For more than a century, nursing has been thought of as the domain of women. But that has fluctuated over the last few centuries. Men actually dominated nursing through the mid-19th century. During the Industrial Revolution, men began leaving nursing for factory jobs. Florence Nightingale led the advancement of women in nursing, targeting upper and middle class women for nurse training. In fact, men were not allowed to serve in the Army Nurse Corps during World Wars I and II. Today, as workplaces evolve, more men are entering the profession again amidst a nursing shortage.
Entering Nursing
About 13% of nurses in the U.S. today are men, compared with 2% in 1960, according to the Washington Center for Equitable Growth. However, in the high-paying specialty of nurse anesthetist, there is an equal number of men and women.
The United States is leading the way in the increase in the number of male nurses. While the U.S. rate of men in nursing was not much higher than in Switzerland and Brazil in 1970, it rose rapidly over the next several decades and far surpassed these countries in addition to Portugal and Puerto Rico.
The rise of men in nursing is due in part to a shift in available jobs, especially as traditionally male-dominated jobs in manufacturing jobs like automakers have been taken over by automation or moved overseas for cheaper labor. A recent study published in the journal Social Science Researchreviewed eight years of Census data. The study found that of men who had worked in male-dominated industries and then became unemployed, 14% decided to enter industries dominated by women, such as nursing. Eighty-four percent of men who didn’t lose jobs moved onto traditionally female jobs. Unemployed men who got jobs in female industries received a pay increase of 3.80% when making the move.
Where the Jobs Are
Another reason propelling more men into nursing is a shortage of nurses. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), employment for registered nurses will grow 12% between 2018 and 2028, much quicker than the average of other professions. There will be a need for 3.19 million nurses by 2024.
California is expected to have the highest shortage of nurses, and Alaska will have the most job vacancies. Other states that will face shortages of nurses in the next few years include Texas, New Jersey, South Carolina, Georgia, and South Dakota.
One driver of the need for more nurses is the growth of the aging population, who will require more medical care. Job growth is expected in long-term care facilities, especially for the care of stroke and Alzheimer’s patients. The need for nurses treating patients at home or in retirement communities will continue to grow. The rise in chronic conditions such as diabetes and obesity also means more nurses will be needed.
Pay and Training
The median annual wage for registered nurses was $71,730 in 2018, according to the BLS. The lowest 10% earned less than $50,800, and the highest 10% earned more than $106,530. Those working for the government and hospitals earned the most.
But like many other professions, men are outpacing women in pay. Male RNs make an average of $5,000 more per year than their female counterparts, according to a study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association. This salary gap hasn’t improved since the first year the salary survey was done in 1988. The difference in pay ranges from $7,678 per year for ambulatory care to $3,873 for work in hospitals. The largest gap, $17,290 for nurse anesthetists, may explain why so many men enter that specialty.
The researchers note that increasing transparency in how much employees are paid could help narrow the gap. In addition, part of the pay gap may be due to women taking more time out of the workforce for raising their children. FiscalTiger.com suggests that offering adequate leave to both mothers and fathers after the birth of a child could have a role in making pay more equitable.
The Washington Center for Equitable Growth’s report suggests that the amount of formal training required to become a registered nurse may bring men into nursing from other occupations later in their careers. The minimum training for registered nurses is an Associate Degree in Nursing. Increasingly, employers are demanding more education, however. That includes earning a Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) degree. RNs in the U.S. military must have a BSN, and the Veteran’s Administration, which employs the most RNs in the country, requires a BSN for promotion.
Finding Support
While men are still a minority in nursing, various programs offer support and networking. The American Association for Men in Nursing was founded in 1971 but shuttered in a few years. In 1980 it was reformed and now has thousands of members. It encourages men of all ages to become nurses and supports their professional growth.
Some nursing schools also have groups to support male nursing students. New York University, for example, has Men Entering Nursing (MEN), open to all nursing students at the Rory Meyers College of Nursing to discuss the concerns and perceptions that affect men and what it means to be a male in the field of nursing.
Over the past half a century, the number of
men in the nursing industry has increased exponentially. In the sixties, only 2% of men were nurses. Today, the percentage has
climbed to 13%. That’s an 85% increase, which is huge!
However, if 13% of nurses are men, that means that 87% of nurses are not. There is an extremely disproportionate number of men in the nursing field, and there’s no real reason for it, other than stigma. But today you’re going to learn just how senseless this stigma is, and why it must be stopped.
