by | Mar 31, 2013 | Magazine
In our winter 2012 issue, we called for submissions to our first ever Take Pride Campaign, an effort to recognize those places of employment that went above and beyond regarding encouraging diversity; recruiting and retaining minorities; and creating a cooperative, inclusive work environment. We were so pleased with the response! Nurses, and even teams of nurses, recommended their places of employment to acknowledge such efforts. And the funny thing is, there is no prize. Not for our nominees nor for our nominators. Furthermore, there is no real winner. The only reward, per se, is their inclusion here. Then again, perhaps the reward is inherent—we’re just bringing it to light. We’re so glad these nurses found such inclusive places to call “home” (during their shifts, at least!). We hope the facilities continue to lead by example, and we are proud to recognize them here.
Alacare Home Health and Hospice, Muscle Shoals, Alabama
Nominated by LaConda Davenport, R.N., B.S.N., M.S.N., M.H.A.
In the five and a half years LaConda Davenport has been with Alacare Home Health and Hospice, she has traveled and worked in several of the company’s 23 offices. As she’s moved within the company, she has “witnessed cultural diversity as a top priority,” she says. “Everyone, regardless of race, age, gender, or whatever makes us unique given equal footing to achieve equal status within the company.”
The company makes its position on diversity clear not just in writing (in its diversity statement), but through diversity training, targeted staff education, and recruitment efforts aimed at minorities. Moreover, the company requires its employees to “renew their commitment to diversity” each year, Davenport says. “Alacare fosters an environment of cultural awareness amongst its employees, and everyone has equal opportunity to strive and rise to the top.”
Davenport started as an RN and went on to earn two master’s degrees and eventually became a Hospice Clinical Manager. “I couldn’t have done this without the support of the company I work for,” she says. “Diversity means that I am afforded every opportunity to grow and mature in my profession within an environment that believes in me and wants to see me strive in a positive manner that is beneficial to me and my organization. Alacare has this attitude and that’s why I believe Alacare is diversified and inclusive—they stand not behind but beside their employees.”
Bayhealth Medical Center, Dover and Milford, Delaware
Nominated by Ludmila Santiago-Rotchford, M.S.N., R.N., P.C.C.N., A.C.N.S.-B.C.
Arriving in Dover, Delaware, back in 2000 felt like going back in time to Ludmila Santiago-Rotchford. “It seemed that most people I met had rarely ventured out of the First State and many people had been here for generations,” she says. “Who knew that this state . . . just a few hours away from metropolises of Philadelphia and New York City was where the infamous Mason Dixon line that separated the North from the South was found.”
Along with a colleague, Kimberly Holmes, M.S.N., R.N., P.C.C.N., A.C.N.S.-B.C., Santiago-Rotchford hoped to promote diversity in her health care system. A simple suggestion grew into the Bayhealth Diversity Committee, a multidisciplinary group that meets bimonthly. “For the past several years we have offered Scoop on Diversity sessions where staff can learn about topics of diversity while enjoying a sundae bar,” she says. “Our annual Diversity Cruise attracts many attendees where we employees display information and samplings of food representative of cultures from around the world.”
A busy committee, they disseminate a “tip sheet” each month called Insights on Diversity and recently partnered with Delaware State University for a Celebration of Culture event. Their website includes further resources regarding diversity, as well as a way for staff to leave feedback.
“Our dream has come to fruition in large part due to the support we have received from our committee members,” Santiago-Rotchford says, citing facilitator Marianne Foard, M.S., R.N., and Chief Nurse Executive Bonnie Perratto, M.S.N., R.N., M.B.A.,N.E.A.-B.C.,F.A.C.H.E., specifically.
Frontier Nursing University, Hyden, Kentucky Nominated by Nena Harris, Ph.D., F.N.P.-B.C., C.N.M.
Nena Harris started her journey at Frontier Nursing University
10 years ago as a student, one of three minority women in her orientation session. “The nature of our program, which is distance learning, creates challenges in that there are few face-to-face interactions,” she says. “As a student, I did not engage in attempting to understand the school’s commitment to diversity, but I also did not witness any active display of this commitment in a way that students could recognize.”
