Where are the men in nursing

Men in NursingWhere are the
Men in
Nursing?
Where are the Men
in Nursing?
Peter Kellett BN RN
Academic Assistant/Practice Course
Coordinator NESA -University of Lethbridge
Memorial University of NL – Graduate Student

Men in
Nursing?
Proportion of Men in Nursing
in Canada
(CNA, 2005)

Men in
Nursing?
(CNA, 2005)

Men in
Nursing?
Alberta 2006: RNs Employed in Registered
Nursing
2003 2006 Alta. Canada
23,964 25,881 25,881 252,948
__________________________________
Sex 2003 2006
Male 820 (4.0%) 1,032 (5.6%)
Female 23,144 (96%) 24,849 (94.4%)
The Alberta Picture

Men in
Nursing?
Contributing Factors to Low Numbers

Men in
Nursing?
Historical Influences
Men were involved in the care of the sick
throughout documented history
• Male slaves in ancient Greece
• Roman soldiers on the battlefield
• Middle Ages: military nursing orders
•Knights of St. Lazarus
• Knights Templars
•Teutonic Knights
• Non-military monastic orders
• 1095 Brothers of St. Antony
• 1629 Jesuit missionaries were the first
men to provide care to the French
Colonists and Aboriginal Peoples in
Canada -72 yrs
(Bartfay, 2007; Brown, Nolan, &
Crawford, 2000; Evans, 2004)

Men in
Nursing?
• 18th
and early 19th
century: men cared for male
patients in English charity hospitals – particularly
potentially violent patient populations such as those
that may experience psychiatric disorders
• Negative turn for men in mid- 19th
century (Victorian
Era)
– Florence Nightingale – promoted nursing as a woman’s
profession (felt men did not have the capacity to be
nurses and promoted nursing as an extension of women’s
domestic roles)  Reinforced the gender based power
structure
– Shift in perception of masculinity  emphasis on the
avoidance of sensitivity, nurturing, and emotion.
– Victorian society emphasized separation of gender and a
clear division of labor between the sexes
– Apprenticeship /residential model of nursing education
presented a barrier for men
This resulted in a significant
decrease in men’s participation in
nursing
(Brown et al., 2000; Evans, 2004)

Men in
Nursing?
• When self-regulation of British Nursing
began in 1919  Men were restricted to
a separate register (Evans, 2004).
Persisted until mid- 1950s.
• Men’s role in nursing was redirected from
general nursing tasks to the care of the
mentally ill (Evans)
• Men frequently received less education
and training  Society of Male registered
Nurses formed in 1937 to address this
(Evans)

Men in
Nursing?
Picture in Canada
• In 1951 only 0.33% of all Canadian
RNs were men and by 1966 this had
only increased to 0.45% (Bartfay, 2007;
Care, Gregory, English, & Venkatesh, 1996)
• In 1961 only 25 of 170 Canadian
nursing schools would accept men
(Care et al.; Evans, 2004)
• Canadian Military did not grant
commissioned officer status to men
until 1967 (Care et al.; Evans).
• In 1969 the province of Quebec finally
allowed men to be registered as
nurses (Care et al.; Evans)

Men in
Nursing?
(Washington University School of Medicine, 2004)

Men in
Nursing?
Recruitment
• Repeated calls to increase #s of Men
in nursing since the early 20th
century
(Evans, 2004; Meadus & Twomey, 2007).
• Attracting men to the profession has
been suggested as one strategy to
help address the global nursing
shortage (Armstrong, 2002; Bartfay & Davis,
2001; Evans; Meadus, 2000; Meadus & Twomey,
2007; Sherrod, Sherrod, & Rasch, 2005; Tosh-
Kennedy, 2007; Villeneuve, 1994)
• Strong case to increase #s of men to
reflect society’s cultural and gender
diversity (Sullivan, 2000).

Men in
Nursing?
Factors Effecting Recruitment
• Association of nursing as a female
profession public perception
• Men may not consider nursing a viable
option because of perception that it will
place their masculinity in question (Evans &
Frank, 2003; Meadus, 2000)
• Societal view that female professions are
less important or a step down lack of
support for the choice of nursing as a
career (Evans & Frank; Williams, 2003).
• Association with femininity  stereotype
of homosexuality dissonance re choice
(Bartfay, 2007; Evans, 2002, Meadus, Meadus &
Twomey, 2007; Whittock & Leonard, 2003)

Men in
Nursing?
• Supportive Factors to Recruitment
– Opportunity to help people “a
calling”
– Salary
– Job Security
– Career Opportunities
– Opportunity to travel
– Presence of a nursing role model
such as a family member
(Bartfay, 2007; Kelly et al., 1996; Meadus, 2000;
Meadus & Twomey, 2007, Villeneuve, 1994;
Whittock & Leonard, 2003)

Men in
Nursing?
• Place emphasis on supportive
factors
• Debunk stereotypes and myths
about men in nursing
• Increase the visibility of male
nursing role models in the media
(often popular media images are
less than ideal)
• Present nursing as a viable career
option to young men in high school
career counseling
• Even popular nursing recruitment
campaigns have some problems

Men in
Nursing?