Originally, men were nurses. In 250 B.C., the world’s first nursing school opened its doors, for men only. Yes, nurses were originally all male! But times have changed. Nowadays, women make up the bulk of this once male-dominated industry
Why? Because of the stigma. What’s the stigma,
you ask? The stigma is that nursing is a caregiving position, and therefore,
such a job should be reserved for women. Now, here’s the fallacy of such a
statement. Today, women are doctors, accountants, and policewomen, jobs which
were once considered to be for men, and no one thinks twice, because gender
bias deserves no place in a country as morally advanced as the US. But for some
incomprehensible reason, there is a significant amount of gender bias. Pay
attention to the nursing industry, and you’ll notice it there.
But this has to stop. We need male nurses; they’re just as capable, strong, and intelligent as their female counterparts, and add a much-needed balance to the industry.
How Can We Stop the Stigma?
Never belittle the concept of someone becoming a male nurse. Being a nurse is something to be proud of, regardless of gender! It shows you’re a caring, kind person who wants to help others and has the ability to accomplish goals.
Respect men in the nursing industry. These men are people who don’t care what everyone else is doing. They do what should be done, regardless of what others will think. And that is something to look up to.
Spread the word about the benefits of becoming a male nurse. The pay is fabulous, the line to the bathroom door is moot, and promotion is likely (since men are more likely for promotion overall, and there are so few men in the field to begin with). There are many more positives about this career; perhaps we’ll get into the details another time, but even just the aforementioned benefits can be enough to show guys you know that this is a field worthy of their consideration.
Become a nurse! It’s a great career choice for men, and every additional male nurse makes a difference in the percentage.
Tips for Men in the Nursing
Industry
Being a male nurse isn’t always easy, but it’s
wonderfully rewarding, both financially and emotionally. Here are a few tips
for you to get the most out of being a guy in scrubs.
The same way men prefer male nurses, women often want to be cared for by a female nurse. This is nothing personal; don’t take it to heart. There will be many a man who will be really happy to find out you’re being his nurse.
There are many organizations, such as AAMN and The Brotherhood of Nursing, which can help you connect with other male nurses.
Does it bother you that most scrub stores are so feminine focused? Then you may prefer to shop at Murse World, which exclusively provides guys with a full selection of male scrubs from all the best nursing uniform brands.
Stay confident and proud. You’re helping so many patients, and simultaneously breaking gender barriers in the nursing industry.
Whether you’re a nursing student, a nurse, a patient, or anyone else, you can have a part in stopping this unnecessary stigma
There is a growing demand for more nurses in general and that the demand for male nurses is currently on the rise. Male nurses are increasing their presence at the bedside, hospital, clinic, and nursing home. The American Association for Men in Nursing (AAMN) profiles the progress of its campaign for a 20% increase in the number of male nurses in the workforce by 2020. We all know that the nursing profession would benefit from a more diverse representation of gender, age, and cultures within the workforce.
Male nurses are bringing balance to the profession, which benefits patients as a whole. Having male nurses ensures that male patients are well cared and represented. Sometimes patients prefer a nurse of a certain sex, particularly for procedures like inserting a catheter, serving a bedpan, or administering EKG. Male nurses have skills and care-giving strengths that can make nursing an excellent career for them. Importantly, the benefits of being a male nurse are the same benefits of being a nurse.
If you are male and thinking about becoming a nurse, don’t hesitate to explore the career and most importantly look into yourself to ensure that this is the right career for you. Nursing is a challenging job and one that requires hard work, integrity, and dedication. Nurses can treat every patient regardless of gender, but dealing with human sickness and patients who may be crabby and cranky is simply a fact of life for nurses. As nurse, you are able to help patients and give them a level of comfort and put them at ease. The world of nursing holds many possibilities. There are over 100 different nursing specialties available and there are plenty of ways to advance your career if you are willing to work hard. Since not everyone has what it takes to be a nurse, there are a lot of considerations when it comes to nursing and what your personality needs to be like in order to be a good nurse.
Here are four key questions to ask yourself.
1. How well do you cope with stress and emergency situations?
Nursing jobs can be stressful at times. If you are someone who can work well under pressure and copes well with stress, you will do well as a nurse.
2. Are you easily offended?
Nurses sometimes come in contact with patients who are hostile or unfriendly. Being easily offended can make your nursing job difficult and stressful quickly.
3. Do you consider yourself to never stop learning?
The field of health care is continuously changing, whether it is a new disease or recently discovered new treatment, nurses learn something new every day. Therefore, a good nurse is always ready to learn more.
4. Are you a team player?
Teamwork is essential in nursing to getting the job done right and improving the patient’s health. Nurses, who enjoy their job, work well with other team members.
Nine years ago, I was so happy to have my first article published in Minority Nurse. The article was a discussion on whether or not it’s OK to be out at work as a gay person. Looking back at the changes I’ve seen over this time period, I decided to put together a few thoughts.
