Warda
A. Al Amri
Oman
Nursing Institute
There are many
jobs that tend to draw men to them and there are others which attract more women.
It has been noted that men face more challenging roles than females in caring
jobs such as teaching and nursing. In the past men who go into nursing realize
that it’s a profession that has been dominated by women for such a long time, so
if they don’t get along with women well, it’s not a good profession for them. A
lot of men were not able to deal with situations in which women were their
supervisors and because men are sometimes stronger than women they often got
stuck more with turning patients. At present there are changes in the health
care work force than was in the olden days and both genders share the
domination of the profession (McMurry 2011).
The image of men
in nursing is actually not well addressed in the media. Culture stereotype has always
feminized nursing as a result of media influence. “Meet the Parents” is a movie
that exemplifies this. In the movie a guy was asked about his occupation by the
parents of his wife-to-be and when he said he was working in a hospital they thought
he was a doctor and were shocked when he told them that he was a nurse! The
parents thought that the guy was weird for choosing nursing as a currier. The reasons
behind choosing nursing as a currier are most of the time multifactorial. Feeling the call for duty to serve others and
to advocate for patients’ care is one of the factors that influence men into
becoming nurses. Actually the guy in this movie joined nursing because he liked
and wanted it though his high school scores were high enough to get him in a
medicine college. Male nurses are interested in not only self- and patient
empowerment but also the empowerment of the nursing profession. Literature
gives a sense that male nurses feel unhappy because they are a minority in a
predominantly feminine profession (Brown 2009).
There is not much basic difference between men and
women when it comes to nursing and the important thing to focus on is the
challenges they both face in this currier. Nursing shortage is a critical issue
worldwide placing the profession in crisis. More than 581,500 new RN positions
will be created through 2018 as a projected by workforce analysts with the
Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) stated in December 2009 (aacn, 2010).
A national sample survey in 2008 by the Health Resources
and Service Administration stated that 7.1 percent of the estimated 2,596,599
registered nurses in the United States men. According to health report
statistics in Oman as of 31 Dec 2009 the nursing manpower in the Ministry of
Health was 9,753 out of which 6,449 are Omani (66%). The total percentage of
male nurses in Oman (10.2%) have slightly decreased compared to the year 2000
when it was 11.2% but the percentage of Omani male nurses have increased from
60.3% in 2000 and 78.3% in 2009 (Table 2). The ratio of distribution is on the
average of 30.7 nurses for every 10,000 of the population and this is still not
considered sufficient if we looked at the total population of the country which
is 3,173,917 (MOH, 2009).
Table 1: Nursing manpower in the Ministry of Health 2009
|
Omanis
|
|
Non-Omanis
|
|
Total
|
Male
|
Female
|
Total
|
|
Male
|
Female
|
Total
|
|
Male
|
Female
|
Total
|
780
|
5,669
|
6,449
|
|
216
|
3,088
|
3,304
|
|
996
|
8,757
|
9,753
|
Table 2: MOH Male Nurse by Nationality
|
2000
|
|
2009
|
Omani
|
Non-Omanis
|
Total
|
|
Omani
|
Non-Omanis
|
Total
|
449
|
295
|
744
|
|
780
|
216
|
996
|
One of the problems faced by masculinity in nursing
is actually the hiring process and opportunities provided to the male nurse
while on the job. The dissatisfaction caused by this issue may lead to
increased resignation from the profession. There is a need for strategies to
increase the retention rates of nurses in this profession. According to
Analysis of the 1992–2000 National Sample Surveys of Registered
Nurses by Sochalski (2002) on rates of nurses leaving nursing there was a
significant difference between men and women dropping out within only 4 years
after graduation with a percentage of 7.5 for men nurses. Nursing Management
Aging Workforce Survey by the Bernard Hodes Group reported that 55% of surveyed
nurses intends to retire between 2011 and 2020 and the majority of them were
Nurse Managers (aacn, 2010).
In Oman nurses graduating from MOH’s nursing institutions do not face
a problem in recruitment because they are guaranteed a position once they
enrolled in the nursing program. The author conducted a survey on the intended length
of stay in the profession after graduation. Participants were third year
nursing students (final year) in the academic Year 2009-2010 at Oman Nursing Institute.
The survey didn’t require revealing any identity except the gender and it showed
significant findings. The total number
of students involved in the survey was 82; the actual total is 85 but 3
students were absent. Out of the 82
student 14 were male and 68 were female. For the male student 50% of them
intend to stay in nursing for a maximum of 5 years only whereas 22.1% of the female students wanted to remain for
more than 20 years in the profession. Some of the factors that influenced the
decisions of these students were better salaries in other jobs, looking for
working hours that are more convenient to them and their families, and
disappointment in that nursing lacks opportunities for promotions and
leadership (especially for men). Under these circumstances the revitalization
plan of any nursing workforce should have strategies that focus on retention
and working conditions (Rajapaksa, 2009)
Table 3: The Period of Time That Third Year Students Intend to
Stay in Nursing After Graduation
|
Year
|
Female
(n=68)
|
Male
(n=14)
|
Both
Gender (n=82)
|
2-5 Years
|
20.6%
|
50%
|
26%
|
6-10 Years
|
34 %
|
7.13%
|
30%
|
15 Years
|
10.3%
|
-
|
9%
|
20 Years
|
6%
|
21.43%
|
10%
|
Over 20
|
22.1%
|
14.3%
|
21%
|
Didn’t Know
|
6 %
|
7.14%
|
5%
|
In
many countries male nurses are denied the opportunity to work in some areas in
hospitals, such as labor, delivery, or nursery units and the same is in Oman.