Men in
Nursing?
Original Media Campaign by Oregon

Men in
Nursing?
Used by Georgia Nursing Consortium as a
recruitment poster –”Are you Man Enough to be
a Nurse?”

Men in
Nursing?
Australian Campaign
promoting men in nursing

Men in
Nursing?
Retention
• There is some anecdotal evidence
to suggest that attrition among
male nursing students is higher than
that seen in women (Bartfay, 2007;
Brady & Sherrod, 2003; Tosh-
Kennedy, 2007; Villeneuve, 1994)
• Not tracked by CNA or most nursing
schools
• Retention is significantly influenced
by men’s experiences during their
nursing education and practice

Men in
Nursing?
EXPERIENCES IN
EDUCATION AND
PRACTICE ENVIRONMENTS

Men in
Nursing?
Acceptance of Men in the
Nursing Profession
• Inconsistency regarding the acceptance of
men in the profession
– Range from outright support – to caution
and criticism of men’s participation in the
profession
– Men may experience opposition or ridicule
regarding their career choice from family or
social network
– Ontario study by Bartfay and Bartfay (2007)
identified that men students felt there were
perceived low levels of acceptance in their
program, while female colleagues felt
acceptance was high.

Men in
Nursing?
Gender-biased Practices in
Nursing Education
• Overt support for men on a policy level
• Nursing textbooks frequently fail to
acknowledge the role of men in the
profession and use female identifiers e.g.
“she” (Anthony, 2004; Brown et al., 2000; Evans, 2004;
Keogh & O’Lynn, 2007; O’Lynn, 2004, 2007a)
• One size fits all approach  promotes
the idea of equality by fails to
acknowledge potentially different
learning and communication skills that
diversity brings

Men in
Nursing?
Different Expectations
• Men students frequently feel that
there are different expectations on
them and that they are under greater
scrutiny due to minority status (Anthony,
2004; Evans, 1997; Kelly et al., 1996; Paterson et al.,1996)
• Some report that peers expected them
to be more assertive or display
leadership qualities (Kelly et al., 1996)
• Men are often expected to take on
physical roles (e.g. heavy lifting,
security or enforcer) – ambivalence
(Evans; Kelly et al.)
– Potentially undermines the perception of men as acceptable
caregivers (Evans).

Men in
Nursing?
Gender-based Restrictions on Practice
• Obstetrics & Gynecology is traditionally
the most restricted practice area (Anthony,
2004; Morin et al., 1999; Okrainec, 1994)
• Refusal by female clients to have men
care for them – often precipitated by
female instructors or colleagues (Paterson et
al., 1996) Why?
– Men viewed as a potential threat
– Men’s touch is often sexualized (Evans, 2002)
– Men may be considered less acceptable in
OB/GYN because relationship with nurses
is more intimate than with physicians (Morin
et al.)
– Greater comfort with older students,
married, parents, those displaying
professionalism, friendliness, and
confidence (Morin et al.)

Men in
Nursing?
Cautious Caregiving & the
Sexualization of Men Nurses’ Touch
• In nursing, perception that effective caring requires
demonstration of compassion and caring through
touch – problematic for men
• Danger that men’s touch will be misinterpreted as
sexual misconduct (Anthony, 2004; Evans 2002; Keogh & Gleeson,
2006; Keogh & O’Lynn, 2007; O’Lynn, 2004, 2007a, 2007b; Paterson et al.,
1996, Tillman, 2008)
• Men nurses fear sexual allegations (Keogh & O’Lynn; O’Lynn,
2004). 45% of men nursing graduates between 1992
and 2002 report this fear (O’Lynn, 2007b)
• Not limited to the care of women. Because of the
stereotype that men nurses are homosexual there
are also challenges caring for men and children (false
association of homosexuality with sexual predation
and pedophilia (Evans, 2002)
• Implication that men’s touch is allways potentially
sexual in nature (Evans, 2002)

Men in
Nursing?
• Little if any instruction regarding the
appropriate use of touch in nursing
education. O’Lynn (2007b) in a survey
of 111 men nurses noted that 69% of
graduates between 1992 and 2002
had received no instruction on the
appropriate use of touch.
• Men nursing students often report
that female instructors do not always
understand the challenges that they
are having with touch (Paterson et
al., 1996)
Cautious Caregiving & the
Sexualization of Men Nurses’ Touch

Men in
Nursing?
Influence on Men’s Practice Area
• Men often select certain practice
specialties including:
– Psychiatry
– Anesthesiology
– Critical/Intensive care
– Emergency care
(Evans, 1997)
• Frequently cited as an example of
men’s relative advantage, but may be
a result of challenges with touch and
intimate care. These specialties often
associated with high tech, low touch
(Evan, 1997)

Men in
Nursing?
Social Isolation
• Men nurses and students
sometimes express feelings of
loneliness and social isolation
(Kelly et al., 1996)
– Social exclusion such as not being
invited to some student social
events (O’Lynn, 2007)
– Few male colleagues and teaching
faculty in many cases (O’Lynn, 2007)

Men in
Nursing?
QUESTIONS ?

Where are the men in nursing

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