The county hospital where I work is rolling out some new intake questions for our electronic health record system. The impetus is to better serve our LGBTQ patients. A transgender person with residual breast tissue did not know he could still get breast cancer. A MTF person developed prostate cancer. These patients slipped through the cracks because they lived their true self but had body parts susceptible to illness that the caregiver was not aware of. By next month, we hope to have 10% of our patients properly classified using our new Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity (SOGI) questions. As the program rolls out, we will capture
more and more of our population so caregivers can better serve them.
As a gay man in my 50s, I have seen great changes in my lifetime on LGBTQ issues. There was a time when just being out was a danger. But we bring some unique perspectives to our job that shouldn’t be overlooked. We know what it’s like to be the underdog. We cherish family because we worked so hard to have our families recognized. Respect for minorities come easily to us because we have suffered discrimination. Fairness in treatment under the law was not free for us or other minorities so we always strive to protect our patients’ rights. We know that being gay does not give you AIDS, but we also know what those risk factors are and we are able to educate our patients on the facts without judgement.
Now that we are rolling out a campaign to identify our patients’ unique needs regarding sexual health, reproductive issues, and mental health, we are working to destigmatize these issues in our community. Just asking these questions can be a litmus test of our own feelings. When the program was being explained in an employee meeting, there was pushback. “Our patients will be insulted.” Or, “Our patients won’t understand the terms.”
It occurred to me that we might be projecting our own feelings and, in some cases ignorance, onto our patients. Of course, there are what seem like valid issues when trying to tease this information out of patients in the geriatric clinic. My feeling is that you just throw the questions out there and you get what you get. The elderly are just as much part of the world as the young (and in between).I can’t wait to get some real world experience in asking these questions:
What is the sex on your original birth certificate?
What is your gender identity?
What is your sexual orientation?
Some explanation might be needed with some patients. Sexual identity is not your sexual orientation. Sexual identity cannot be inferred from your birth certificate. We are looking forward to the rollout but with a bit of trepidation because we are not used to asking such personal questions. But,if you want to better serve this population, you have to identify them. The FTM person who never got a breast cancer screening because his caregivers never informed him of the risk—that can be preventable with better understanding of our patients. More information is better than less.
I take away two points from the SOGI questions that excite me. The first is that caregivers are going to be more aware of the disparities in health care that can occur with our LGBTQ patients. We are charged with the care of all our patients, not just the ones that fit into neat boxes. Just being aware of the differences makes us stop to weigh implications that might have been missed in the past. The second is that by normalizing this conversation, both patients and caregivers can talk openly about a subject that was once taboo. It’s OK to be gay or lesbian, FTM, MTF, something in between, or nothing at all. We all have health care needs.
Annette Smith, a nurse and coworker with 35 years of experience, has insight into changes in practice like the new SOGI questions: “At the beginning, there is a lot of pushback. The sky is falling, the sky is falling. But after a while, the process becomes normalized and it’s not a big deal anymore. We end up wondering what all the fuss was about!”
There was a time when just talking about sexual orientation was not even considered. Now we are required to ask! This destigmatizes the whole subject. To revisit my first question: It should never be a question of whether it’s right or wrong to be out at work. It’s just a question of you being comfortable enough in your own skin to let other people know.
The nursing program at MidAmerica Nazarene University, with the help of Digital Third Coast, created an infographic depicting data on the perceived stigma of male nurses. Through their research, they gleaned quite a lot of interesting information.
For example, while it’s well-known that mainly men served as nurses in the past, their research indicates that “Due to associations with the military and religious orders, there was significant male representation in the nursing profession through the late 1800s.” The visual even shows a photo of famed poet Walt Whitman with his male nurse, Fritzenger.
When did this all change? According to the graphic, legal barriers in the early 1900s contributed to the scarcity of male nurses. In fact, many nursing schools would not even admit men. This didn’t officially change, though, until 1981 when the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that not admitting men to nursing schools was unconstitutional.
As a result, during the 1930s and 1940s, the percentage of nurses who were male decreased to its lowest point, which according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor was 1%. Not surprisingly, that percentage has risen over the years. As stated in the 2013 Census, out of the 3.5 million employed nurses, 78% are Registered Nurses (9.6% of these are male); 19% are Licensed Practical and Vocational Nurses; 3% are Nurse Practitioners; and 1% are Nurse Anesthetists (41% of these are male).
From these statistics, it can be concluded that men are more likely to become nurse anesthetists—which is the highest paid role in the nursing field. With women making up the majority of the nursing field, one would assume that they tend to make more in terms of salary, right?
Wrong. Female nurses make only 91 cents per every dollar that male nurses make.
For more fascinating facts about the perceived stigma of male nurses, check out the infographic here.
