Recruitment and Retention of men in nursing

Holy Guiacamole, BSN · Oct 3, 2008

Hello everyone, we are doing a piece with professional practice, and trying to get a grander understanding of how to recruit and retain male nurses.
If anyone would be kind enough to answer some of the these questions and even put in their own input if at all possible. Any input would be appreciated, thanks.
- What nursing specialty have you chosen and why?
- Whats makes a Nursing floor more appealing to you than another nursing floor? - What deters you from certain nursing floors?
- What Biases have you encountered as a male nurse (ex, not allowed to visit a female patients home in home health due to your gender, or patient receiving pre-warnings that your a male.) etc...
Thank you once again for your help...

1) You could start by hiring a bunch and see how many leave on their own accord. I know a bunch of unemployed male nurses if you're hiring.

2) Apply the same standards of accountability to your female counterparts in regards to "Gender Bias" or just plain old "Discrimination".

3) Zero tolerance for violations of #2 above

sounds like a good start to me. :yeah:

nursemike, ASN, RN · Oct 7, 2008

I do bedside med-surg nursing on a neurology/neurosurgery unit. It's where I worked before and during nursing school, so the staff and the patient population are familiar to me. I like it because it's physically and mentally challenging. I dislike it because it's physically and mentally challenging. A lot of our patients have impaired mobility, so it's handy having some muscles, and I get to use some of the skills I learned when I was a transporter, getting people out of bed and so forth. I also seem to do pretty well calming confused, agitated, or combative patients.

I was never particularly drawn to OB or Peds, but we do get a few kids in our epilepsy monitoring unit, and I enjoy caring for them. We get a pretty broad spectrum in neurosurgery--young adults to geriatric. Most of our non-epileptic neuro patients tend to be strokes, my age and older. We also get a fair amount of off-service patients, so there's a pretty good variety. I've even had one OB patient, and a couple of others who were neuro/neurosurg and pregnant.

I am not really interested in ED. I like having time to get to know my patients. The only units that really repel me are the ICU's. It isn't fair to generalize, and I know some really great ICU nurses, but at our facility I've encoutered a higher-than-average ratio of prima donnas among the ICU staff, and they can be pretty toxic to co-workers and patients alike.

I haven't encountered much at all in the way of gender biases. I've heard that I don't have to worry about ever getting floated to L&D, but it's very rare for our female nurses to go there, either. (I have worked that unit in my previous, unlicensed job.) Very rarely get refused by a female patient, generally feel well accepted by female staff.

I think the best approach to recruiting men into nursing is probably just educating them as to what nurses do. Compassion and gentleness are certainly important, but I haven't found it a particularly "girlie" field. The women I work with are strong--intellectually, emotionally, and physically. So are the men.

Of course, knowing what nurses really do might deter as many men as it attracts, but at least the ones who know what they are getting into might be more apt to stay.

rolland542 · Jan 13, 2009

- What nursing specialty have you chosen and why?

I generally work in the ER - I enjoy the fast paced and challenging variety of symptoms that are posed each day. I have also enjoyed working in step-down and ICU units for the same reasons.

- Whats makes a Nursing floor more appealing to you than another nursing floor? - What deters you from certain nursing floors?

I started my career in Psycho-Sexual (Prison) Setting - If I had my choice, I would never return there.

- What Biases have you encountered as a male nurse (ex, not allowed to visit a female patients home in home health due to your gender, or patient receiving pre-warnings that your a male.) etc...

I have had false complaints placed against me which were found unsubstantiated by Hospital Administration but I was still disciplined for them.

I am currently fighting for my license because of a psych patient's false allegations which are proven false by an eye-witness co-worker but still upheld and reported by the dept manager to licensing board.....(spiteful because I filed an EEOC complaint x2 against her)

Now here's some advice for retention of ALL Nurses not just males.

Complaints of any nature must be in writing with the full knowledge that your name and the specific details of the complaint will be given to the party against whom you are complaining.

The 1-800 ethics and patient complaint hotlines should be disbanded and disposed of. They are a forum for anomynous complaints that are often found unsubstantiated.

