Men in Whites: Where are you?

Why aren’t there more men in nursing?

There are several reasons, according to Chad E. O'Lynn, PhD, RN, and Russell E. Tranbarger, EdD, RN, FAAN. They list them in “Men in Nursing: History, Challenges and Opportunities” (Springer Publishing Co., soft cover; $40).

For one, they say, we can blame Florence.

Ms. Nightingale, according to the nurse/authors, looked around Crimea and noticed how awful the conditions were in the field and in the military hospitals. At that time – the mid-19th century – all the nurses were men. The “Lady with the Lamp” not only held the men responsible for the deplorable state of care, but concluded they really couldn’t change or be taught, so she began recruiting women into the profession.

Nightingale also was a feminist and believed women should be allowed to work outside the home, so maybe she used this as an excuse to promote the profession as “women-only” work.

By the way, the authors note that male nurses were around long before the war in Crimea. All the nurses in ancient Egypt were men, and monks in Europe served as nurses for male visitors who came to their monasteries. (Nuns cared for the women.)

So just how many men have RN after their name?

After some research, I found that no one really knows, but various estimates have it at between 7 and 12 percent. The last time I actually saw a statistic, it was just less than 5 percent. Whatever the number, it isn’t high.

So we’re back to the original question: Why aren’t there more male nurses?

Nurses’ salaries have risen to a respectable level in the past decade, so men can’t complain about that. And today’s nurses are not only caregivers, but must be very tech-savvy – something that you’d think would appeal to the male gender. Also, there are plenty of areas like the emergency room where men can get their adrenalin rush.

So why do you think there is a dearth of men in nursing?

How do you think the profession can attract more men?

Tell us what you think.