The influence behind such a regulation is not related to the trustworthy of
male nurses’ care, capabilities or ethics but it is mainly due to religious and
cultural limitations. In Islam, women are not supposed to be exposed to the
opposite gender for medical reasons except if there was no female available. It
intended to preserve the integrity, dignity of women and maintain their
personal zones intact. All female units
(medical, surgical and maternity) in hospitals in Oman are under the care of
female nurses therefore the presence of a male in those areas is seldom. Even
areas of high demand for critical and immediate care where both genders actually
work together such as the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) and the Accident &
Emergency (A&E) are also subjective to these roles except for cases of insufficient
female nurses on a duty.
Effective profile of the nursing profession can be advanced
as a whole if there would be a genuinely advanced interest of both genders
toward the profession. Male nurses are advices to find strength in numbers, for
example joining national or international organizations that support men in
nursing. Interacting with others allows sharing of experiences and concerns
while bringing hope and motivation for a bright, professional and successful
future. Some examples of these
organizations are the Nursing and Midwifery Council (Oman), the American
Assembly of Men in Nursing, Sigma Theta Tau International and many others. Another
way of advancing the non-biased nursing profile is to find support from one’s
own fellow workers; both female and male.
One
of the factors placing masculinity nursing image with challenges is the thought
that male nurses are not given equal opportunity to move up in the ranks or are
being denied equal employment opportunities. In Oman there are many examples of
male figures that have accelerated and defeated this meth; they have
accelerated through the concrete ceiling of promotion even held leadership and
managerial positions. They were the pioneers of male nurses in Oman such as Mr.
Hamood Al Kharusi; furmer Dean of Oman Nursing Institute and Chair of the
Council of Nursing Institutes currently officiates as the director of the
Directorate General of Education and Training (DGET), Mr. Abdullah Al Rubaiey,
Dean of Oman Specialized Nursing Institute, and Mr. Mohammed Al Riyami; former
Dean of Muscat Nursing Institute and currently a Consultant of Nursing
Education at the (DGET). In addition, there are also the young Omani male
nurses who were also successful in holding leadership positions such as Mr.
Majid Al Muqbali; Director of Nursing and Midwifery Affairs at the MOH, and
many others.
The traditional stereotype can be broke through
projecting a good and efficient advertisement of the image of nursing in the different
types of media. There is a need to recruit more male nurses to the profession
due to the shortage of male nurses in the clinical setting as presented
earlier. It is recommended to encourage more men/ to advertise for the
profession among the male students/ community/ school (Advertising, Promoting
the benefit of nursing to men, showing examples of role models). And having
said that nursing institutions should have a goal set to attract more men into
nursing, for example it should be one of the infrastructure plans that “in 3 Years
we will have 30% of our intake to be male” and once the goal is set an action
plan could be prepared to address the specific goal and achievement strategies (Gorgos
2002).
On the other hand, decision makers, manager and
leaders should be working toward improving or increasing job satisfaction.
Every nurse should to be concerned about their basic human labor rights and
empowering not only themselves or their patients but also the profession. If
this is to be accomplished successfully nursing shortage would not be a
critical issue as it is today. Last but
not least, male nurses can overcome negative perceptions by addressing them,
therefore; there is a need for further researches addressing gender
inequalities and gender-based reservations.
References:
2.
Brown,
B. (2009). Men in Nursing: Re-evaluating Masculinities, Re-evaluating gender.
Journal of Contimp Nurse, 33(2):120-9.
3.
Gorgos,
D. (2002). Why Are There So Few Male Nurses? Journal of Dermatology Nursing,
14(5): 340-341.
4.
McMurry,
T. (2011). The Image of Male Nurses and Nursing Leadership Mobility. Nursing
Forum, 46(1): 22-28.
6.
Rajapaksa,
S & Rothstein, W. (2009). Factors That Influence the Decisions of Men and
Women Nurses to Leave Nursing. Nursing Forum, 44 (3): 195-206.
7.
Sochalski,
J. (2002). Trends: Nursing shortage redux: Turning the corner on an enduring
problem. Health Affairs, 12 (4): 157-164.
8.
U.S. Department of Health and
Human Services; Health Resources and Services Administration. The
Registered Nurse Population: Findings from the 2008 National Sample Survey of
Registered Nurses. Retrieved on April 11, 2011, from http://bhpr.hrsa.gov/healthworkforce/rnsurvey/2008/
