The nursing profession is a vital component of the health care industry. Nurses provide a number of various tasks and duties in patient care that facilitate medical processes from routine check-ups to emergency care services in numerous health care settings from long-term patient care facilities to physician offices to hospitals. Although the majority of nursing professionals are women, the number of male nurses continues to grow as opportunities in nursing provide a number of employment benefits.
Benefits of the Nursing Profession
Most nursing professionals agree that many of the benefits of this profession are the personal rewards and satisfaction that one takes away from the career. For many, nursing is often a calling rather than a choice, and the opportunity to make a difference in a patient’s life through caring for their physical and other needs during treatment, both long-term and short-term, are often cited as the main reason that individuals enter into this field.
In addition to the personal satisfaction and rewarding nature of the career, nursing professionals also have unique benefits that are often attractive to male candidates in particular. For instance, some of the benefits other than helping others that attracted men to the nursing profession include flexibility in both scheduling and employment area, financial and employment security, and the opportunities available in the career field for advancement. Additional information can be found on the American Assembly for Men in Nursing website.
Where Nursing Professionals Work
Nurses are a part of every type of health care environment from a private physician clinic to the largest metropolitan hospitals and critical care centers. In general, the majority of nursing professionals are employed by hospitals across the United States. According to the American Hospital Association, 62.2 percent of nurses work in hospital environments. Within hospitals, nursing staff are divided among every department from pediatrics to critical care unites. In many cases, male nursing professionals are most likely to work within the emergency departments and critical care units of hospitals.
In a study conducted by Hodes Research, the number of male nurses was dispersed among these environments. However, the majority were on staff in critical care centers and hospital emergency departments, which is reflective of national averages as well. Male nursing professionals were also largely part of management teams and medical surgical units.
Men in the Nursing Profession
Nursing provides professionals with a number of career benefits and personal job satisfaction that can be difficult to find in other professions. Nursing also provides benefits for individuals who are interested in working in a fast-paced, adrenaline-packed profession. For male nursing professions, working in the emergency room and critical care departments of large hospitals is one way in which to gain the excitement and rapidly changing environment that makes work more interesting and rewarding.
In the military, 35.5 percent of nurses are men; in civilian practice, approximately 9 percent of nursing professionals are men. The majority of men in the nursing profession are licensed registered nurses with a minimum of a bachelor’s of science degree. As changing attitudes and recruitment efforts continue to focus on encouraging men to enter this field, more and more opportunities are likely to be available to men entering the nursing profession.