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From left to right: Tom Jeffrey, RN; Tim Miller, RN; Alan Didier, RN; Todd Weldon, LPN; Tracy Holsing, CRNA; Glen Bennett, RN; Mike Bokelman, RN; and Joel Hansen, RN, all put their pictures on the Nebraska Men in Nursing calendar to help promote the profession to other men.

From Florence Nightingale on, the nursing profession has long been considered a largely female pursuit. For the most part, the so-called “glass ceiling” phenomenon that kept many women out of corporate boardrooms and executive suites has bypassed the nursing profession. But now a different segment of the public — those with a Y chromosome — finds itself running into a number of barriers to a nursing career.

In many cases, those barriers are sociological. Although more men than ever are entering the profession — the total has jumped from 57,000 in 1983 to 164,000 in 2002, according to a July 11, 2003, USA Today article — men still represent just a fraction of the total number of nurses in the U.S. According to the American Journal of Nursing, men made up just 5.9% of the nursing population in 2003. The reasons are varied, but chief among them is a simple misconception among many: that nursing is a job best suited for women.

Can’t ignore men any longer

In fact, men are just as capable of being caring, supportive, and empathetic. However, most recruitment efforts have been tailored for the female demographic, reinforcing old stereotypes and bypassing half the potential nursing employment pool. But today, with the current widespread nursing shortage, the nation can no longer afford that approach. Fortunately, many recent efforts to recruit men into the profession are now showing promising results. The key has proven to be education.

“There are other career opportunities competing with nursing, which partially explains the low numbers,” says Molly Nance, senior director of communication and education for the Nebraska Hospital Association. “But the main reason is a lack of awareness.”That’s why the association decided to publish a calendar that features 12 men from various nursing specialties, demonstrating the wide range of possibilities inherent in the profession.

And in case you were wondering, it’s not a beefcake production. “This is not men in their Speedos,” Nance confirms, “probably to some peoples’ disappointment. We wanted to dispel the stereotypes and promote the variety of positions available in the nursing field. We also wanted to accentuate that this is a pretty serious job. You need to be bright, strong, and committed to the field, and the calendar project seemed to be a really great catalyst to get that message across.”

To that end, the calendar features two shots of each nurse, one in nursing attire — which for nurse managers, for instance, is a business suit — and the other in whatever he wears off duty. “One gentleman is shown in a T-shirt and running shorts, pushing a baby stroller,” Nance says. “Another is wearing camouflage and holding an archery bow. Another guy is sitting on a sawhorse with his tools, doing carpentry work.”

The message is that men will find just as much challenge in nursing as in any other profession; they’ll also get the added benefit of knowing they’re making a difference. Joel Hansen, RN, BSN, a critical care nurse at Immanuel Medical Center in Omaha, experiences that feeling firsthand every day. “It just seems like you’re really helping people at a time when they desperately need it,” he says. “You can just see the look on their faces when you’ve done something to make them feel better — both the patient and the family. Every night when you go to work, you’re doing something positive for the patients and their families, and that’s a great feeling.”

Hansen, who has been a nurse for 11 years, didn’t have to be recruited into the profession because he was exposed to nursing at home. “My wife has been a nurse for 20 years,” he explains. “She was my live-in tutor.” But for men who have little or no contact with nursing aside from the occasional hospital stay, many concerted efforts are now underway nationwide to advertise the advantages of a nursing career to the male population.