Then, when Harris became a Frontier faculty member six years ago, she was the only professor of color. “Since that time, several faculty of color have been hired,” she says. “Also, I have more face-to-face interactions with students on campus and the composition of those sessions has become more colorful over the years.” In that time, Harris says she’s seen the school “develop a passion for diversity.”
A school founded to address the health care needs of the underserved, FNU is well suited to train nurses to go into those communities that continue to be marginalized—often minority communities. “The administration and faculty realize that providing care to diverse populations requires educating nurse-midwives and nurse practitioners who are committed to returning to the diverse communities in which they live and have roots,” Harris says. To that end, the school is working to recruit more diverse students and faculty, in part through its recently launched, multifaceted PRIDE (Promoting Recruitment and Retention to Increase Diversity in Nurse-Midwifery and Nurse Practitioner Education) initiative.
“FNU is a leader because it demonstrates the importance of educating a diverse workforce to meet the health care needs of an increasingly diverse population,” Harris says. “I am very proud to be associated with this institution.”
Grady Health System, Atlanta, Georgia
Nominated by Dennis Flores, B.S.N., A.C.R.N., et al.*
“Inherent in Grady Health System’s tradition of care is over a century’s worth of diverse personnel who advocate for everyone and discriminate against no one,” says Dennis Flores. “As nurses in our white scrubs, we represent a kaleidoscope of ethnic and racial backgrounds that fulfill the promise of nursing in our everyday practice.”
Many of Grady Health System’s clients come from underserved communities, and Flores says they can relate quickly to their providers, as the staff mirrors the diverse population of the Metro Atlanta region. “Nurses and patients speak the common language of a shared history and world-view, one that translates to better patient care,” he says.
Flores commends a number of things illustrating the facility’s commitment to diversity, including minorities in various leadership positions, cooperative decision making at all levels, an endorsement from the Human Rights Campaign as a Leader in LGBT Healthcare Equality, and even a multicultural Nurses Week ad campaign. “Not only is [the ad] a tacit endorsement of the variety that makes up the staff, but it wisely capitalizes on our strength: Grady’s diversity,” he says.
“The culture here allows for us to thrive and newer staff members soon become acculturated to what fierce advocacy is all about,” Flores says. “We are blessed to be working here and we take exceptional pride in representing Grady Health System.”
* Dennis Flores is joined by the following in nominating Grady Health System: Lillian Bryant, L.P.N.; Patrice Henry, L.P.N.; Luis Lopez, B.S.N., R.N.; Marie Lotin, R.N.; Andrea Mayo, R.N.; Njorge Ngaruiya, B.S.N., R.N.; Faith Works, R.N.
HCR Homecare, Rochester, New York
Nominated by Yvette Conyers, M.S.N., R.N., C.T.N.-B.
“Since I first walked through the doors of HCR Homecare, almost five years ago, I felt the culture of inclusion and diversity,” Yvette Conyers says. By meeting the need for more nurses, particularly Spanish-speaking nurses, to serve the many Hispanic patients in the area, the institution has demonstrated an ongoing commitment to diversity.
“The mission and vision of HCR Homecare supports diversity and values its employees considerably,” Conyers says. “The name HCR rings loud in a small community where everyone talks, and comments are always positive.” She cites the facility’s research into the needs of Hispanic patients, such as 2008’s Exito, which tackled reducing health care disparities through improved access and culturally competent care. HCR Homecare has also extended its efforts to improving care for African American, Russian/Ukranian, and various refugee populations. They do so, in part, through partnerships with many local agencies, such as the Rochester Housing Authority.
“Training in cultural competence, specifically transcultural care, has been implemented and is constantly being upgraded to provide better patient care and decrease hospitalizations rates, creating trustful relationships and addressing the overall disparities our nation faces,” Conyers says. Certified nurses lead training sessions and help ensure continued efforts to improve cultural competence. “The constant changes and increased number of minorities both on a national and local level support the need to have an agency that is caring, diverse, and is inclusive of the clients they serve,” Conyers says. “I take pride in my organization!”
