ROLE OF MEN IN NURSING

The Role of Men in Nursing

The Role of Men in Nursing

Male Nurses

According to the latest statistics, male nurses represent just a small fraction of the nursing workforce in the United States (http://www.highbeam.com/). The popular notion that nursing is not for men and admission capacity constraints of Nursing Schools seem to be major obstacles towards bringing more men to the profession. Although male nurses often face the challenges of gender discrimination, especially in specialties like obstetrics and gynecology, where, women often prefer to have female nurses, male nurses often end up in leadership roles and in specialties like intensive care, emergency and operating room nursing (http://www.jscms.com/).

Attitudes, gender role perceptions, intimate care issues, nurse shortage, retention and motivation influence the professional presence of men in nursing to a great extent.

Attitudes

A recent study to examine the relationship between six demographic variables

of 174 respondents and acceptance of males in the nursing profession by multiple regression analysis has indicated that only two of the variables, namely, respondents' educational level and sex, significantly predict the attitudes toward male nurses (Laroche and Livneh, 1983).

Gender Role Perceptions

Although studies indicate an overall positive acceptance of men in nursing, they do indicate a need for professional adaptations in core issues like care for men to remain and flourish in the profession. Studies have also shown that men entering a predominantly female profession are perceived more deviant than women (Hesselbart, 1977). A quantitative non-experimental descriptive study to elucidate quantitatively the gender role perceptions of male nurses using the Short-form Bem Sex Role Inventory has shown that adherence to the female gender role is an important prerequisite to caring and adoption of facets of the female gender role may not be unique to male nurses (Loughery, 2008). Studies have also shown that men experience the process of nursing differently than women (Anthony, 2006). A recent study into gender issues in nursing has found male nurses being stereotyped both outside and within the profession as homosexuals, low achievers and feminine-like (Armstrong and Fiona, 2002).

A social constructionist study to examine the construction of the stereotype of male nurses as gay and to describe the impact on male nurses has shown that despite the fact that male nurses are professionals who care the same way as female nurses, stereotyping them as homosexuals does exist exposing male nurses to homophobia in the workplace. Sex role stereotype in nursing has been shown to elicit role strains in male nurses using a Role Strain Instrument in a sample of 367 randomly selected male RNs in Oregon (Egeland and Brown, 1988). Such stigmatizing factors form a barrier to patient care, deter men's entry into the profession and play a major role in problems related to retention (Harding, 2007). Published evidence also suggests that success of men in nursing is disproportionate and male nurses face gender-based disadvantage compared with that of women (Tracey and Nicholl, 2007). Recent research studies have shown that male nurses face gender-based barriers even during their nursing education programs (Keogh ...