- Email: [email protected]
Are Male Nurses Treated Differently?
POINT co counterpoint ARE MALE NURSES TREATED DIFFERENTLY? As a student nurse, I was once assigned to a patient who was both racist and misogynistic. He had been refusing to get out of bed postoperatively, probably because the nurses, the majority of whom were of color and all of whom were female, were just not the sort of people he took instruction from. Intraprofessionally, female coworkers have opined that having a male coworker join them changes the group dynamic. We male nurses would not know about that first hand, but I am inclined to believe that gender diversity does change the dynamic. We bring our whole selves to nursing and that includes our gender differences and biases. I wondered, as we undertook this column, how much we could really say about males in our profession, other than that we are in fact treated differently. As always, however, there is nuance and there is forward progress in our social condition and, as it turns out, plenty still to consider on this topic.
Ryan Mallo Ryan Mallo, DNP, FNP-C, is assistant professor of graduate nursing in the family nurse practitioner program at Indiana Wesleyan University in Marion. He is also adjunct faculty in the nurse practitioner and doctor of nursing practice programs at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. Dr. Mallo practices clinically in central Michigan with a special interest in men’s health promotion and infectious disease management of HIV. He is pursuing his doctorate degree at Northwest Nazarene University in Nampa, ID.
YES
M
ale undergraduate and advanced practice nurses are treated differently. The treatment can be negative at times, but can also be positive and even afford men more opportunity than their female colleagues. Allow me to explain. When I think back to my days in the intensive care unit, I remember being frequently called upon to help turn and move patients because I was one of the few guys among the many females on the unit. It was a common murmur, “Ask one of the guys to help you turn or transport the patient.” I also remember having to correct patients on nearly every shift that I was in fact their nurse for the evening and not their physician. In one instance, I was actually assigned a different patient by the charge nurse because the patient stated, “I don’t let gay, male nurses take care of me.” In a more positive light, I feel I was also given more opportunity
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to advance into leadership and coveted positions within the intensive care department because of being one of the only men in the unit. As an advanced practice nurse, I was offered a position in a family practice that had predominately female patients and female staff, with the intention of helping bring the male family members of those patients into the practice. In another setting, I was given the opportunity to act as the interim medical director of a higher security men’s prison. I currently serve as the only male faculty member in the graduate program where I teach nurse practitioner students. This has afforded me a plethora of opportunities, including being selected to help teach students in another country. From a professional standpoint, it is easier to stand out among the masses when the majority of your peers are females.
Volume 12, Issue 5, May 2016
point COUNTERPOINT WHAT IS YOUR VIEW ON THIS TOPIC? Point/Counterpoint offers thought-provoking topics relevant to nurse practitioners in every issue of JNP. Two authors present thoughtful but opposing viewpoints on current subjects, from scope of practice and regulations to work ethics and care practices. Your opinion on these matters is also important, so go to www.npjournal.org or scan the QR code here to register your vote for either side of each topic. Comments or suggestions for future columns should be sent to Department Editor Donald Gardenier at [email protected]
Lee Moss Lee Moss, MS, ANP-C, FNP-BC, has been an adult and family nurse practitioner for over 21 years and is a certified wound specialist. Mr. Moss practices at the Burn Outpatient Clinic at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City, where he provides comprehensive treatment for burn injuries and other acute and chronic wounds. He has served in many leadership roles since 1996, including Utah state representative of the American Association of Nurse Practitioners from 2004 to 2015. He is presently chairman of the AANP Health Policy Committee.
NO
O
riginally, our limited numbers and less diverse roles may have contributed to a climate in which we male nurses were treated differently from our female colleagues. As a male and a nurse of 30 years, my argument begins with experience and is supported by evidence. In 2016, I contend that male and female nurses receive equal treatment. The following are indisputable facts. According to United States census data, the 1930s marked the nadir of men in nursing at 1%, trending up to 2.7% in 1970 and to 9.6% in 2011. More men enter the nursing profession every year. This is partly due to continuing nursing shortages and expanding career opportunities in health care. In addition, economic factors are encouraging men, now more than ever, to enter nursing either as a first career or by leaving their jobs and occupations to find ready employment and professional opportunities in nursing as a second career. In the arena of nursing education, there is no gender preference upon entering the variety of available programs. No gender bias exists in the National Council Licensure Examination or nursing
www.npjournal.org
certification exams. In nursing employment, health care institution policies and federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission regulations prevent discrimination in the employment of protected classes, including age, race, religion, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, pregnancy, disability, genetic information, veteran status, and national origin. At major institutions, both male and female nurses receive identical starting salaries and benefits. No gender bias exists in professional nursing organizations or publications. Gender does not affect rank or opportunity for nurses in the military or the Veterans Administration health care system. In the workplace and, perhaps most importantly both intra- and interprofessionally, nurses are judged on their skills, knowledge, and performance, without regard to gender. Today, male and female nurses are treated the same. We’ve come a long way, baby!