Seton Healthcare Family, Austin, Texas
Nominated by Cindy Ford, R.N., B.S.N.
Cindy Ford can name a litany of programs that make Seton Healthcare Family an admirable force in the promotion of diversity. And with 35 years of service to the organization, she would know. “During three decades, I have witnessed Seton lead medical, nursing, and technology advancements; become nationally respected for evidence-based practices; and progress as a leader in diversity.”
The faith-based collection of facilities includes 11 hospitals and 80 other various offices, and Ford says Seton is committed to “improving the diversity and inclusion of staff…by reflecting the communities we serve.”
That started with Seton’s Diversity Leadership Initiative, which “identified the challenges in reflecting the demographic makeup of the community,” Ford says. From those efforts came the hospital system’s Office of Diversity and Inclusion, established in 2006 to meet the needs of the growing populations of African Americans, Latinos, and Asian Americans in Texas. “Programs were developed to meet leadership initiatives,” she says, including diversity/cultural competence workshops, awareness events and cultural celebrations, an interpreter program, and a recruitment team committed to diverse hiring. Seton has also adopted Cincinnati Children’s Hospital’s Project SEARCH, a hiring initiative aimed at young people with developmental disabilities.
University of Wisconsin Hospital and Clinics, Madison, Wisconsin
Nominated by Tracey L. Abitz, M.S., R.N., C.T.N.-B.
From Tracey Abitz’s description of the University of Wisconsin health care employee benefits and resources, it seems like a great place to work, regardless of whether you’re a minority or not! But those employee benefits and resources also reveal a determination to recruit and retain minorities, as well as provide culturally congruent care for diverse patients.
“There is a commitment to diversity and cultural competence to community groups and partners by reaching out to the community with the assistance of the director of community partnerships,” Abitz says. For example, the University of Wisconsin system offers a wide array of language and interpretation services, including those for the deaf or hard of hearing, as well as 32 languages through face-to-face interpreters and over 250 by phone.
Abitz describes the hospital system’s many employee resources, from child and elder care to tuition reimbursement, and the facility has also partnered with a credit union to offer free tax services to employees in a lower income bracket. “There is ongoing review of recruitment and retention data of minority groups with increased efforts to try to diversify the recruitment pool for positions at the hospital, especially leadership positions,” she says.
The nursing staff in particular has served as advocates of diversity, including their use of the Purnell Model for Cultural Competence to assess patients and family needs, Abitz says. The nurses even designed an internal diversity website with resources for clinicians.
“A new interdisciplinary resource group led by nursing has been designed to have a group of champions interested in learning more about culture and diversity with the goal of raising awareness and knowledge, allowing them to be a resource to their colleagues,” Abitz says. “There is continual reflection and commitment to always strive for improvement.”
by | Mar 31, 2013 | Certification, Magazine
According to a report published in the May issue of the Journal of the American College of Surgeons, results of a study found that women and minorities going through general surgery training are relatively underrepresented among general surgeons, particular those certified by the American Board of Surgery (ABS).
Study authors Dorothy A. Andriole, M.D., F.A.C.S., and Donna B. Jeffe, Ph.D. researched 3,373 medical school graduates between 1997–2002 who had planned on becoming board certified in surgery after graduation, and followed the graduates for seven years or more, depending on general surgery residency training. The research looked at women and men who intended on getting certified for surgery after graduation, and found that women were more likely to leave surgery and pursue certification in other specialties. Women make up about 50% of total U.S. medical graduates.
In the study, 60% of the graduates achieved ABS certification, 10% were certified by another American Board of Medical Specialties (ABMS) member board, and 30% were not certified by any ABMS member board.
