Men in nursing: the importance of gender diversity

Self-esteem and professional identity among male nurses and male nursing students: mediating roles of perceived prejudice and psychological distress

Introduction

There are not enough nurses around the world, and there are even fewer male nurses. It has not been easy for men to become nurses because of stereotypes about the roles of men and women in the workplace, which lead to prejudice and discrimination. This study explored how the self-esteem of male nurses and male nursing students affects their professional identity in an environment where stereotypes and social prejudice exist. This study also examined the differences of relevant variables in different sociodemographic characteristics of the research subjects in a Chinese social context.

Methods

By purposive and snowball sampling, 464 male nurses and male nursing students were surveyed through questionnaires from November 2021 to January 2022. Data analysis was performed using SPSS 25.0 and PROCESS Macro 3.3.

Results

Self-esteem could indirectly affect professional identity through perceived prejudice and psychological distress. Nonetheless, self-esteem still had a significant direct effect on professional identity. The total mediating effect accounted for 32.816% of the total effect, and the direct effect accounted for 67.184% of the total effect. Also of note was that 81.7% of participants reported experiencing psychological distress.

Discussion

To improve the professional identity of male nurses and male nursing students, nursing educators and administrators should do the following: protect and improve their self-esteem; take steps to reduce social prejudice against them; value their mental health and alleviate their psychological distress.

Male nurses' experiences of workplace gender discrimination and sexual harassment in South Korea: A qualitative study

PURPOSE

The purpose of this study was to explore male nurses' experiences of workplace gender discrimination and sexual harassment in South Korea.

METHODS

Phenomenological qualitative methodology exploring male nurses' experiences was employed to collect data, and thematic analysis of the data was conducted. Research subjects were recruited by convenience and snowball sampling. Ten male nurses participated in individual in-depth interviews via mobile phone. Data were collected from June 15 to July 24, 2020.

FINDINGS

Two themes were extracted that described male nurses' experiences of workplace gender discrimination and sexual harassment. In the first theme, "facing gender discrimination from various dimensions," nurses' thoughts and feelings regarding gender discrimination from various sources were expressed. The second theme, "experiencing sexual harassment at work as a man," presented experiences of sexual harassment as a male nurse and difficulties in being recognized as a victim.

CONCLUSIONS

Gender discrimination and sexual harassment experienced by male nurses stem from a wide range of socio-cultural factors, ranging from individuals to organizations, and institutions. Therefore, this problem requires a correspondingly broad approach for improvement, such as making efforts to avoid classifying certain roles according to gender, developing new standards considering the specific experiences of men as victims of sexual discrimination and sexual harassment, and continuing training to increase social sensitivity and interest in the harm suffered by minorities in society.

What motivates men to choose nursing as a profession? A systematic review of qualitative studies

AIM

This systematic review was conducted to provide a deeper understanding of male nurses' motivations for choosing nursing as a profession.

METHODS

A systematic literature review of qualitative data was conducted. CINAHL, Pubmed, PsychINFO, Pubmesh, and Embase were searched from January 1970 to December 2013. Qualitative studies which described male nurses' motivations for choosing nursing were selected.

DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS

Relevant data were extracted from the included papers and were coded and then synthesised under four main themes.

RESULTS

Four main themes were identified which described male nurses' motivations for choosing nursing; 'Early exposure to nursing and other health care professionals', 'Choosing nursing as a profession by chance', 'Choosing nursing because of extrinsic motivating factors', and 'Choosing nursing because of intrinsic motivating factors'.

CONCLUSIONS

To help encourage more men to enter and remain in nursing, recruitment and retention strategies need to focus on addressing the gender stereotypes associated with the nursing profession.

Two male nurses' experiences of caring for female patients after intimate partner violence: a South African perspective

BACKGROUND

South Africa is perceived to be one of the countries with the worst reputation regarding the occurrence of intimate partner violence. The women who suffer from serious physical injuries are admitted to emergency care units and their first contact with health care is through the nurses in these units. Emergency care nurses become secondary victims of violence due to their exposure to the pain of assaulted patients. Female nurses tend to identify with these patients as some nurses are in similar relationships. Not much research has been done on the challenges that male nurses face when they are confronted with abuse of women inflicted by males.

METHODOLOGY

In this case study with a phenomenological research methodology two African male emergency care nurses were interviewed.

FINDINGS

The participants experienced a dichotomy of being-in-nursing and being-in-society and had been confronted with the conflicting roles of being men (the same sex as the perpetrators) and being nurses (the carer of the victim). They tried to manage the situation by using the 'self' to care for the patient and to be a problem solver for the patient and her partner or husband.

CONCLUSION

The authors conclude that society expects men not to be in a caring profession and nursing is still a female-dominated caring profession that finds it difficult to move away from its engendered and caring image. The participants experienced role conflict when they took care of female patients who have suffered intimate partner violence.

