In today’s world, different aspects of human life seem to be sectioned off to specific groups of people. These social niches have lingered around communities throughout the world for centuries. Most of them are diminishing except for a couple of professions. Amongst the few is the field of nursing. Nursing is an extremely undiversified field due to the current social belief of the profession and the long history that the field has imprinted on American soil.
In current time, the nursing profession consists of predominantly females, with only one out of every ten nurses being male. The field of nursing needs to be diversified through the abolishment of old social standards and the implementation of the more male nurses into healthcare facilities around the world. Contrary to one’s beliefs, the field of nursing was not always a female-oriented profession.
In fact, before the American Civil War, nurses were five times more likely to be a male than a female. This was because women in this time period were meant to stay home and care for the children. This all changed at the start of the Civil War. At this time, many women in America were made aware of an English hero by the name of Florence Nightingale, a female that founded the movement for women to enter the field of nursing during the Crimean War in England. When the news reached America, it initiated the start of women nurses.
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According to Women Nurses in the Civil War, “At the beginning of the war, Union Army leadership realized that they needed more medical staff and decided to accept women nurses to fill the gap.” Because most of the men were out fighting in the war, the conflict was met with one answer, to recruit the women that were at home to help with the wounded soldiers. Although there was a lot of pushback for having women in a male’s profession, their help was needed without question. However, the drastic shift from male to female nurses was not offset until World War I.
During this time, the American Red Cross released numerous propaganda posters directed towards the stay-at-home women in America to persuade them to join as an American Red Cross (ARC) Nurse. These posters consisted of brave female nurses helping wounded soldiers on the battlefield. Within a short time, these posters were a useful tool in recruiting thousands of needed hands to the battlefield.
According to the PBS article, American Nurses in World War 1, there were over ten thousand female nurses recruited between 1917 and 1919. The heavy push by the American Red Cross throughout World War I and World War II lead to the drastic shift in who occupied the majority of the profession. Nearly a century later, these statistics have not changed. In 2015 The National Nursing Workforce Study outlined that only 14.1% of male nurses occupy the workforce currently. Because of these unbalanced statistics, male nurses on average are expected to make 72,000 dollars annually, compared to female nurses, who make approximately 64,000 dollars a year.
Although this current percentage is low, one may be surprised to know that this is the highest percentage in over a century. The upward trend began in the early 2000s, where only 5.8% of nurses were male. With these extremely low statistics, the Oregon Center for Nursing (OCN) decided enough was enough. In 2002, they released one of the first male-oriented nursing flyers across the country. The poster depicted a group of men, differing in age and appearance in their everyday clothes with the caption, “Are You Man Enough to Be a Nurse?”
This poster allowed the slow advancement of males into the field of nursing to begin, as it showed that not all nurses are depicted as being feminine. As the prevalence of these posters began to rise, the group American Assembly for Men in Nursing, founded in 1971, began to increase its role in the nursing community. This organization, only focusing on diversifying the nursing profession with more males, has started up numerous campaigning ideas to increase the interest for males. Initiatives have started, using posters, social media campaigns, and scholarships for males in undergraduate and graduate nursing programs.
Their most recent campaign is called the “20 X 20 Choose Nursing Program” The program is named 20 X 20 because the American Assembly of Men in Nursing has set a goal to have twenty percent of the nursing workforce occupied by men in the year 2020. Their efforts involve an annual male nursing convention to discuss updated statistics and new medical practices to advance their knowledge of medicine.
The program also sponsors the Minority Nurse magazine, a magazine oriented towards minority groups, where they talk about common issues, along with tips and tricks for nurses just entering the field. As women continue to occupy most positions in the nursing profession, one may ask, so what? What benefits do we have for having more males in nursing? According to Doctor Joel Sherman, a urologist in New York, and an advocate for male nurses, he states, “Patients prefer gender-specific medical care as seen with women preferring to receive obstetrics and gynecology care from women and 30-50% of men prefer male healthcare providers to perform urology exams but unfortunately 90% of nurses, technicians and assistants still remain women, leaving little choice for men to have care provided to by men.”
In so many cases healthcare providers see a continuing trend of patients wanting someone of the same sex to provide them with medical care. In fact, Dr. Sherman continues to say that gender preference is exacerbated when adolescents are involved. He adds, “Age is a consideration with adolescents preferring same gender care in greater numbers than adults.” This shows that there is no question as to why male nurses are needed. In conclusion, stereotypes and the history of nurses has classified women as the well-known poster child for the profession.
Although current statistics continue to depict low numbers for male nurses, numerous modern movements have taken the initiative to promote the nursing profession to males. This has slowly initiated an upward trend and will continue to do so until nurses are better-diversified.
Works Cited
- “20 x 20 Choose Nursing.” American Association for Men in Nursing, www.aamn.org/resources/aamn-resources/20×20-choose-nursing.
- “American Nursing: An Introduction to the Past.” Barbara Bates Center for the Study of the History of Nursing • Penn Nursing, www.nursing.upenn.edu/nhhc/american-nursing-an-introduction-to-the-past/.
- Anderson, Don. “Man Enough: Recruiting Men into Nursing School.” CollegeXpress, www.collegexpress.com/interests/health-medicine/articles/life-health-science-major/man-enough-recruiting-men-nursing/.
- “Florence Nightingale.” Biography.com, A&E Networks Television, 27 Feb. 2018, www.biography.com/people/florence-nightingale-9423539.
- Gaydos, Jaclyn. “My Scope of Practice: A Retrospective: The Civil War Nurse.” Nutrition 411: Calculating Your Patients’ Caloric Needs | Ostomy Wound Management, 4 Oct. 2016, www.o-wm.com/article/retrospective-civil-war-nurse.
- Jones, Marian. “American Nurses in World War I.” PBS, Public Broadcasting Service, www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/the-great-war-american-nurses-world-war-1/.
- “Minority Nurse Winter/Spring 2016.” Minority Nurse, minoritynurse.com/minority-nurse-winterspring-2016/.
- Monroe, Isaiah, and Maureen Kroning. “It Is Time to Recruit More Men into the Profession of Nursing.” RN Journal – Journal of Nursing, rn-journal.com/journal-of-nursing/time-to-recruit-more-men-into-the-profession-of-nursing.
- “National Nursing Workforce Study.” NCSBN, www.ncsbn.org/workforce.htm.
- “What Is the Demand for Male Nurses?” Best Master of Science in Nursing Degrees, www.bestmasterofscienceinnursing.com/faq/demand-male-nurses/.
- “Why Are There so Few Men in Nursing?” Nursing Times, 3 Mar. 2008, www.nursingtimes.net/why-are-there-so-few-men-in-nursing/849269.article.
- “Women Nurses in the Civil War.” Civil War Women, ahec.armywarcollege.edu/exhibits/CivilWarImagery/Civil_War_Nurses.cfm.
