Why so few men choose nursing as their profesion - Research Paper Example

? Why Few Men Choose Nursing as their Profession Many stereotypes, myths and beliefs have locked men out of the nursing profession with women predominantly assuming nursing roles. However, the recent years has seen men increasingly take up the profession having realized their equal potential to offer care as their female counterparts in nursing. This paper evaluates the reasons why men join nursing profession, analyzes the challenges they face and allays the misconceptions about male nurses, to show that men equally qualify as effective nurses. Introduction The professional roots of nursing could be traced back to the 20th Century when Florence Nightingale came up with professional schools for nursing (O’Lynn & Tranbarger, 2007). This professionalization of nursing by Nightingale that saw nursing rise in status as a women’s respectable profession saw men being marginalized in the profession. This has caused a minimization of the role of men and their history in nursing in spite of documented evidence of men in nursing dating back to as far as 250 BC (Wolfenden, 2011). This marginalization has since become a systemic issue and has become endemic to the nursing profession and education. However, it should be acknowledged that men equally provide care as women in nursing professions and the contrary stereotypes, myths and beliefs propagated over years are misconceived. Previously, nursing was seen as a respectable profession for the women. Even though men were accepted into nursing profession, the medical model encouraged women nurses as the ideal position. This pushed men away from nursing into medicine, considered as a more socially acceptable profession for men (O’Lynn & Tranbarger, 2007). Whereas this approach is no longer being practiced, the nursing profession remains largely female dominated. Moore and Dienemann (2013) observe that the 2008 US Census identified only 5.5% as male nurses from the total nursing population. This replicates in many other parts of the world. The current trends in nursing indicate a shift from overtly denying men entry into nursing to a covert approach where men are denied nursing positions deemed unsuitable for them in declining their matriculation into nursing classes (Wolfenden, 2011). Men join nursing as a career just like any other careers and do not consider the profession to be less masculine. The reason for men joining nursing profession as observed by Moore and Dienemann (2013) is purely the motivation to help others, the principle guide in nursing. Intrinsic motivation could arise from previous work experience of such men. A research study by Tworney and Meadus (2008) in a Canadian province indicates that men join nursing profession as a normal career like any other, for salary and job security. These extrinsic motivators resemble those that inspire people to enter into other professions. With the instability in economies, geographic mobility, financial security and career needs, men have found nursing as a career like any other that could provide the much needed solution. Various studies have shown the satisfaction of male nurses with their profession (Kouta & Kaite, 2011; Moore & Dienemann, 2013; Wolfenden, 2011), some further citing the subjects encouraging other men to join the profession (Tworney & Meadus, 2008). Thus, nursing is a profession where men could fit in just as any other profession. On the other hand, one of the reasons why few men exist in the nursing profession has been the stereotypes in the nursing profession. Wilson (2009) observes that the public perceives nursing as a sex-role occupation that remains exclusive to females, a perception that remains deeply entrenched in the society due to the traditional image of a nurse as being white and female. This has been propagated by the mass media which reinforces nursing images solely on female attributes. This influences the perceptions of the society and feeds the bias cycle limiting the role of men in the profession of nursing. Furthermore, nursing has been historically taken as an extension to the exclusive natural roles of women in the society associated with characteristics of compassion, care, empathy and nurturance. Therefore, men are locked out of this profession as they are believed not to possess any of these traits. However, there exists an abundance of literature supporting the historical role of men as caregivers in organized nursing. There have been military, lay and religious orders of men through the past centuries whom Tworney and Meadus (2008) observe have been providing care to the injured and the sick. This contradicts the argument of men not possessing the caring attributes required of a nurse. Men who join nursing have been negatively depicted as effeminate or gay. Men who choose nursing as a career could have the society question their masculinity (Tworney & Meadus, 2008). Additionally, such persons have been considered as underachievers as compared to other men and have lacked the ability to excel academically so as to enable them join medical school (Wilson, 2009). These arguments have no basis to lock men out of nursing because nursing is a career like any other and does not influence one’s sexuality. Additionally, there exist various specialties in nursing some of which require technical expertise as noted by O’Lynn and Tranbarger (2007). These men have been used to undertake more manual tasks in nursing like lifting of heavy equipment because of their physical orientation. This could be reason enough to prove their masculinity. Moore and Dienemann (2013) dispel the academic underachievement of male nurses, citing the need for at least a degree for one to practice nursing. Therefore, the argument that men who join nursing are academic underperformers is misconceived. This gender bias in nursing severely impacts on the profession. With gender neutrality and gender equality for women, more professions have been opened up to women. As such, this has limited the pool from which nursing drew its human resource. Hence, marginalizing men from nursing further limits the pool of candidates from which the nursing profession draws (O’Lynn & Tranbarger, 2007). With Moore and Dienemann (2013) observing an expected need for over 100,000 nurses by 2020, persistence of this problem would result in human resourcing problems in healthcare with a continued cycle of being overworked and burnt out. This would in turn cause a massive exodus of both the men and women from the nursing profession. Conclusion and Recommendation Nursing profession has marginalized men from historical times. However, men increasingly seek to join the profession due to intrinsic motivation to offer care to others and extrinsic motivation as would be the case with other professions. Despite their desire to join this profession, they face a myriad of stereotypes, myths and beliefs that cast doubt on their ability to offer care, their academic capabilities and their sexual orientation. However, men have historically provided care and have shown greater academic achievement even as they practice nursing. Various nursing specialties favor men than women in addition to their masculinity being an advantage when physical energy is involved. A majority of these men express satisfaction with their career choice and advise other men to enter nursing profession. If more men continue to be locked out of practicing nursing, there risks being a severe shortage of human resource in the profession. Therefore, there is need to encourage more men to join the nursing profession. Their recruitment would be informed by the factors that influence the decision of men to enter into nursing. National campaigns geared towards encouraging more men into nursing would be effective. Universities and other nursing institutions should embark on programs aimed at increasing the enrolment of men into nursing programs. Further to this, they should create environments that would be friendly to men undertaking nursing courses, including inclusion of male role models in the nursing curricula. References Kouta, C. & Kaite, C. P. (2011). Gender discrimination and nursing: A literature review. Journal of Professional Nursing, 27 (1), 59 – 63. Moore, G. A. & Dienemann, J. A. (2013). Job satisfaction and career development of men in nursing. Journal of Nursing Education and Practice, 4 (3), 86 – 93. O’Lynn, C. E. & Tranbarger, R. E. (Eds.). (2007). Men in nursing: History, challenges, and opportunities. New York, NY: Springer. Tworney, J. C. & Meadus, R. J. (2008). Despite the barriers men nurses are satisfied with career choices. Canadian Journal of Career Development, 7 (1), 30 – 34. Wilson, D. M. (2009). Meet the men who dare to care. Johns Hopkins University. Retrieved 19 November 2013 from http://web.jhu.edu/ Wolfenden, J. (2011). Men in nursing. The Internet Journal of Allied Health Sciences and Practice, 9 (2). Retrieved 19 November 2013 from http://ijahsp.nova.edu/ Read More