Researchers, however, did not evaluate why the medical school graduates chose to become certified in other specialty areas, or why some remained in surgery but didn’t become board certified.
by | Mar 31, 2013 | Magazine
According to recent census figures, most babies in the United States are members of minority groups for the first time in U.S. history, consequently showing signs that Caucasians may no longer be the majority. Last year’s estimates show that 50.4% of children younger than a year old were Hispanic, African American, Asian American, or in other minority groups.
A large immigration wave that began four decades ago seems to have led to the shift. Inevitably, the white population is growing older, but at a “faster” pace when compared to Hispanics. In addition, the average age of non-Hispanic whites is 42—past prime childbearing years—making the white population less likely to reproduce. The U.S. census has predicted that non-Hispanic whites will be outnumbered in the United States by the year 2042.
However, given the current outlook, a continued Hispanic baby boom is not a certainty. Immigration from Mexico has been put on hold, even begun declining. But, William Frey, a demographer with the Brookings Institution, believes once the economy stabilizes, the United States will be seeing more immigrants.
by | Mar 30, 2013 | Magazine, Men in Nursing, Nurse Recruitment
These nine dudes are strong. They’re tough. They’re rugged. They’re not sissies. They ride Harleys and snowboards. They play basketball and rugby. They’ve served in the Army and the Navy. Oh, by the way, they also happen to be nurses. And they’ve got a question for you, mister: Are you man enough to be a nurse?
This attention-getting, “macho man” approach to attracting guys into nursing is the brainchild of the Oregon Center for Nursing (OCN), a nonprofit organization formed in 2001 to develop solutions for addressing the state’s severe RN shortage. Because only about 8% of Oregon’s RN workforce is male, OCN decided to target its initial recruiting efforts to this population, and to create an awareness campaign that would deliver a bone-crushing blow to the number one barrier that prevents boys and young men from considering nursing as a career: the persistent stereotype that “nursing is for girls.”
The “Are You Man Enough?” campaign was the result of extensive input from high school and middle school guidance counselors. According to OCN Executive Director Dr. Deborah Burton, “They told us that the soft-sell ‘if you like people and want to care for them’ approach doesn’t resonate with boys. ‘What you need to do,’ they said, ‘is find nurses who are stereotypically male and then emphasize the male aspects of nursing—such as courage, technical skill, risk-taking and assertiveness.’ So we said, ‘Let’s see if we can find some stereotypically male practicing nurses who look male, act male and love nursing.’”
The nine nurses OCN chose are depicted on a poster, sponsored by the Northwest Health Foundation, that was distributed last November to every middle school, high school and community college in Oregon. The “poster boys”—who have also made presentations at schools and conferences—range in age from 24 to 64 and represent a diverse range of races, ethnicities and nursing specialties. They include, for example, Sang Kim, RN, cardiac telemetry nurse and snowboarding enthusiast; Yuri Chavez, RN, CRNA, nurse anesthetist and marathon runner; and motorcycle-riding Don Muccigrosso, RN, a poison specialist nurse.
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The response to the campaign has been “overwhelming,” Burton reports. “I’ve gotten tons of calls,” she explains, “not only from students and parents, but also from a group I didn’t expect: career-changing men who had given no thought to nursing until they saw this. They said, ‘I don’t know why I didn’t think of nursing—it pays well, there’s job security, but it was never on my radar screen as a possibility.’” OCN has also introduced a class for high-school students called “Men in Scrubs,” which Burton describes as “an all-day immersion in nursing, taught by male nurses, for boys only.”
For more information, or to order copies of the “Are You Man Enough to Be a Nurse?” poster, contact OCN at (503) 943-7150 or visit www.oregoncenterfornursing.org.
by | Mar 30, 2013 | Magazine, Men in Nursing, Nursing Associations
Mention the word “nurse” and who comes to mind? Maybe she’s a nurse of antiquity, dressed in white, wearing a cap in the shape of a winged angel, holding someone’s hand. Maybe she’s wearing bright cheerful scrubs, running a hospital floor. She.
