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Why are there not more men in nursing?

Figures obtained by Nursing Standard show fewer than one in ten (9.4%) students offered places on pre-registration nursing programmes in the UK are male

The proportion of men entering nursing has stagnated, in part because ingrained stereotypes about the role still persist, according to RCN head of policy Howard Catton.

While tens of thousands of nursing vacancies exist across the UK and NHS organisations are looking overseas to fill the gaps, fewer than one in ten (9.4%) students offered places on pre-registration nursing programmes in the UK are male, new figures show.

Data obtained by Nursing Standard from the University and Colleges Admission Service reveal that male students accounted for just 16,440 of the total 174,910 nursing student places over the past seven years.

Mr Catton says: ‘In terms of our workforce shortages, while more men won’t solve all the issues, we have reason to be more open and encouraging to men coming into the profession.’

He said a ‘significant’ change in the gender profile within medicine, where more women than men are now entering what was once a male-dominated profession, has not been reflected in nursing.

‘There are still some truly ingrained cultural and historical issues in relation to nursing being regarded as a female profession,’ he said.

‘Even the roots of the word “nursing” come from carrying and suckling a child – it absolutely has a strong association with women.’

Bristol Southmead Hospital emergency nurse practitioner Mark Pittman says ‘an indigenous cultural belief’ in society about male nurses being gay, along with the perception that nursing is ‘women’s work’, may put some men off choosing this career.

Hollywood depictions of male nurses do not help counter the stereotypes, adds Mr Catton. ‘Take the film Meet the Fockers. Ben Stiller plays a male nurse named Gaylord Focker. He is a hapless individual portrayed as a bit of a loser because he is a nurse.’

The long-standing Charlie Fairhead character in BBC drama Casualty is the only notable exception, he says. ‘My sense is we have definitely stagnated. I remember in the 1980s Charlie’s character felt important as a regular bloke who was also a nurse.’

He adds that some men might ‘think carefully’ about particular areas of nursing, especially those that involve safeguarding issues or children, for fear their motives may be questioned. ‘These are sensitive and complex areas, not just about clinical practice, but the society we are living in.’

But some organisations are attempting to challenge the stereotypes and increase the number of men entering nursing.

University of Manchester school of nursing widening participation (WP) lead Shaun Speed says that across higher education ‘working class boys are not going to university’.

Dr Speed, who is also director of undergraduate education and a community nurse specialist practitioner, held a series of focus groups with first, second and third-year male nursing students to learn more about the barriers to university.

‘Older mature students said they got a lot of stick from their friends and younger lads got a real ribbing when they said they wanted to be a nurse,’ he says. ‘We have decided not to let this go. WP priorities for this year and next include ensuring at every open day and interview there are male nurses to talk about their careers.’

Dr Speed has also invited local school boys aged 13-15 to an upcoming open day run by male nurses, to encourage interest in nursing and help challenge stereotypes.

He believes a strategic recruitment campaign that helps sell the variety of roles in nursing and provides positive publicity for the profession could help attract more men into the workforce.

‘There has not been a campaign for goodness knows how long in the UK, other than for health visitors.’

In 2002, the Oregon Center for Nursing, a non-profit think tank in the United States, targeted high schools, colleges and universities across the state with its ‘Are you man enough to be a nurse?’ campaign. 

Incredibly, 14 years later, the centre still receives orders from organisations that want to buy copies of its poster, and it has worked with other states to adapt the poster for their use. 

The centre’s operations manager Kelley Ilic says a 2013 US national workforce survey of registered nurses found that men made up 7% of the nursing establishment, yet in Oregon the figure is 12%. ‘We can’t correlate these statistics directly to our poster, but hope we have contributed to the overall conversation in our state about increasing gender diversity in nursing.’

Amy Felsinger, a senior policy adviser at the Equality Challenge Unit, which aims to improve diversity in UK higher education, warns there is no quick fix. She says in-depth research is needed to establish the reasons behind the numbers. ‘There is definitely awareness and keenness in the higher education sector to address imbalances,’ she says. 

‘The difficulty is the sense of “that profession is not for me” happens well before students apply for university.’

Ms Felsinger says the unit has a new diversity project under way, aimed at recruiting students from under-represented groups. It is calling for expressions of interest from ten institutions. ‘It would be great to have a nursing department interested in this work,’ she adds.

To read more about Increasing Diversity: Recruiting Students from Underrepresented Groups click here