Why Are There So Few Male Nurses In Hospital? (Term Paper Sample)

Why are there so few male nurses in hospital?
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Executive summary
The report was motivated by the wonder regarding the few number of men pursuing nursing more so taking into consideration of the history of nursing that gives it that men have been in the nursing discipline for long. In the countries like New Zealand, men started to gain similar nursing experiences as their female counterparts in the mid-seventies (Armstrong, 2002, 24).
Men in the treatment profession are still unusual as they are viewed to be working in a female dominated occupation; their masculinity has been questioned by certain myths like the notion that all males in the clinical occupation are gay. Some people also believe that compassionate is a hectic duty for men and is viewed in the world to be a female job. But then, these matters are greatly related to overriding views of masculinity. Due to such notions, currently there is a catastrophe concerning nursing shortage, and there is a suggestion that to solve the situation there is need to encourage more men to join the nursing field (Armstrong, 2002, 27). Such issues then justify the purpose of this report on why there are so few male nurses in a hospital.
Men choosing to nurse as a profession risk stimulating their old gender stereotype parts. Deep search into various literature in different fields provide so many issues above the common assumptions that can lead to a conclusion that nursing is not a masculine field (Armstrong, 2002, 26). Deep search into the issues regarding gender while basing our focus on manliness has explained the notion of hegemonic manliness. It is concerned with describing the practice of gender in such a way that it legalizes patriarchy, which reinforces the dominant place of men taking women under consideration for the men. It is the male-controlled attitudes that accounts for the marginalization of men in nursing.
Contents TOC \o "1-3" \h \z \u Executive summary PAGEREF _Toc481305221 \h 2Introduction PAGEREF _Toc481305222 \h 4Underrepresentation of males in nursing PAGEREF _Toc481305223 \h 4Causes of underrepresentation of males in nursing PAGEREF _Toc481305224 \h 5Characteristic of males entering the nursing profession PAGEREF _Toc481305225 \h 5Motivation of men to enter into nursing PAGEREF _Toc481305226 \h 6Challenges for males getting to nursing PAGEREF _Toc481305227 \h 6Why the underrepresentation is an issue of concern PAGEREF _Toc481305228 \h 7Conclusions PAGEREF _Toc481305229 \h 10Recommendations PAGEREF _Toc481305230 \h 11Bibliography PAGEREF _Toc481305231 \h 12
Introduction
Women have successfully crossed and fitted in the earlier male dominated careers. Due to this, there has been an increased choice for the women concerning careers. On the contrary, the case is not the same for men as they are not crossing to pursue the female-dominated professions like nursing. Due to the imbalance, there is a crisis concerning nursing shortage, and for it to be solved, there is need to encourage more men to the pursue nursing. At the same time, men are viewed as challenging the normal masculine ideal. Nevertheless, men practicing nursing may not be challenging the hegemonic maleness; instead, they are often associating the prominence with the aim of maintaining their masculinity (Meadus &Twomey, 2011, 269).
The aim of this report is to examine and explain the underrepresentation of men in treatment in New Zealand. Explain why the underrepresentation of men in nursing is an issue of concern and also provide recommendations regarding how the situation could be diverted (Wang, Li, Hu, Chen, Gao, Zhao et al. 2011, 37).
Underrepresentation of males in nursing
Even though there is a rise regarding the number of men getting to the treatment profession, the upsurge in the fraction of men pursuing nursing has not been significant. In the United States and Canada for instance, the men in the nursing field are only 5% of the total nurses. In Ireland and New Zealand men only represent 4% and 10% of the registered nurses respectively (Birse & Lane, 2002, 2o). In New Zealand, especially in the last periods of war, i.e. 1985 to 1988, about 50% of the students admitted to pursue nursing profession were male; but then, after the conflict, the number reduced drastically to about 20% (Okrainec, 1994, 96). As much as the amount of men entering the nursing occupation is growing, there is continued the existence of gender imbalance as more males tend to leave the profession, unlike their female counterparts. Poor nursing image and ambiguous social status regarding nursing have been cited as the major causes of the underrepresentation of male in the nursing profession among others (Birse & Lane, 2002, 21). There are also societal and educational barriers caused the underrepresentation of men in nursing occupation; recruitment is another issue, career choice, as well as role strain, has been cited too.
