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.

[Mr_Edwino]

Well true, you haven't met me, but I'm one of those "female RN"s that made less money than a male counterpart for the same work and specialty. To the tune of $3.00 per hr.

Oh really? Same education level? Exact same level of experience? Exact same amount of time in that hospital? Same certifications? You negotiated your wage? Not enough information in your post if you want your story to be believable. If you want to believe that there is a wage gap and the powers that be control this, then you are limiting yourself and your potential. That is probably the reason why you are not earning the wage you think you deserve. What about the 91% of female employees in nursing that are paying the wages to these men (Since there are only 9% of male employees?) Is it a massive conspiracy of the 9% of male nurses that is controlling the wages in the entire nursing workforce? That kind of debunks your theory right there.

[brewjar]

1) Your statement that women don't make as much as men.... Our anesthesiologist makes more money than all the male RNs on our floor! She just happens to be a female. Also, Why did you bring up that their is nothing easy about staying at home with a newborn?

2) I love capitalism (not croney capitalism, which is a weak form of socialism). Again, men make more than women? There is not a single female RN on my floor that I make more than. The old tired "patriarchal society" when my bosses all the way through our department of Nursing is DOMINATED by females (great people and leaders at that). It's not men that don't support women in positions of authority/responsibility, Queen Bee Syndrome.

And in this patriarchal society, you're telling me I HAVE to know this. Sounds a bit patriarchal.

3)No they are not, please stop.

I'm going to reference a meme, and I am aware memes are not facts, but here I go anyways...

Image a picture of section 8 housing with the caption, "Government assistance for women who cannot afford their children." Then a picture right below is a prison with the caption,"Government assistance for men who cannot afford their children."

Its over-simplistic I know, but it brings up two points: 1) Women usually win custody, 2) Men who cannot pay child support (or refuse to) may go to prison. As my ex-wife said, after she got the house and kids, money isn't everything. I'm glad she's a great mom.

Male Dominated society: There was no need to TELL me not to get defensive. Every time someone brings up the pay gap, it does devalue what men bring to society. Why shouldn't I get paid more if I am able to bring more experience, less time away from work, willing to do the dirty/difficult jobs, take a higher risk on my life, and willing to negotiate salary? If a female was to perform that way, and a male not, should they get paid the same?

Our economy is too complex for studies conducted by organizations that rely on funding to find wage gaps, discrimination (real or unreal), or even disinterested parties. There are too many people, companies, organizations, and a plethora of other factors that influence pay.

There's not enough time in the day...

[TessLJ]

For the most part men lack compassion??!!!

I experienced a medical emergency this past April, and the best, kindest, most compassionate and understanding nurse that took care of me during my hospitalization was a....man.

[TessLJ]

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.

OK, as for this example, I'm just going to say that these were residents, not nurses, and I think residents can sometimes get oblivious in their pursuit of clinical information. I once had to intervene on a patient's behalf when a room full of residents surrounded a patient and were asking her very personal questions about a previous rape experience. She was white, and they were caucasian, Asian, and African American, but very clinically dispassionate and the questions they were asking were intrusive and I thought inappropriate. I had to intervene and put a stop to the interview.

I'm not disagreeing that it's good to have cultural diversity, but I think that we as nurses are more trained than other health professionals in cultural cognizance that we should be able to understand and care for the needs of anyone.

[RomaniGypsy]

As a man, I really don't think that anything in particular should be done to increase the number of men in nursing unless there is a better reason than "diversity" or "gender balance" for wanting to encourage more men to go into nursing. (A good reason would be something that answers the question of "What could men do easily, as nurses, that women would generally struggle to do if they could do it at all?"... I don't see many possible answers. The only one that comes to mind is "men can generally lift much heavier objects, and people, than women can". They say that nursing requires the use of physical strength from time to time, moving patients and such, and though I have known my fair share of uncommonly strong women, it is still generally true that men are physically stronger than women.)

Even if there are good reasons to encourage more men to go into nursing (which I didn't find in this article), I think that the best way to incentivize men is to give them guaranteed spots in nursing school, provided that their credentials meet the school's requirements for admission. The problem, of course, would be that some qualified women wouldn't get in. But if those spots were not held for men, then some qualified men wouldn't get in... and it'd even out.

[lisaellengrace]

I'd way rather work with male nurses. I've loved it every time.

[lisaellengrace]

I've found that men are less gossipy, more focused on the job vs. a full staff of women. They kind of calm things down and bring a nice balance to the shift.

[nehneh14]

Oh really? Same education level? Exact same level of experience? Exact same amount of time in that hospital? Same certifications? You negotiated your wage? Not enough information in your post if you want your story to be believable. If you want to believe that there is a wage gap and the powers that be control this, then you are limiting yourself and your potential. That is probably the reason why you are not earning the wage you think you deserve. What about the 91% of female employees in nursing that are paying the wages to these men (Since there are only 9% of male employees?) Is it a massive conspiracy of the 9% of male nurses that is controlling the wages in the entire nursing workforce? That kind of debunks your theory right there.

