Men in Nursing

By Jesse Kesler

In 1990 the number of men in nursing was approximately 3% of all the nurses in the U.S. and in 2010 that number has doubled to 6%. Obviously men make up far more than 6% of the population or the work force in general. Why then, do we have so few men in nursing? Especially, when approximately 800 years ago, men were the primary providers of nursing care?

History tells us that nursing care, such as it was, was often provided by religious orders comprised entirely of men. During the Crusades the Knights Hospitalers provided medical and nursing care to the crusaders. They were strictly a male order.

Over time the role of nurse devolved. The duties of a nurse were relegated to “drunkards and women of ill-repute”. How nursing care went from being a kindness performed by religious monks to being a shameful task fit only for the most disreputable members of society is somewhat of a mystery. But, that was the state of nursing until sometime in the early 1800’s.

During the 1800’s women of strong beliefs and character radically transformed the nursing and medical landscape with radical ideas about sanitation, fresh air, and exercise. Women such as Dorthea Dix and Florence Nightingale and countless others transformed nursing into a well respected profession and a science. It became a profession that was considered to be the province of women. Nursing was a profession that was nurturing, compassionate and caring. These were all traits that were not considered to be manly. Not only that, men couldn’t possibly be nurturing, as that was not something men did by nature.

The late 19th Century and early 20th Century saw the development of the modern hospital capable of caring for hundreds of patients at a time. Large numbers of workers who could provide that care were needed. Women were an ideal source of the laborers that hospitals needed as they could be hired for much less than a man. And it was assumed that men were not suited for the work.

The 20th Century changed a lot of things that we believed about women, men and our society. Men were found to be just as compassionate and caring as women. But, at the same time, when there could have been more men in nursing other factors worked to keep them out. Of course, there were societal pressure and expectations. There is still a stereotype that men in nursing are feminine, or homosexual, or just somehow less manly. Low wages and more glamorous jobs with better wages served to keep men from entering the profession also. Another factor that researchers, men in nursing and even women aknowledge is a there is a subtle bias in nursing. Some would describe it as women wanting to keep the nursing profession “for women only”. Men have described being met with hostility, gender bias, and discrimination from other nurses in the profession.

Additionally, the potential for upward mobility in nursing is very minimal. The rungs on the career ladder of the average clinical nurse have only about 3 rungs. There are usually only about 5 positions above a clinical or staff nurse. The positions are charge nurse, assistant head nurse, head nurse of a department, chief of a division and Chief Nursing officer of the hospital. Most nurses never make it higher than head nurse. So for the average nurse there are only 3 promotions before you top out on your career ladder. There are lots of opportunities for lateral career movement. A clinical bedside nurse can become a diabetic educator but the salary will likely stay the same or decrease. There are lots of examples of lateral career movement.

So, social stigma, low wages, discrimination and poor career mobility are all factors that influence how many men will be attracted to the nursing field. When you look at it like that you might wonder why men come into nursing at all.