Lived experiences of male nurses: Dire consequences for the nursing profession

Abstract

The current and impending nursing shortage is well documented in the literature. Nursing needs to look at alternative strategies to meet the demands faced by the nursing shortage in both practice and education. One strategy would be to increase the number of men in nursing. While the percentage of men in nursing has increased incrementally, male nurses are underrepresented in nursing constituting approximately 9.6% of the nursing workforce. Two independent studies resulted in strikingly similar findings suggesting that male nurses are experiencing discrimination, lack of support, and dissatisfaction in the educational and practice environments. To increase the recruitment and retention of men in nursing it is imperative that this critical problem be addressed by nurse educators, managers, and practitioners at every level.

Exploring attitudes of acceptance of males in nursing among registered nurses

“…Canadian male ICU nurses also express a desire to experience a sense of comradery with their female colleagues as a means of stress reduction and protection from burnout (Wu et al, ). However, this is challenging to establish since male nurses from the United States, Canada, and Australia report experiencing various forms of opposition including bullying, negative appraisals of their abilities or performance, and gender‐based stereotyping from their female nurse colleagues (Kronsberg, Bouret, & Brett, ; Rajacich et al, ; Simpson, ). To overcome this obstacle, male nurses report working harder and portraying themselves in a heroic manner in an attempt to appear more competent (Rajacich et al, ; Sayman, ) and subscribing to personally uncomfortable communication and conflict resolution styles in order to better assimilate within the group (McDowell, ).…”

The working experiences of male nurses in China: Implications for male nurse recruitment and retention

“…Several studies focused on the attitudes of patients and female colleagues towards male nurses and found that gender discrimination remained relatively prevalent in the nursing profession (Adeyemi‐Adelanwa, Barton‐Gooden, Dawkins, & Lindo, ; Gedzyk‐Nieman & Svoboda, ). Male nurses experienced discrimination, isolation and difficulties in their working environment and were dissatisfied with the practice environment (Kouta & Katie, ; Kronsberg, Bouret, & Brett, ); meanwhile, they actively adopted strategies such as working in specialized or technical wards to adapt to the nursing profession (Miller, ). Another strand of the literature found that being a minority in the profession was an advantage to male nurses.…”

Male nurses' views of gender in the nurse–family relationship in paediatric care

“…The fact that care has historically been associated with femininity has limited men's entry into nursing (Christiansen ; MacWilliams et al ). For example, men were only 1.8% of nurses in China in 2012 (Zhang & Liu ), 9.6% in the United States in 2013 (Kronsberg et al, ) and 16.7% in Spain in 2017 (INE ). Spain's relatively high percentage of male nurses may be due to historical factors, given that the title of practicante (‘professional male medical auxiliary technician’) has been officially recognized in Spain since 1888 (Bernabeu‐Mestre ).…”

“…These tasks are often considered to belong ‘naturally’ to women, because of their biological and reproductive functions. Although scholars have pointed out the biological reductionism of these views, they continue to feed gender stereotypes (Forsman & Barth ; Kronsberg et al, ). As a result, men who study nursing risk having their masculinity questioned (Evans ; Forsman & Barth ; Liu & Li ) because they engage in a ‘feminine’ profession (Zhang & Liu ).…”

“…Gender stereotypes also perpetuate the idea that men are ill‐equipped to provide care (Ross ) or show compassion and sensitivity (Ross ; Zhang & Liu ). Instead, male nurses are described as more rational than relational (Guilligan ), and their main traits are putatively competitiveness and aggressiveness (Kronsberg et al, ). These supposed traits of male nurses would explain their high representation in technology‐intensive areas of nursing (MacWilliams et al ) and in work with critical patients (Wu et al, ).…”