Um...yes. We were both new grads, new hires, on a med surg unit in eastern Washington state. Both night shift. There was no wage negotiation. There was no union. I was the only BSN on the floor (which went over like a lead balloon, and also I was not local to the area) The male did not have his BSN. I had moved there from out of state from a city where non BSN prepared new grad RNs were an anomaly. Our DON was a diploma nurse. She had to verify that my Big 10 university nursing school education "met WA state curriculum requirements", believe it or not. My husband's boss almost had a stroke when he heard that (he purposely recruited my husband from our university) $3.00 more per hour for him. Can't remember his name but I can picture him in my mind perfectly, down to the little white flecks of saliva that would accumulate in the corners of his mouth. I know that nothing I say will convince you that my experience is real. You have an investment in perpetuating the status quo. Do you deny reality for the women in your life? If you do, might want to spend some time reflecting on why that might be.

[nehneh14]

1) Your statement that women don't make as much as men.... Our anesthesiologist makes more money than all the male RNs on our floor! She just happens to be a female. Also, Why did you bring up that their is nothing easy about staying at home with a newborn?

2) I love capitalism (not croney capitalism, which is a weak form of socialism). Again, men make more than women? There is not a single female RN on my floor that I make more than. The old tired "patriarchal society" when my bosses all the way through our department of Nursing is DOMINATED by females (great people and leaders at that). It's not men that don't support women in positions of authority/responsibility, Queen Bee Syndrome.

And in this patriarchal society, you're telling me I HAVE to know this. Sounds a bit patriarchal.

3)No they are not, please stop.

I'm going to reference a meme, and I am aware memes are not facts, but here I go anyways...

Image a picture of section 8 housing with the caption, "Government assistance for women who cannot afford their children." Then a picture right below is a prison with the caption,"Government assistance for men who cannot afford their children."

Its over-simplistic I know, but it brings up two points: 1) Women usually win custody, 2) Men who cannot pay child support (or refuse to) may go to prison. As my ex-wife said, after she got the house and kids, money isn't everything. I'm glad she's a great mom.

Male Dominated society: There was no need to TELL me not to get defensive. Every time someone brings up the pay gap, it does devalue what men bring to society. Why shouldn't I get paid more if I am able to bring more experience, less time away from work, willing to do the dirty/difficult jobs, take a higher risk on my life, and willing to negotiate salary? If a female was to perform that way, and a male not, should they get paid the same?

Our economy is too complex for studies conducted by organizations that rely on funding to find wage gaps, discrimination (real or unreal), or even disinterested parties. There are too many people, companies, organizations, and a plethora of other factors that influence pay.

There's not enough time in the day...

You're right. There's not enough time in the day. I'm not going to debate a MRA. You're right. Men are better, men deserve more, men are bigger, stronger, smarter, braver, more hard working, more selfless, maligned, persecuted, victimized, have no bodily autonomy...am I forgetting anything? The gender based wage gap that has been proven ad nauseam...doesn't exist, and even if it did, it's the fault of women. Did I get it all?

[nehneh14]

OK, as for this example, I'm just going to say that these were residents, not nurses, and I think residents can sometimes get oblivious in their pursuit of clinical information. I once had to intervene on a patient's behalf when a room full of residents surrounded a patient and were asking her very personal questions about a previous rape experience. She was white, and they were caucasian, Asian, and African American, but very clinically dispassionate and the questions they were asking were intrusive and I thought inappropriate. I had to intervene and put a stop to the interview.

I'm not disagreeing that it's good to have cultural diversity, but I think that we as nurses are more trained than other health professionals in cultural cognizance that we should be able to understand and care for the needs of anyone.[/QUOTE]

BBM I don't think that's a safe bet at all. For example, we have responders on this thread who are presumably nurses, that are denying the very real existence of the wage gap in nursing and other industries/careers and are further telling a poster (me) that my experience of being paid less than a man who did not have the same level of education as I did, did not happen. I think that everyone in health care is at risk of a myopic view unless a very concerted effort is made to practice cultural competency. As hard as some on this thread are working to deny the existence of inequality in the workforce, it's very easy for me to extrapolate that kind of worldview being employed while dealing with vulnerable patients caught up in the healthcare machine.

[Mr_Edwino]

Um...yes. We were both new grads, new hires, on a med surg unit in eastern Washington state. Both night shift. There was no wage negotiation. There was no union. I was the only BSN on the floor (which went over like a lead balloon, and also I was not local to the area) The male did not have his BSN. I had moved there from out of state from a city where non BSN prepared new grad RNs were an anomaly. Our DON was a diploma nurse. She had to verify that my Big 10 university nursing school education "met WA state curriculum requirements", believe it or not. My husband's boss almost had a stroke when he heard that (he purposely recruited my husband from our university) $3.00 more per hour for him. Can't remember his name but I can picture him in my mind perfectly, down to the little white flecks of saliva that would accumulate in the corners of his mouth. I know that nothing I say will convince you that my experience is real. You have an investment in perpetuating the status quo. Do you deny reality for the women in your life? If you do, might want to spend some time reflecting on why that might be.

No, I asked my wife about the gender pay gap and she laughed and said "that doesn't exist." She's also an experienced med-surg nurse, and she says she's never even heard of people making different wages on the same floor and stated "that's not even possible." So there's your reality right there.

[alfa-sierra, BSN, RN]

DISCLAIMER- Just for the record: that is not my belief or conviction that men in nursing lack compassion. Quite the contrary. I was paraphrasing another debater.