Should male nurses get preferential treatment?

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I'm in the middle of switching careers into nursing and have a question about male nurses getting preferential treatment in job placement. In many professional fields with a wide gender ratio there are programs whether official or unofficial to try to hire more of the "minority" group. Does that exist at all in the nursing field? Imagine if the ratio of female to male doctors is 1:10. There would be program after program and incentives to attract more women doctors, as it should be. Anything like it in the nursing profession for men?

Sam

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Some schools will give men extra points on their admission scores when applying. There are some scholarships for men too. I think qualified male applicants are welcome at any school.

I don't think you can compare the situation of men in nursing to women in male dominated fields at all.

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I don't think you can compare the situation of men in nursing to women in male dominated fields at all.

Hi fergus. I'm interested in why you think that. I'm not suggesting that a male nurse or nursing student get preferential treatment over a more qualified female nurse or applicant but in many of the fields with historically low female participation, such as law and medicine, the only way that we reversed the trend was to create incentives for women to seek out those fields. We all talk about the stigma of male nurses, IMHO the only way to change society's attitude towards male nurses is having more of them. And one of the ways we can do that is create incentives for more men to apply to nursing programs and have opportunities for advancement for them in the work force.

Sam

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Hi fergus. I'm interested in why you think that. I'm not suggesting that a male nurse or nursing student get preferential treatment over a more qualified female nurse or applicant but in many of the fields with historically low female participation, such as law and medicine, the only way that we reversed the trend was to create incentives for women to seek out those fields. We all talk about the stigma of male nurses, IMHO the only way to change society's attitude towards male nurses is having more of them. And one of the ways we can do that is create incentives for more men to apply to nursing programs and have opportunities for advancement for them in the work force.

Sam

Hi Sam, I don't want to hijack your thread.... but, women in male dominated professions is a different issue than men in nursing because women in society face different issues than men. Men in nursing are a minority in number for sure, but that doesn't equate to being oppressed necessarily.Women are not a minority in society anywhere in the world. We're more than half of the population in most places. It was societal attitudes that women were inferior that created a need to provide incentives for them to get into male dominated professions (which are traditionally better paid, and more respected than "female" professions btw). That isn't the case with men. I can't think of a society that says men are inferior to women. Can you?

While there will be some issues that you will face in nursing that women won't, it is different. Most men are welcome in nursing and the current job trends will assure that more men go into it, just like what happened with teaching. As long as they are offered the same opportunities to get into nursing, it doesn't really matter how many of them do. Having nursing be 50% men shouldn't be the goal. The goal should be to make nursing welcoming to ALL qualified candidates.

Edited to add: I know there are studies showing that men leave the profession faster than women, but there are also studies showing that they advance faster than their female colleagues as well. Some advanced practice specialties have a much larger percentage of men. I have never even met a female CRNA.

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Specializes in L & D; Postpartum.

Go to Colorado. My sister is a CRNA and she works with a number of other females also.

As far as men getting preferential treatment, I don't think anybody should. People should get into school, get a job, be promoted because they earn it, not because they are young, old, white, black, single, married, or whatever else you can name.

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Go to Colorado. My sister is a CRNA and she works with a number of other females also.

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:chuckle I know they are out there, I just haven't personally worked with any.

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Specializes in midwifery, ophthalmics, general practice.

I dont think men should get preferential treatment. I dont think nursing is sex orientated.......its more 'can you do the job......do you want to do the job?' I actually dont think any job should actively be trying to attract people.. its more are you fit to do the job. I would love to have been part of the British Antartic survey but guess what.. no ladies allowed! not allowed to work on submarines either.. (would I want to?? maybe women are allowed now) Men if anything advance faster in nurses than women- maybe because they dont take the career breaks to have children.. I would imagine for lots of reasons. A very good friend of mine is now running a 10 bedded hospital in the Australian outback. I would rather have good nurses who are in the job because they want to be... than nurses who have been attracted to the job to fulfil a quota.

I would rather discuss how we increase the status and pay of nurses.. as it is still seen as a relatively low paid, task orientated job. pay and status affect all of us!

karen

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:chuckle I know they are out there, I just haven't personally worked with any.

We used to have one here too . . .she moved to Ashland. :)

steph

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I dont think men should get preferential treatment. I dont think nursing is sex orientated.......its more 'can you do the job......do you want to do the job?' I actually dont think any job should actively be trying to attract people.. its more are you fit to do the job. I would love to have been part of the British Antartic survey but guess what.. no ladies allowed! not allowed to work on submarines either.. (would I want to?? maybe women are allowed now) Men if anything advance faster in nurses than women- maybe because they dont take the career breaks to have children.. I would imagine for lots of reasons. A very good friend of mine is now running a 10 bedded hospital in the Australian outback. I would rather have good nurses who are in the job because they want to be... than nurses who have been attracted to the job to fulfil a quota.

I would rather discuss how we increase the status and pay of nurses.. as it is still seen as a relatively low paid, task orientated job. pay and status affect all of us!

karen

Karen - I agree with you about having nurses (or any job category) there because of quotas.

And no, men should not get preferential treatment . . including extra points on their admission scores just for being a guy. In fact I'd be pretty highly insulted if someone gave me extra points just for my gender or skin color.

I want to earn it myself.

And I can't imagine many guys wanting "extra" points just for being guys.

steph

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I personally have seen three males nurses be given positions over more qualified female nurses who had more seniority. Two of these fell under the same female manager who is notorious for letting her males nurses get away with murder and riding the female nurses (_Y_)s about every little piddly thing. Of the three, one left within 3 months, stating he didn't have the background, felt too overwhelmed etc., one left before he was invited to, and the third is still at his position. I don't fault the men per se, but it didn't take them long to figure out that the "boys can do no wrong" at least with this manager. Now, also in defense of the men. Most of those I have worked with show up on time, don't ***** and moan about EVERYTHING and will help you no matter who you are or what you want. And as many have eluded to already, there are no generalizations which are always correct. So gentlemen, dive in.

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Well, it sounds like I'm in the minority here, no pun intended. I think having a larger male representation in nursing would be a great thing not only for the profession but for the public. I'm not in favor of a quota system but would look to programs to encourage more women to go into science fields, including addressing the issue with girls at a young age that science is a field they can not only get into but something they can excel at. I think most men and boys don't consider nursing because for one they don't see it as a viable option - but in fact it's a great profession that has opportunities for upward advancement and branches of specialties to satisfy a greater intellectual curiosity. Well, I'm going into nursing, and there seems to be plenty of men in this forum so that's a good start. Anyways, it's great to be here.

Sam

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I got into nursing school this fall. I am pretty sure my school didn't give any extra points to guys that applied. All I know is if I applied and there was someone more qualified and I got their spot just because I am a guy I would feel pretty guilty. I don't think a couple of schools if any will give you extra points for applications if your a guy.

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