This lasting female stereotype, many would argue, has served nursing well over the past century. Nurses are associated with the “feminine” qualities desirable in caregivers; they are nurturing, patient, even maternal. Yet, from the Nightingale-esque pictures that pop up in a Google Image search to the crowds of female nurses in every hospital-themed television show, these images reinforce a societal belief that nursing is, and should remain, a female-dominated profession. Indeed, the number of male nurses, practically the world over, still hovers between 5% and 10% of the nursing workforce.
Today, while open degradation of minority social groups has lessened, male nurses continue to be ridiculed. The media is rife with recent examples, as male nurses remain fair game. For example, in the movie Meet the Parents, the main character is a male nurse named Gaylord Focker, carrying not-so-subtle connotations. During a recent episode of the popular television series Glee, lead character Sue Sylvester, an antagonistic cheerleading coach, says, “A female football coach, like a male nurse, is a sin against nature.” Rather strong words, even for a joke.
The recruitment dilemma
In 2002, the Oregon Center for Nursing (OCN) created a groundbreaking recruitment poster, the theme of which was “Are You Man Enough To Be a Nurse?” The poster was developed after the OCN surveyed middle and high school guidance counselors regarding male students and their attitudes toward men in nursing. Dr. Deborah Burton, Executive Director of the OCN at the time, says their mission became one of “let’s see if we can find some stereotypically male practicing nurses who look male, act male, and love nursing.”1 Their highly acclaimed poster received widespread attention throughout the United States, and it’s still buzzed about today.
The OCN poster campaign and others since have helped create a dialogue between counselors and potential male nurses. The “Are You Man Enough to be a Nurse?” poster opened up a conversation surrounding masculine men becoming nurses. But that was just the beginning. At both the 2009 and 2010 American Assembly for Men in Nursing (AAMN) national conferences, attendees’ feedback consistently noted a wish for more discussions concerning ways to change the image of men in nursing in both recruitment and retention areas.
Birth of the 20 X 20 Choose Nursing campaign
In 2009, the AAMN board of directors began discussing how to take its members’ ideas to the next level. They believed nursing recruitment efforts needed to evolve from asking men if they were masculine enough to be a nurse to something less gender specific. They introduced the theme “Do what you love and you’ll love what you do.” In other words, the AAMN hoped to create an image of nursing focused on life interests instead of gender. This idea would eventually become the 20 X 20 Choose Nursing campaign, an effort to “de-genderify” nursing, making it a life choice in concert with someone’s personal strengths and interests. After all, the ability to care, empathize, and nurture are not female-only personality traits.
In the spring of 2010, the AAMN affirmed this decision in their five-year strategic plan by building the AAMN brand as “one that focuses on the knowledge and competencies of men in nursing rather than on gender.” While the OCN poster campaign, and many other similar initiatives in the past decade, challenged men to be “manly” enough to choose nursing, the AAMN wanted to minimize the gender image and accentuate personal interests.
The work of Rambur, Palumbo, McIntosh, Cohen, and Naud (2011) reaffirms the AAMN’s decision to focus on competencies and interests. “Overall, when examining individual key attributes, there were fewer statistically significant differences between perceptions of an ideal career and perceptions of nursing for men than there were for women. This implies that nursing isn’t at odds with what men value in a career, but instead that recruitment into the profession continues to be impacted by social context. Optimal recruitment, therefore, might overtly address such issues with a ‘Think nursing isn’t for you? Think again!’– type campaign, highlighting diverse roles, genders, ages, and races to enable a correspondingly diverse population to envision themselves in nursing.”2
In the fall of 2010, the 20 X 20 Choose Nursing campaign was officially approved by the AAMN board and presented at the Institute of Medicine (IOM) and Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Future of Nursing Summit in Washington, D.C. The AAMN named the initiative “20 X 20 Choose Nursing” to highlight the goal of increasing the enrollment of men in nursing programs nationally from the current 10% to 20% by the year 2020.
The campaign encompasses the following three phases.
Phase One: Linking New and Existing AAMN Areas
Timeline: January—August 2011
The poster campaign
“Do what you love and you’ll love what you do.” That’s the theme and thinking behind the 20 X 20 Campaign poster series. Each poster also bears the call to action “Nursing: Come Join Us…We’ve Been Expecting You.” Through these posters, the AAMN hopes to impart to males of all ages that the variety of nursing opportunities is virtually limitless and can coincide with their personal interests.
