Would you recommend nursing to men as a career?

Objective : The principle objective of this study was to establish a profile and perception of men in nursing in Western Australia. This paper will discuss one sub-objective which sort to explore responses to the question: “Would you recommend a nursing as a career to males that you know?”

Design: Main study was a quantitative, descriptive survey design, however the question under review was significantly qualitative in nature and analysed as such.

Setting : The study took place across Western Australian public and private sector health care facilities, nurse education institutions and non- government providers across rural, remote and metropolitan locations.

Main outcome measures: Data was collected through responses to one question (within a larger survey) that related to recommending nursing as a career to males. An online survey instrument was used.

Results: 70.5 %( n= 377) said they would recommend nursing to males. Of the respondents that selected “yes” 19.6% were male and 80.4 % were female. Of the 29.5 %( n= 158) respondents that selected “no” 24.7% were male and 75.3% female. Qualitative data reported supports the perceptions in the current workforce.

Conclusion : Whilst the majority of respondents in the study would recommend a career in nursing to men, a quarter of respondents felt that a career in nursing was not suited to men. Reasons identified included; poor pay, a difficult job, men’s values were incompatible with care, or that they were using nursing as a spring board to other careers. Identifying the perceptions of men in nursing and if current nurses would promote nursing to males they knew assists in the potential recruitment of a much needed future workforce.