Causes of underrepresentation of males in nursing
Characteristic of males entering the nursing profession
Most of the expressive researchers are concerned with the motivations of the men getting to the nursing occupation. The men who get to pursue nursing career were some time back married, but then they were older than their wives, likewise they mostly belong to the low-to-middle class, while some joined nursing from other careers (Boughn, 200, 14-15). However, in countries like New Zealand, students take a national entrance examination, for them to join the University. The report has it that most males get disappointed after learning that nursing is their major (MacDougall, 1997, 809). A study piloted in China by Wang et al. has it that out of the 15 male students pursuing nursing and only one male student chose to nurse as their major while the others chose other disciplines but were placed by the university to pursue nursing (Wang, 2011, 40). In New Zealand, a qualitative study has it that most students from the middle-to-low socioeconomic classes made uninformed decisions regarding their career choices. Male high school students got into nursing as a way of escaping military draft.
Personality characteristics are another reason for underrepresentation of males in hospitals (Boughn, 2001, 16). The studies put it that the men taking and lasting in nursing could be more neutral in their alignment something that misses in the male-dominated fields. Also, most of the men in the female-dominated professions tend to distance themselves from the female colleagues, for them to regain their masculinity something that has undermined their representation in the female dominated fields (Cross & Bagilhole, 2002, 209).
Motivation of men to enter into nursing
Motivation constitutes the inner and external pushes influencing men’s choices to join nursing. The influencing reasons for men to join nursing are practical and also personal. The practical factors entail working conditions, salaries, and job security. Personal factors are inclined to altruistic desires (Cross & Bagilhole, 2002, 215). In a nutshell, the reasons behind the motivation for men to enter nursing include personal, significant others as well as practical motivations.
Parents, friends, and families play a very crucial role in the professional aspirations of the children and friends. Approval of family and friends plays a bigger role and mostly a positive one, regarding the career choices (Okrainec, 1994, 100). Men faced a lot of negative responses from their male friends regarding their ambitions to join nursing professions something that has contributed to the few men in the nursing profession (Fisher, 2009, 2671). Also, more females have greater reasons for joining the nursing professions than the males as the males’ reasons are just salary and career opportunity. Due to altruistic desires, some men enter the nursing professions to empower others. In short, the males and females have different reasons for pursuing nursing. While for men, it is the practical motivations like securing a job, utmost status and diversity, the females get into nursing due to altruistic desires and to taste self-empowerment (Fisher, 2009, 2676).
Challenges for males getting to nursing
Most studies have it that men face a lot of challenges while they are trying to get into the women dominated disciplines. However, the challenges were mostly faced during studies. The educational barriers faced by the males include lack of mentorship programs for the male students, inadequate working opportunities for males in the clinical fields, lack of guidance on the use of touch; the nursing male students also lack a male faculty (Kalist, 2002, 155). The components that can be tied to the male nurses are role strain, caring and the notion that nursing is a female career. Most men find it difficult to cope up with the nursing environment since they are believed to be incompatible with the environment. Due to role strain, male students find it hard to balance trainings, family as well as work (Kalist, 2002, 159). Role strain comes from different sources like masculine stereotypes; there is believe that they belong to manual jobs, some also believe that they have improper use of touch. Another issue is the caring nature of the nursing profession that males are believed to lack (Keogh & O'Lynn, 2007, 256). Some men take too long to adapt to the caring nature of nursing. Thus, very few males remain in the field. The male nurses also face a lot of isolation whenever they try to interact with their female counterparts (Wang. et al. 2011, 39). The notion that treatment is a female-dominated occupation has also barred men from pursuing nursing careers.
Why the underrepresentation is an issue of concern
Underrepresentation males in the nursing lead to gender discrimination in various hospitals. Gender discrimination is the distinction, rest...