Men Still Woefully Underrepresented in Nursing

Men represent less than 10% of the nursing workforce. The number of men in nursing programs is slightly greater, but there is still much work to be done when it comes to creating a diverse nursing workforce.

When Dale Beatty, BSN, MSN, RN, NEA-BC, went to nursing school in the 1980s, he was the only man in his school's nursing program. And, because of social stigmas attached to being a man in the nursing profession at that time, he withheld the fact that he was enrolled in nursing school from his father.

"I'm not proud of it, but for the first six months I was in the College of Nursing, I never shared it with my father," he said. "I love my father dearly, but he said, 'Don't go into that profession. You will never have a good income, and you will never have a good life.'"

But following his heart rather than his father's advice turned out to be the right decision for Beatty, now CNO at University of Illinois Hospital and Health Sciences System in Chicago. "I've got a fabulous life, I've worked with great people, and I've got a terrific career," he says of his 30 years in the nursing profession.

Beatty shared his story this month at a Men in Healthcare panel discussion during Resurrection University's Thinking Out Loud speaker series. Seven other men with careers in nursing, radiography, and health information management joined Beatty at the university's Chicago campus to share their experiences working in healthcare.

Breaking Down Stereotypes
Various surveys report men account for about 7%–9% of the nursing workforce, and the American Association of Colleges of Nursing states that in 11% of students enrolled in baccalaureate and graduate nursing programs in 2013 were men. At 17%, Resurrection University's College of Nursing boasts a higher than average enrollment of men.

Though the Resurrection panelists are a part of the growing number of men in the profession, the majority of the five nurses said they had not initially considered nursing as a career option. "I couldn't visualize it for myself because I was constrained by social biases," says Beatty, whose mother and sister are also nurses.

To help break down the stereotype of nursing as a career exclusively for women, Beatty suggests consciously changing the words we use when we talk about the profession. "Even today, I hear us using the language 'male nurses,'" he says. "When I hear it within my own healthcare setting I stop people and say, 'Do we define attorneys that way? Do we say she's a female attorney? We don't.'"

Labeling nurses according to gender needs to stop if we hope to foster inclusivity within the profession.

"Sometimes we unintentionally, through lack of education and lack of good words, turn people away," Beatty says. "If we want to attract more men into healthcare, we have to use language that makes it interesting and inviting for men to participate in it."

Drawing more men, as well as people from different cultures and ethnicities, to nursing is necessary in order to meet the needs of patients and society.

"When you think about getting rid of healthcare disparities, we have to have a workforce that mirrors that of our patient population," he says. "We have to continue to explore how we can attract all types of diversity within the healthcare profession so we can provide the best care to our patients."

Connecting Through Caring
While our culture may perpetuate stereotypes the panel members said they have been welcomed into the profession by their fellow nurses.

"My mentors have all been women," said Beatty. "I've never felt discriminated against from a female nursing colleague. In fact, I've felt the opposite, like there's a hand to help me along the way."

Perhaps this is because nurses know that, regardless of gender, people who choose nursing do it because they share common values like wanting to make a difference in society and a [having a] desire to help others.

Aric Shimek, RN, says it was seeing the images of the devastation caused by the 2010 Earthquake in Haiti that inspired him to give up a career in international real estate to become a nurse.

"Watching the video footage of that [I thought], 'I just wish I could get on a plane, and I wish someone would take me there because I can do something that could help someone,'" he said. Shimek now works in the cardiac intensive care unit at the Ann and Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital in Chicago.

Beatty's decision to pursue a nursing career occurred when he began working as an orderly in a nursing home. "I loved connecting with people, I loved working with families," he says. "When I became a registered nurse and worked at the bedside, I loved it because I felt on most days I could come in, care for a patient, and that patient would be in a better place after my care."

Now, as a CNO, Beatty continues to help others by furthering their professional development. "My role is to help people develop to be the best that they can be at what they do and to work with groups of people so they can get outcomes that improve care for their patients."

To be a successful leader, Beatty advises being authentic and following your passion. "The best advice I received from one of my mentors," he said, "was to be true to yourself, to find your own style, and that will be your best reward. No truer words were said."