Barriers for Men In Nursing Education and Nursing Practice

David Hudson, MSN, RN

Synopsis of Barriers

• Gender • Stereotypes• Feminist Perspective of

Nursing• Workplace

Relationships• Intimacy

• Lack of Role Models• Perception of Lower

Salary• Discrimination• Communication

Differences

Hodes (2005)

• Stereotyping is top barrier to choosing nursing as a career

• Nursing viewed as a “female” profession

• Lack of role models

• Lack of guidance during high school

Hodes (cont.)

• Students experienced difficulties with education; minority gender

• Viewed as “muscle” by female colleagues

• Communication issues and problems with female colleagues

Hodes (cont.)

• Misrepresentation1-Male nurses are gay2-Nursing is a female profession3-Men are not caring

• Men are dissuaded from becoming nurses

Harding (2007)

• Persistent stereotype of the gay male nurse

• Actual meeting of homophobia

• Protection of heterosexuality by heterosexual male nurses

Harding (cont.)

• Study reported that the majority of nurses (men) identified as heterosexual

• Public view is that most male nurses are homosexual

O’Lynn (2007)

• Gender itself is a barrier

• People shape gendered constructions to be congruent with shared gender meanings and these constructions are considered to be normal

• Feminine paradigm in nursing education

O’Lynn (cont.)

• Lack of role models• Isolation• Gender biased language• Differential treatment• Different communication styles• Issues with touch and caring

James & Cinelli (2003)

• Men and women communicate differently-Inconsistent verbal/non-verbal

messages-Personal bias-Distraction-Age-Culture

Beamer & Varner (2008)

• Speech patterns

• Men tend to interrupt more frequently

• Men are more direct in the delivery of the message

Evans (1997)

• Stereotypical female traits

-Nurturing-Caring-Dependence-Submission

• Stereotypical male traits-Strength-Aggression-Dominance-Self-control-Objectivity

Evans (cont.)

• Masculine/feminine traits and roles are incompatible

• Men in “power roles”

• “so long as men in nursing feel a need to separate them from women, they will continue to designate certain issues to be feminine and will continue to need certain activities for “men only.”

O’Lynn (2007)

• Men in nursing education programs feel uncomfortable with touch and the concept of caring

• Students feel angry with faculty for not addressing these issues and concerns

Duffin (2006)

• Men in nursing feel isolated

• Feel embarrassed because they are not trained to provide intimate care for female clients

• Develop strategies to “blot out gender”; focus on the task not the person

Burton & Misener (2007)

• Media portrayal of nurses perpetuates stereotypes

• Nurses in the media portrayed as female• Those portrayed as male have negative

stereotype• Physician “wanna be”; failed medical school• Portrayed as gay or effeminate

Kelly, Shoemaker & Steele (1996)• Nursing is feminine profession

• Isolation

• Self-doubt

• Poor guidance in high school

• Being a nurse perceived as “unmanly”

• 1/3 of men questioned about their sexuality

Porter-O’Grady (2007)

• “Reverse discrimination” within nursing leadership

• Subordinate to physicians• 2nd class• Salary disparity between nursing & other

professions

Brady & Serrod (2003)

Some male nursing students have come to believe that nursing is a new way of thinking in that they must not only learn to think and practice like a nurse, they must also learn to

think and practice or act like women.

Ellis, Meeker & Hyde (2006)• Very few role models

• Perceived as lazy and underachievers

• Do not have intelligence to attend medical school

• Assumption of homosexuality

• Considered to be Power Hungry

ReferencesBeamer, L. and Varner, I. (2008). The Role of Language in Intercultural Business

Communication. Intercultural Communication: In the Global Workplace. 4th Ed. McGraw-Hill: Boston.

Bell-Scriber, M. (2008). Warming the nursing education climate for traditional-agelearners who are male. Nursing Education Research. 29(3). pp. 143-150.

Brady, M, and Sherrod, D. (2003). Retaining men in nursing programs designed for women.Faculty Forum. 42(4). pp. 159-162.

Duffin, C. (2006). Lack of Training in Intimate Care Adds to Male Nurses’ Isolation. NursingStandard. 20(52). p. 10.

Ellis, D.M., Meeker, B., and Hyde B. (2006). Exploring men’s perceived educational experiences in a baccalaureate program. Research Briefs. 45(12). pp. 523-526.

Evans, J. (1997). Men in Nursing: Issues of Gender Segregation and Hidden Advantage. Journal of Advanced Nursing. 26. Pp. 226-231.

ReferencesEvans, J. (2002). Cautious Caregivers: Gender Stereotypes and the Sexualization of Men Nurses’

Touch. Journal of Advanced Nursing. 40(4). Pp. 441-448.Genua, J., (2005). The vision of male nurses: Roles, barriers and stereotypes. Interactions.

pp. 4-7.Harding, T. (2007). The Construction of Men Who are Nurses as Gay. Journal of Advanced

Nursing. August, 2007. pp. 639-641.Hodes, B. (2005). Men in Nursing Study. Bernard Hodes Group.James, T. and Cinelli, B. (2003). Exploring Gender-Based Communication Styles. Journal of

School Health. 73(1). pp. 41-42.Kelly, N., Shoemaker, M., and Steele, T. (1996). The experience of being a male student nurse.

Journal of Nursing Education. 35(4). pp. 170-174.Nero, C. (2004). Black Queer Identity, Imaginative Rationality, and the Language of Home.

Our Voices: Essays in Culture, Ethnicity, and Communication. (4th Ed.). RoxburyPublishing Company: Los Angeles, California.

O’Lynn, C. (2004). Gender-based barriers for male students in nursing education programs: Prevalence and perceived importance. Journal of Nursing Education. 43(5). pp. 229-236.

O’Lynn, C. (2007). Gender-based barriers for male students in nursing education programs.Men in Nursing: History, Challenges and Opportunities. pp. 169-187. SpringerPublishing: New York.

RefernecesO’Lynn, C. (2007). History of Men in Nursing: A Review. Men in

Nursing: HistoryChallenges and Opportunities. pp. 5-41. Springer Publishing: New York.

Porter-O’Grady, T. (2007). Reverse Discrimination in Nursing Leadership: Hitting theConcrete Ceiling. Men in Nursing: History, Challenges and Opportunities. pp. 143-151. Springer Publishing: New York.

Yoshimura, C. and Hayden, S. (2007). The Effects of Gender on Communication and Workplace Relations. Men in Nursing: History, Challenges and Opportunities. pp. 103-120. Springer Publishing: New York