Male Nurses: The Answer To A Nationwide Nursing Shortage?

The nursing field has always been one that is dominated by female professionals. You may think that it is just a socially acceptable profession for a woman, but in all actuality even the educators have always focused on females. Nursing college books almost always referred to a nurse as her/she and the patients as he/him. As little as ten years ago it was very rare to see a male working as a nurse, but today males are becoming more of a presence in the nursing profession.

Approximately 7% of the nurses working in the United States are males. While this may appear to be a low percentage it is a great increase from only 2% in 1985 and 4% in 1995. More and more men are entering the workforce as both LPN's and RN's and are not the rarity that they once were. Many males are now becoming nurses because of the high demand, greater than average income, and flexible schedules.

With the extreme nursing shortage throughout the United States, could the answer be to recruit and educate more males? Many colleges think so. Most colleges are now attempting to recruit more male students by making them more aware of the advantages that the nursing field provides. The nursing field provides a wide variation of specialties and career opportunities with unlimited advancement opportunities.

It is obvious that there are not enough women in the field to end the nursing shortage. As more men obtain careers as nurses, it becomes increasingly more acceptable. Nursing has an obvious prejudicial imbalance between the sexes, but like all battles for equality, it will improve and eventually become equal for both sexes. We are currently recruiting our nurses from just a little over 50% of our population. Imagine the increase in the number of working nurses if we were able to recruit from 100% of the population without fear of prejudice and/or stereotyping. It seems a shame to only be tapping into half of our labor resources when there is a critical shortage of nurses.

There is no reason why men should not be in the nursing field. Even though it has historically been female dominated, it requires physical strength, the ability to handle stressful situations professionally, and the desire to help those in need. After all, don't most young boys dream of being heroes when they grow up? Nurses are one of the least acknowledged heroes, but saving the life of a child or anyone else in a dire situation, is all the reward and acknowledgement they need.

If you are a man who: is looking for a career that you can enjoy, wants to make a good income, desires a position with advancement opportunities, and maybe even wants to be a hero, then consider a nursing career. The possibilities are endless, the job rewarding, and the opportunities abound.