Why more men should consider nursing as possible career option

Graphic by Elly Herrick, Editor-in-Chief

Article by Sal Montemurro, Webmaster & Staff Writer

        Sal Montemurro

Why is nursing so female dominated? Why are there so few men in nursing? As we strive for gender equality in the workforce, why is it that historically the nursing profession in the United States has been so heavily female dominated?

Nursing is a wide open field, and more men should look into joining the profession. Gender equality has helped women break into many professions. But, it also should help bring men into more fields that they otherwise haven’t explored.

Increasingly, more men are deciding to go into a medical career and become a nurse. Yet women still outweigh them at a ratio of about 10 to 1. That’s quite a lot. According to Nursing & Midwifery Council figures, one in 10 nurses registered in the past year are male, a figure that has remained static for four years.

Though there’s been a rise in men entering the nursing profession in the last few decades, growth is slow. This may be due to the fact that some nurses believe that the profession is still seen as a feminine one. Even though gender equality is becoming more widespread throughout our nation, there’s still a stigma that exists when it comes to men being nurses.

In reality, the gender of your healthcare provider really shouldn’t matter in any field of work. As long as someone has the right amount of qualifications and training, and the said staff are good with people. It shouldn’t make a difference whether they are male or female. That shouldn’t interfere with the decisions you make when choosing a career for yourself.

Men who do end up joining the nursing profession go after jobs that are deemed as more “acceptable” jobs for men, such as intensive care nurses, theater nursing (nurses whose primary focus is operations and surgeries) and accident/emergency nurses. These positions are seen as more “macho” or “manly” than other areas of the profession such as women’s health and midwifery (labor and delivery).

And even those men admit that their career choice has turned heads, raised eyebrows, and caused doubts in their abilities. The public reactions can be a barrier that prevents men from entering the nursing profession at all.

Like in every profession where there is a minority group, there are times male nurses will more than likely face judgment, hate, and discrimination.

While both male and female nurses face the same low-level starting salary, for men it may be more of a disincentive because, on average, they earn more than women in other professions. And if we were to put more men in nursing, there could be new unfairness like every other profession out there, thanks to our “friend” the wage gap.

So do we really need more men in nursing? The answer to that question is still yes. All services, medical and other, should reflect the community they serve. We should be able to walk into a hospital and see a reflection of our country’s ethnic mix. So why shouldn’t that apply to gender as well?

Nursing is one of those professions that always seems to be in high demand. Male nurses shouldn’t be anything new, and some male patients may actually appreciate and prefer male nurses. Male nurses can help bring greater diversity to the medical field.

But until gender stereotypes stop preventing men from entering the nursing profession, the gender imbalance is likely to continue.