Last December, journalist Kate Lunau reported in Maclean's magazine that the number of male nurses in Canada had doubled in just a decade. At first glance, this seems like a significant increase. But, as Lunau explains, this is not really the case. The increase in male enrolment at nursing schools in Canada pales in comparison to the increase in female enrolment in training programs for careers traditionally dominated by men, such as policing. Only six percent of the students enrolled in our nursing college programs are men. And yet, as Lunau explains, our country is facing a nursing shortage. This begs the question: what can nursing schools in Canada do to attract and retain more male students?
Attracting male students to nursing
college
A 2004 study by the Bernard Hodes
Group on "Men in Nursing" identifies many barriers to men enrolling
in nursing school, including:
- the perception that other
professions are more male-appropriate
- lack of information on nursing
college for male high school students
- lack of male role models in
nursing schools
The study also identifies some
advantages of being a nurse, which can be used to attract men to nursing
schools in Canada and abroad, notably:
- stable career path (especially in
the context of a looming nursing shortage)
- good salary
- flexible schedule
- good benefits
The same study also makes some
concrete suggestions for selling nursing college to male youth, for example:
- organizing more field trips for
high school students to hospitals and healthcare facilities
- making high school students aware
of mentorship and scholarship possibilities
But there are many other ways to
make men aware of the benefits of nursing college, including advertising the
wide range of forms that nursing can take. Some nursing college programs have
even increased attendance by raising their selection criteria. By becoming more
selective, they make their programs more desirable, to both men and women
applicants.
Retaining male students
Even once a nursing college has
successfully attracted a male student, problems can still arise. According to
one Australian study, male nursing school students are more likely to drop out
than their female counterparts.
Why might the attrition rate be
higher for men at nursing college? According to the same Australian study:
feelings of isolation. Interview subjects reported that they sometimes felt:
- nervous about speaking up at
nursing college
- excluded from certain fields of
practice (maternity, pediatric... )
- concerned about the lack of male
role models
Some solutions:
- make sure that male students
enrolled at nursing college have a male mentor
- refrain from using gender-specific
language (referring to nurses only as "she")
- control classroom dynamics to make
sure that all students have a chance to speak up and be heard
- don't assume that male students
are more comfortable with some things (e.g., taking off their shirt for a
simulation) or less so with others (e.g., providing assistance to a labouring
woman)
If nursing schools in Canada can
find a way to bring up male enrollment in their programs, it just may stem the
looming crisis in nursing.
Visit Mohawk College for more
information on nursing schools in Canada. Rima Hammoudi is a Copywriter at Higher
Education Marketing, a leading Web marketing firm specializing in Google
Analytics, Education Lead Generation, Search Engine Optimization (SEO), Mobile
SMS Alerts, Social Media Marketing and Pay Per Click Marketing, among other Web
marketing services and tools.
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