“I am called girl, but that doesn’t matter” -perspectives of male nurses regarding gender-related advantages and disadvantages in professional development

Abstract

Background Exploration of professional development experiences of male nurses can help develop evidence-based strategies to attract males into nursing. The study aims to investigate the advantages and disadvantages of being a male in nursing profession that male nurses and male nursing students experience in their professional development. Methods A descriptive qualitative research was designed. Purposive sampling was applied and 24 males (12 nursing students and 12 clinical nurses) participated. Semi-structured individual interviews were used in data collection. Thematic analysis was used in data analysis. Results Professional development of male nurses was related to three interplayed identities: a man, a nurse, and a minority. Three themes emerged relating to the professional development of the males: “feeling role strains” “taking perceived advantage of masculine traits” and “taking an egalitarian viewpoint”. There was no clear line between the gender-related advantages and disadvantages as factors influencing professional development can be turned by the males from barriers to facilitators. Conclusions Male nurses perceive nursing as equally suitable for males and females and make use of masculine traits to thrive in their professional development.

Professional success of men in the nursing workforce: An integrative review

“…Both Blackley et al (2019) and Santos and Amâncio (2019) reported that men were being pushed away from direct patient care by continual negative stereotyping due to the feminizing of the nursing profession, resulting in role conflict among men (Blackley et al, 2019; Schubert, 1997; Whittock & Leonard, 2003). In addition, men were also reported to experience being pulled away from direct clinical care to non‐clinical roles within and outside the nursing profession (Mao et al, 2021; Schubert, 1997; Williams, 1995).…”

“…Of the 12 studies, five were quantitative and employed cross‐sectional designs (Anderson, 1987; Andrews et al, 2012; Brown & Jones, 2004; Liu et al, 2015; Lou et al, 2010; Schubert, 1997); six studies used qualitative approaches (Blackley et al, 2019; Mao et al, 2021; Santos & Amâncio, 2019; Whittock & Leonard, 2003; Williams, 1995; Wingfield, 2009) including phenomenology (Blackley et al, 2019) and descriptive qualitative (Mao et al, 2021). Four studies (Santos & Amâncio, 2019; Whittock & Leonard, 2003; Williams, 1995; Wingfield, 2009) did not explicitly state the qualitative approach used.…”

Knowledge, attitude, and use of protective measures against COVID-19 among nurses: a questionnaire-based multicenter cross-sectional study

“…These findings were consistent with those reported in previous studies in which there were differences in knowledge between male and female nurses in different countries including knowledge about COVID-19 [ 22 , 29 , 41 , 43 , 45 – 47 ]. Traditionally, nursing was viewed as more suitable for female nurses, however, recent qualitative studies have reported that male nurses perceive the profession equally suitable compared to their female counterparts [ 63 ]. Probably, more studies are needed to understand why female nurses tend to score more in knowledge tests compared to male nurses and how to improve knowledge of male nurses in certain domains to thrive in their professional development.…”

Factors influencing intention to stay of male nurses: A descriptive predictive study

“…In China, the medical equipment in university hospitals exemplifies advanced high technology, and the challenge of technology and modern equipment motivates male nurses. Female nurses are also expected to have more male nurses to assist them in operating medical equipment and devices in special nursing units (Mao et al, 2021). Therefore, male nurses feel that they are valuable to their unit and organization, leading to greater job satisfaction, resulting in perceived ITS.…”