Treat us with the respect that we have earned and command the same level of work from all members of your staff. All too often, I have seen the stronger nurses get dumped on in our ER while others sit at the nurses desk and read magazines or chat about their love lives.......equality. :yeah:

lpn2icu · Jan 15, 2009

- What nursing specialty have you chosen and why?
I generally work in the ER - I enjoy the fast paced and challenging variety of symptoms that are posed each day. I have also enjoyed working in step-down and ICU units for the same reasons.
- Whats makes a Nursing floor more appealing to you than another nursing floor? - What deters you from certain nursing floors?
I started my career in Psycho-Sexual (Prison) Setting - If I had my choice, I would never return there.
- What Biases have you encountered as a male nurse (ex, not allowed to visit a female patients home in home health due to your gender, or patient receiving pre-warnings that your a male.) etc...
I have had false complaints placed against me which were found unsubstantiated by Hospital Administration but I was still disciplined for them.
I am currently fighting for my license because of a psych patient's false allegations which are proven false by an eye-witness co-worker but still upheld and reported by the dept manager to licensing board.....(spiteful because I filed an EEOC complaint x2 against her)
Now here's some advice for retention of ALL Nurses not just males.
Complaints of any nature must be in writing with the full knowledge that your name and the specific details of the complaint will be given to the party against whom you are complaining.
The 1-800 ethics and patient complaint hotlines should be disbanded and disposed of. They are a forum for anomynous complaints that are often found unsubstantiated.
Treat us with the respect that we have earned and command the same level of work from all members of your staff. All too often, I have seen the stronger nurses get dumped on in our ER while others sit at the nurses desk and read magazines or chat about their love lives.......equality.

Rolland542

"...filed an EEOC complaint x2 against her.."

This is the reason why you got into the trouble you have right now!

Because the complaint will turn out to be against the whole facility....

Your lawyer representing you will not go after the manager, but the facility that hired her.

You might want to "punish" manager only, but your lawyer has another things in his/her mind!

I hope you will will be OK!

I had problem with some female nurses before, but I always resign right away inasmuch as they will be ganging up against me if I did not resign. With so many jobs out there at that time, resigning from a "trouble" place is wise. There is no need to fight! Sometimes, the nurses in the units are all interrelated....Such as the nurse manager in 3-south is my mother-in-law and the PCA/PCT in 2-B is my aunt!

I really..really hope you will be OK!

Don't give up!

You will be winner at the end!!!

Roy Fokker, BSN, RN · Jan 15, 2009

- What nursing specialty have you chosen and why?

I currently work in a very high volume Emergency Department. I find the cases intriguing, no two cases are ever the same. Nothing is "routine". I like the quick turnover of patients. Everything is "stat". I love codes - I am a trauma and adrenaline junkie - the bloodier, the merrier. I like seeing instant results to interventions.

- Whats makes a Nursing floor more appealing to you than another nursing floor? - What deters you from certain nursing floors?

I really enjoy the more cordial atmosphere in the ED between nurses, doctors and assistants (unlike the floors) - we depend on each other a lot more. I love the autonomy and the relationships we as nurses enjoy with our doctors in the ED. They depend on us as much as we on them (and the same goes for the techs and the nurses).

- What Biases have you encountered as a male nurse (ex, not allowed to visit a female patients home in home health due to your gender, or patient receiving pre-warnings that your a male.) etc...

*Transfering pts. to and from stretchers (since I'm male, I'm assumed to posses superhuman strength).

* Assigned the violent/combative drunks/psychotic pts. (though honestly, I DO get a kick outta such cases).

* Need a chaperone anytime I'm assessing 'sensitive parts' on female pts. or performing invasive procedures on females.

* Am not even allowed to go near a SANE patient - never mind that the doctor is male, the police officer escorting the pt. at the moment is male... but hey, a male nurse??!! (Don't get me wrong, I do understand the sentiment behind it. Still, a bias is a bias).

* Some females just won't accept male nurses - even if the Doc is male. They don't give their reasons and I don't ask for any.

cheers,