Professor Considers Challenges of Men in Nursing

Norman Weller to form peer group to boost visibility, dispel myths

As a nurse who happens to be male, I have an interest in bringing awareness to men in nursing. I am often asked, “What’s it like to be a male nurse?” Two other common myths I encounter frequently: We need male nurses to help position patients and to work with aggressive individuals.

In fact, there are so many misconceptions about men in nursing – what they do and don’t do – that I feel compelled to educate others.

As a student nurse doing a clinical rotation in maternal health, I remember being asked by the RN I was working with what I was doing on the hospital’s labor and delivery (L&D) floor. I replied that I was completing my clinical hours and was promptly told that, as a male, I had no business working with these women. I had always loved working with babies, and was actually very good at it, but this encounter turned me off to L&D. Who knows what other opportunities I might have missed because I was a student nurse who happened to be male?

My hope is to establish a Men in Nursing forum at SHU to provide a safe place for all nursing students to discuss their experiences, feelings, concerns and expectations about men in nursing and to strategize ways in which society’s belief that nursing is solely female can be changed.

After discussing the idea with SHU nursing leadership and my fellow students, we plan to move ahead with this initiative. We are considering ways to establish Men in Nursing, perhaps as a small chapter under the umbrella of SNA. Ultimately, increasing the number and visibility of nurses who happen to be male will benefit the profession and the individuals and families for whom we care, as would greater overall diversity.