of negotiating that can be done (?)...even though in all the different capacities I've worked, my pay has been based on my years of experience as a nurse. They literally ask, how many years have you been a nurse, and then you are assigned a pay rate accordingly. They don't ask what you expect to make. They ask what you were making, and how many years you've been a nurse. Period. This is completely different from how hiring works in corporate America; my husband has been involved in many a salary negotiation. But I personally don't know anyone who has ever negotiated a salary for a hand's on clinic/hospital role. Or for the job I have now, which doesn't involve hands on care. Nursing is largely a service industry, and we as nurses hold almost zero cards when it comes to pay unless you have the good fortune to be in a union. And in my state the unions have been decimated, so unions are no longer an avenue to ensuring equal pay.

I was unaware that I ever questioned whether your experience was real, I was asking what your reaction to the situation was given your statements. I did not see that it was over 20 years ago and I can't comment on things that happened that long ago, nor can many of the posters on this board. I can only imagine that things were run differently than they are now, which doesn't make it right, but at least adds some context to the situation and also explains why some people may question your experience more than others. I can't say for certain whether or not this still occurs today, but it's very hard to compare something that occurred in a different social time period to what would occur now.

Also, what does BBM mean?

[klone, MSN, RN]

Also, what does BBM mean?

I'm not sure exactly what the acronym is, but it means that she added the bold to your comment. (something Bold Mine)

[labordude, BSN, RN]

I'm not sure exactly what the acronym is, but it means that she added the bold to your comment. (something Bold Mine)

Thanks! I'm typically a very respectful poster, I wasn't trying to anger anyone or diminish someone's experiences.

[klone, MSN, RN]

Thanks! I'm typically a very respectful poster, I wasn't trying to anger anyone or diminish someone's experiences.

That has been my experience with my interactions with you as well. :)

[tnbutterfly - Mary, BSN]

Im curious.

Has the topic simply brought out NUMEROUS male posters who have traditionally not said much on AN? Or are people using sockpuppets (fake duplicate accounts) to post their less popular opinions about women and nursing as a whole?

Because it seems most of those claiming the wage gap is false, or that women are sexist toward men in nursing school/employment, are all male posters who have been members here for years but with very few if any posts.

Very strange......

My bet is they are trolls/duplicate accounts.

ADMIN REQUEST

If you have problems with a member's post or think they have a duplicate account, please use the report button and staff will investigate. This is better than derailing the discussion thread. Thanks

[TriciaJ, RN]

I can't answer for the OP, however, I recently read a long twitter comment by a black resident at a teaching hospital who was part of morning rounds when a black pt. was informed that he was being diagnosed with MS. The resident said after leaving the room, the rest of his group expressed their belief that the pt. didn't seem to particularly care about his diagnosis, party evidenced by the fact that he had no questions and did not seem particularly alarmed. After his shift the resident went to the pt's room, code switched, and proceeded to have a completely thorough exchange with the pt. about the diagnosis, answer his questions and leave him with an understanding and some reassurance regarding his very serious medical condition. ("Ohhhhh, so what you're saying is that this is a brain thing?") Now, this pt. wasn't stupid, nor was he a non-English speaker. But he and the medical team responsible for his care weren't able to effectively communicate. All this is to say that representation/diversity does matter, and it is very important to have cultural and ethnic diversity in health care in a country that has so much cultural and ethnic diversity. It's just common sense.

But can you boil this down to ethnicity? The patient was approached by a group of people and told he had a certain upsetting diagnosis. The group concluded the gentleman didn't show much of a reaction. Nearer the end of the day, one resident approached the patient and had a one to one discussion at which time the patient appeared more engaged.

I wouldn't be so quick to make this about race. I think it's entirely plausible that it was overwhelming to have this information delivered by a group. After a few hours to process the patient was much more receptive to a conversation with one other person.

[nehneh14]

But can you boil this down to ethnicity? The patient was approached by a group of people and told he had a certain upsetting diagnosis. The group concluded the gentleman didn't show much of a reaction. Nearer the end of the day, one resident approached the patient and had a one to one discussion at which time the patient appeared more engaged.

I wouldn't be so quick to make this about race. I think it's entirely plausible that it was overwhelming to have this information delivered by a group. After a few hours to process the patient was much more receptive to a conversation with one other person.

No, the entire twitter thread was about why cultural competency was so vital in a health care arena. The responding resident agreed that this was about race. There was code switching that needed to happen and no one else in the group was recognizing why the pt. was responding to them in the manner in which he was responding except for the other black person in the room. The entire thread was health care professionals chiming in about why representation is so important. It isn't exclusively about race either, as sometimes ethnicities and culture are huge factors, but if we look at everything through a white, Western European lens a lot gets missed. It's a challenge but it can be mitigated by removing some of the historical barriers that are in place which cause minorities to be precluded from certain educational and career opportunities.

[tacomaster]

To get back to the OP--I would love to have a mentor at work. That is a great idea and I think that would help tremendously. Should men get special favors? No. I would like to say in an ideal world, it would be nice if us guys were included. In college, practically all the nursing scholarships listed "must be a woman" on them. I would meet 90% of the qualifications and be dismissed by that. Now as a nurse they have all these "women only" nurse organizations. No other industry does that! Yes, we have a men's organization but I don't want to hang out with just guys. Why can't we be nurses? Why use these gender adjectives? Again, no other industry does this.

[Tomascz, ASN, RN]

And herein lies the crux of the issue:

It wasn't until my freshman year in biology 101 class when I talked to some nursing students that I realized how much science/math their education consisted of. I also realized that there were roles in nursing like flight nursing, ICU, ED, travel nursing, etc that sounded really exciting and autonomous. I realized how vital their role was and definitely wasn't an assistant to somebody else but their own integral role of the team. I also realized the salary was well above average and with the right planning, overtime, certifications an RN could make a six-figure income. From there I was educated on advanced practice roles where a BSN RN could go on to get a masters or doctorate and be a full practice independent healthcare provider. If you were more interested in business some nurses went on to get MBAs and run healthcare companies. Some nurses got their Ph.D. and worked in research. Essentially, it became obvious that the word nurse was a synonym for healthcare and essentially means you can be anything you really want in this field.

What is a "Nurse" anyway? How much education should you really have? What would be ideal in terms of the needs of the industry, which is essentially the timely and accurate delivery of direct patient care to restore health as much as possible, and to which all other functions are ancillary.

Are some people more suited to be "nurses" (whatever that turns out to mean) by virtue of their gender (which it turns out is not necessarily binary)?

I'm not saying we shouldn't have this discussion but in order to get meaningful useful data you need to formulate your questions with care.

[broughden]

Now as a nurse they have all these "women only" nurse organizations. No other industry does that!.

Neither does nursing. I don't know of a single professional nurses association that is for women only.

NSNA, ENA, CCNA, ANA, on and on and on are open to nurses of either gender.

[Flatline, BSN, RN]

Neither does nursing. I don't know of a single professional nurses association that is for women only.

NSNA, ENA, CCNA, ANA, on and on and on are open to nurses of either gender.

I do not know of any at a national level but I do know there are many state level women's focused nursing organizations. I know of at least one Filipino women's nursing organization, now that is getting specific!