Nursing instructors' and male nursing students' perceptions of undergraduate, classroom nursing education

Attrition rates of male nursing students exceed those of females yet the experiences of male students in nursing school are poorly understood. This interpretive ethnographic study explored the experiences of male nursing students and female nursing instructors in the context of classroom education. Data collection consisted of participant observation of classroom teaching sessions followed by interviews with six male nursing students who were participants in the classes and six female nursing instructors who taught the classes. Themes resulting from data analysis addressed men's roles in the nursing classroom and the culture of nursing education. The theme of "nursing like a real man" was characterized by men's reliance on roles and behaviours associated with traditional masculinities including leadership, assertiveness and risk-taking. The theme of "masculinities in a feminine place" captured the gendered culture of nursing education which manifested in stereotypes and a sexualized identity, where men saw themselves as accommodated but not integrated. "Diversity between masculine and feminine" communicated the incongruity between men's educational preferences and the techniques that predominate in nursing education. These findings suggest that nursing instructors need to consider gender in their teaching practice, avoid parody or stereotypes of masculinities, and reject assumptions that male students are homogeneous.

Male nurses' experiences of providing intimate care for women clients

AIM

This paper reports a study of male nurses' experiences of providing intimate care for women clients.

BACKGROUND

The number of men entering the nursing profession has increased worldwide. As a consequence of the move to a more gender-balanced profession, debate has ensued over how intimate care should be performed when this requires male nurses to be physically close to women clients. As there was little previous work on this topic, we wished to provide nurses, clients and other healthcare professionals with a better understanding of male nurses' experiences of working with women clients and within a healthcare system where they often feel excluded.

METHOD

Semi-structured, open-ended interviews were conducted with male nurses working in various clinical settings in Western Australia. Latent content analysis was used to analyse the interviews, which were carried out between June and July 2004.

FINDINGS

Three themes were identified: the definition of intimate care, the emotional experience associated with providing intimate care and strategies used to assist in the delivery of intimate care for women clients. Providing intimate care for women clients was a challenging experience for male nurses. Participants described how it required them to invade these clients' personal space. Consequently, they often experienced various negative feelings and used several strategies to assist them during care delivery.

CONCLUSIONS

Nurse educators should assist male nurses to be better prepared to interact with women clients in various settings. Furthermore, workplace environments need to provide additional support and guidance for male nurses to enable them to develop effective coping strategies to manage challenging situations.

Gender-Based Barriers for Male Students in Nursing Education Programs: Prevalence and Perceived Importance

To meet the recent call to increase the number of nurses by recruiting men, nursing education programs will need to reduce gender-based barriers. No study found has adequately quantified the prevalence and perceived importance of barriers to men in nursing education programs. These barriers create an academic environment that is unfriendly to men. As such, I defined a new construct, "male friendliness," as a function of the presence and importance of these barriers. The aims of this study were to describe the prevalence and perceived importance of barriers and to develop a tool to measure male friendliness in nursing programs. A pilot tool addressing 33 barriers, which were obtained from the literature, my experience, and a panel of nurse educators, was mailed to 200 male nurses. The findings revealed that seven barriers were importantly different in prevalence between different subsamples of male nurses, and no barrier was rated unimportant by more than 20% of respondents. The similarities in findings between groups of male nurses, diverse in geography, school attendance, and graduation dates, suggest that the barriers men face in nursing school are pervasive, consistent, and have changed little over time. From the findings, the Inventory of Male Friendliness in Nursing Programs (IMFNP) was developed.

The nursing shortage in the United States of America: an integrative review of the literature

AIM

The aims of this paper are to review the literature to determine what factors are contributing to the nursing shortage in the United States of America (USA) and discuss possible solutions to this current and future nursing shortage.

BACKGROUND

The need for nurses is often depicted as cyclical in nature. Throughout history, the USA has experienced a series of nursing surpluses and shortages. However, the current shortage has been characterized as being unlike those experienced in the past. Trends of an ageing Registered Nurse (RN) workforce and limited supply to fill the impending vacancies are some of the unique aspects that bring a new dimension to an old problem. Today's nursing shortage will not be resolved by simply returning to the solutions of yesteryear, and strategies to reduce its impact will have to be more creative and focus on the long-term.

METHODS

Integrative literature review of published literature on the current nursing shortage in the USA from 1999 to 2001.

DISCUSSION

Four main areas were identified as the major contributors to the nursing shortage in the USA: the ageing RN workforce; declining enrollment; the changing work climate; and the poor image of nursing. Solutions to the shortage followed similar themes to the contributing factors and encompassed four main areas: exploring recruitment efforts; exploring retainment efforts; improving the image of nursing; and supporting legislation that helps to rectify the shortage.

CONCLUSION

There is firm evidence that the USA amidst a nursing shortage. Much is known about the many contributing factors but now nurses need to become proactive to help secure the future of their workforce. By forming partnerships within the profession and with other influential parties, nurses can be in the forefront of resolving their workforce issues.

The nursing shortage. Past, present, and future

According to healthcare experts, the present nursing shortage is going to extend to 2020 with an estimated 400,000 RN vacancies. A number of factors are contributing to the shortage: an increase in the age of registered nurses, decreased school enrollment, increased career opportunities for women, changes in the healthcare delivery system, nurse "burn-out," and the public's misunderstanding of what nurses do. Additionally, a number of social and economic trends are going to affect the healthcare delivery system in the future, such as: aging of the population, increased technology, the increase of the health/wellness movement, changes in employee's work ethic, influence of Generation X and dot.com workers, and scarcity of entry-level and low-wage workers. If nursing is going to be a major player in the healthcare delivery system in 2020, nurses must take an active role in developing and implementing a strategic plan. We need to look beyond solutions used in the past, such as increasing compensation and modifying school curriculums.