Each poster creates a call to action in several ways. By featuring real nurses doing relatable things, a connection is established between the viewer and that nurse. The viewer is then encouraged to learn more about the person in the poster by going to the “20 X 20 Choose Nursing” link of AAMN.org, to solidify the connection the poster has made. In addition, the poster invites the viewer to learn more about nursing in general. The target audience includes school children of all ages, young adults looking for a direction in life, and second career adults who “wished they thought of a nursing career the first time.”
By September 1, 2011, there will be seven posters:
- Adrenaline Rush: The Operating Room Nurse/Mountaineer
- Loves to Fly: The Flight Nurse/Bike Rider
- Team Players: Flight Nurses in a Group
- Great with Kids/Communities: The Pediatric Nurse/Baseball Coach
- Computer Whiz: The Computer Savvy Nurse/Social Media Person
- The Teacher: Clinical Instructor Nurse/Community Teacher
- Heart Saver: Telemetry Nurse/Runner
The “Adrenaline Rush” poster features Patrick Hickey, R.N. B.S.N., M.S., M.S.N., Ph.D., C.N.O.R, a world-renowned mountaineer who has climbed the seven highest summits in the world, including Mount Everest. He is also a clinical assistant professor of nursing at the University of South Carolina in Columbia. Hickey began his career with an entry-level nursing diploma and continued his education by obtaining a master’s degree in nursing and a doctorate in public health. His personal motto says it all: “If I can do it, you can do it too.” Hickey’s fascinating life story and evident determination make him an excellent role model for any man considering nursing.
Links on the poster allow interested persons to further investigate male nurses in two ways. The first is through a “Meet the Nurses” page in the 20 X 20 Campaign section of AAMN.org. Each nurse featured on a poster will have a brief bio posted on this webpage, along with responses to interview questions. Questions include “How did you decide to become a nurse?” “What did your family and friends say when you told them you wanted to be a nurse?” and “What do you like best about nursing?” The second is a Frequently Asked Questions page, with general nursing questions and answers. Examples include “How do you pick a nursing program?” “What types of courses will I take in a nursing school?” and “How many men are in nursing today?”
Social media campaign
By September 2011, the AAMN will have officially launched a new social media campaign, including a YouTube channel with video content about men in nursing. Under direction of AAMN board member Brent McWilliams, the YouTube channel will focus on the power of positive images and stories that show men can be—and are—nurses.
“My personal experience as a parent has shown me that, often, kindergarten and first grade boys and girls do not think it is possible for boys to grow up and become a professional nurse based on gender alone,” says William Lecher, President of the AAMN. “These beliefs are often perpetuated through the high school years.”
The AAMN will also launch a video contest through the YouTube channel, open to anyone with an interest in telling their story about men in nursing. McWilliams notes that “in offering video of men who are nurses through the AAMN YouTube channel, we hope to provide society with a new and fresh mind’s eye view of professional nursing. Social media has become part of the fabric of our society and a vehicle for professional organizations to listen and learn, build relationships, increase visibility, provide expertise and serve as a platform to ‘take action’ (like fundraising). AAMN plans to take advantage of YouTube, LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter to further our goal of increasing gender diversity. If adolescent males begin to see themselves in the role of professional nurse, we will be assured of meeting our 20% of men in nursing by 2020 goal.”
Scholarship opportunities
The AAMN Foundation, a separate arm of the American Assembly for Men in Nursing, is devoted to raising money and offering scholarships to men in undergraduate and graduate nursing programs. The funds are raised via individual and corporate donations. One very supportive organization in this endeavor has been the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, which provided $10,000 annually and a total $50,000 to fund nursing scholarships. In 2009, 16 pre-licensure and four graduate students were awarded scholarships. “This year the board is pleased to announce that the Foundation will support 10 $500 scholarships,” says Bridget Nettleton, President of the AAMN Foundation. “One of these scholarships will go to each of the 10 ‘Best Schools or Colleges for Men in Nursing’ previous award-winning schools. Each school will then select their recipient of the scholarship.” In addition to these scholarships, the Jadeh Marselis-Moore Student Nurse Essay Contest, established in 2007, offers a $500 unrestricted award to a pre-licensure nurse.