1555-4155/16/$ see front matter © 2016 Elsevier, Inc. All rights reserved. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.nurpra.2016.01.019
The Journal for Nurse Practitioners - JNP
303
Ryan Mallo Ryan Mallo, DNP, FNP-C, is assistant professor of graduate nursing in the family nurse practitioner program at Indiana Wesleyan University in Marion. He is also adjunct faculty in the nurse practitioner and doctor of nursing practice programs at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. Dr. Mallo practices clinically in central Michigan with a special interest in men’s health promotion and infectious disease management of HIV. He is pursuing his doctorate degree at Northwest Nazarene University in Nampa, ID.
YES
M
ale undergraduate and advanced practice nurses are treated differently. The treatment can be negative at times, but can also be positive and even afford men more opportunity than their female colleagues. Allow me to explain. When I think back to my days in the intensive care unit, I remember being frequently called upon to help turn and move patients because I was one of the few guys among the many females on the unit. It was a common murmur, “Ask one of the guys to help you turn or transport the patient.” I also remember having to correct patients on nearly every shift that I was in fact their nurse for the evening and not their physician. In one instance, I was actually assigned a different patient by the charge nurse because the patient stated, “I don’t let gay, male nurses take care of me.” In a more positive light, I feel I was also given more opportunity
302
The Journal for Nurse Practitioners - JNP
to advance into leadership and coveted positions within the intensive care department because of being one of the only men in the unit. As an advanced practice nurse, I was offered a position in a family practice that had predominately female patients and female staff, with the intention of helping bring the male family members of those patients into the practice. In another setting, I was given the opportunity to act as the interim medical director of a higher security men’s prison. I currently serve as the only male faculty member in the graduate program where I teach nurse practitioner students. This has afforded me a plethora of opportunities, including being selected to help teach students in another country. From a professional standpoint, it is easier to stand out among the masses when the majority of your peers are females.
Volume 12, Issue 5, May 2016
point COUNTERPOINT WHAT IS YOUR VIEW ON THIS TOPIC? Point/Counterpoint offers thought-provoking topics relevant to nurse practitioners in every issue of JNP. Two authors present thoughtful but opposing viewpoints on current subjects, from scope of practice and regulations to work ethics and care practices. Your opinion on these matters is also important, so go to www.npjournal.org or scan the QR code here to register your vote for either side of each topic. Comments or suggestions for future columns should be sent to Department Editor Donald Gardenier at [email protected]
Lee Moss Lee Moss, MS, ANP-C, FNP-BC, has been an adult and family nurse practitioner for over 21 years and is a certified wound specialist. Mr. Moss practices at the Burn Outpatient Clinic at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City, where he provides comprehensive treatment for burn injuries and other acute and chronic wounds. He has served in many leadership roles since 1996, including Utah state representative of the American Association of Nurse Practitioners from 2004 to 2015. He is presently chairman of the AANP Health Policy Committee.
NO
O
riginally, our limited numbers and less diverse roles may have contributed to a climate in which we male nurses were treated differently from our female colleagues. As a male and a nurse of 30 years, my argument begins with experience and is supported by evidence. In 2016, I contend that male and female nurses receive equal treatment. The following are indisputable facts. According to United States census data, the 1930s marked the nadir of men in nursing at 1%, trending up to 2.7% in 1970 and to 9.6% in 2011. More men enter the nursing profession every year. This is partly due to continuing nursing shortages and expanding career opportunities in health care. In addition, economic factors are encouraging men, now more than ever, to enter nursing either as a first career or by leaving their jobs and occupations to find ready employment and professional opportunities in nursing as a second career. In the arena of nursing education, there is no gender preference upon entering the variety of available programs. No gender bias exists in the National Council Licensure Examination or nursing
www.npjournal.org
certification exams. In nursing employment, health care institution policies and federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission regulations prevent discrimination in the employment of protected classes, including age, race, religion, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, pregnancy, disability, genetic information, veteran status, and national origin. At major institutions, both male and female nurses receive identical starting salaries and benefits. No gender bias exists in professional nursing organizations or publications. Gender does not affect rank or opportunity for nurses in the military or the Veterans Administration health care system. In the workplace and, perhaps most importantly both intra- and interprofessionally, nurses are judged on their skills, knowledge, and performance, without regard to gender. Today, male and female nurses are treated the same. We’ve come a long way, baby!
1555-4155/16/$ see front matter © 2016 Elsevier, Inc. All rights reserved. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.nurpra.2016.01.019
The Journal for Nurse Practitioners - JNP
303