Best schools and workplaces for men
Since 2004, the Awards Task Force of the AAMN has reviewed submissions from nursing programs and workplaces across the United States wishing to be recognized for significant efforts in recruiting and retaining men in nursing, in providing men a supportive educational environment, and in enlightening faculty, students, and the community about the contributions men make to the nursing profession. “Our efforts are essential in supporting the 20 X 20 Choose Nursing campaign because it provides the present workforce with the reassurance that nursing continues to strive to be diverse,” says Ryan Lewis, AAMN Awards Task Force chairperson. “We must keep the passion alive—nursing is a man’s work too—and our efforts to recognize and support specific organizations committed to promote men in nursing through integration of curricula, public relations, mentoring, advertisement, and positive role modeling is an important component of this validation.”
Phase Two: Dissemination
Timeline: September 2011—August 2012
Coordinating with other nursing and non-nursing organizations is an essential aspect of the 20 X 20 Campaign—breaking down societal barriers can’t occur in a vacuum. The AAMN has already partnered with the DAISY (Diseases Attacking the Immune System) Foundation to highlight men in nursing. The DAISY Foundation honors nurses for exemplary care, and male nurse DAISY award winners are recognized at a rate two to three times their prevalence in the workplace.
Other cooperative plans include supplying a downloadable toolbox for high school guidance counselors, career advisors, AAMN members, and other interested parties to use when recruiting men into nursing programs. Local chapters of the AAMN will be encouraged to disseminate campaign-related information to their members and to create speaker panels to visit schools to talk about nursing as a career for men. The AAMN will also exhibit at national conferences throughout the year and will feature the 20 X 20 Campaign in those
presentations.
At the IOM Future of Nursing Summit, the AAMN board identified and approved metrics to demonstrate campaign progress. The AAMN will actively seek academic and workplace partners to deliver on these metrics. The October 2011 AAMN annual conference theme is “The IOM Future of Nursing: Men Leading Change, Advancing Health.” At this conference in Lexington, Kentucky, the AAMN will staff an exhibit featuring the 20 X 20 Choose Nursing Campaign and offer a symposium describing how people can use the 20 X 20 Campaign materials for recruitment and retention. This meeting will be video-recorded and posted on the AAMN YouTube channel to allow those unable to attend to participate in the campaign as well.
Phase Three: Evaluation
Timeline: September 2012–August 2017
The American Assembly for Men in Nursing has established a number of particular goals, which it hopes to accomplish and evaluate before the culmination of the 20 X 20 Campaign. From September 2012 until August 2017, the AAMN hopes to be able to produce the following: 15 nursing schools with a 20% male enrollment and retention/graduation rates at 90% or higher; 10 hospitals with a nursing workforce of at least 20% men and retention rates of at least 90% for three consecutive years; and 10 long-term care employers with an RN/LPN/LVN nursing workforce of at least 20% men and a retention rate of at least 90% for at least three consecutive years.
“The AAMN will not be able to impact on gender inclusion and balance in nursing by ourself,” says AAMN President Lecher. “We will need to partner with other minority nursing organizations. We need the engagement and support of our women nurse colleagues. Patients, families, and others will be important in changing the culture and outcome. Avenues of dissemination, inclusion, and alliances are now in the process of being formed in order to spread the word about men in nursing.”
References
- “Getting Tough About Recruiting Men into Nursing.” Minority Nurse. Summer 2003.
- Rambur, B., Palumbo, M. V., McIntosh, B., Cohen, J. & Naud, S. (2011). “Young Adults’ Perception of an Ideal Career: Does Gender Really Matter?” Nursing Management. Spring, 19–24.
