Professional success of men in the nursing workforce: An integrative review

Male nurses' adaptation experiences after turnover to community institutions in Korea: A grounded theory methodology

We aimed to develop a substantive theory according to the associations between adaptation experience-related factors identified in male nurses after turnover to community institutions. From April through August 2019, data were collected through direct observations and in-depth interviews of 22 male nurse participants who were recruited purposively and analyzed simultaneously with the method proposed by Strauss and Corbin. Furthermore, 29 subcategories were derived from 11 categories, including: (1) leaving the clinical sector and changing jobs, (2) shaking while settling, (3) characteristics of the new job, (4) personal disposition, (5) support system, (6) finding my place, (7) solidifying my place, (8) demonstrating my professional competence, (9) stable settlement in my place, (10) preparing for a better future, and (11) still confused. The core category was identified as "putting down roots in another place for myself." The verification of this theory in this study's results indicates a need for research into the evaluation and development of professional development programs and related policies to provide support to male nurses who are pursuing opportunities in community institutions to maintain their nursing identity and further their efforts for developing a nursing specialty.

Undergraduate nursing students challenge misconceptions towards men in nursing: A mixed-method study

AIMS

To examine misconceptions towards men in nursing from the perspective of undergraduate nursing students. Specifically, this study sought to explore contributing factors of misconceptions and attributions of the success of men in nursing.

DESIGN

A convergent parallel mixed-method study.

METHODS

A national survey was conducted (July-September 2021). The quantitative data included demographics and responses to the Gender Misconceptions of Men in Nursing (GEMINI) scale. The qualitative data included responses to a provocative statement related to characteristics of men and their career in nursing. The GRAMMS guideline was used in reporting.

RESULTS

Undergraduate nursing students (n = 1245) from 16 Australian schools of nursing responded to the survey. Quantitative analysis demonstrated that most students (96%) did not have misconceptions about men in nursing. Those who did were more likely to be men, born overseas, not in health-related employment and did not have nursing as their first choice. Four broad overarching main themes were generated in response to the statement that suggested men do not have the right attributes for nursing: (1) 'This is a very misandristic viewpoint'; (2) 'Compassion and intelligence are distributed in men and women equally'; (3) 'Men bring a different quality to nursing' (4) 'Anyone can be whatever they want to be'.

CONCLUSION

Overall, nursing students did not have misconceptions about men in nursing, despite experiencing ongoing social stigma regarding archaic gender norms. The findings from this study indicate that the next-generation nurses were championing to challenge the gender stereotype and support the needs of a gender diverse society.

IMPACT

Attitudes and misconceptions that elicit gender inequalities must be addressed with comprehensive strategies and de-gendered language and imagery within the profession, schools, workplaces and the media. Shifting culture and attitudes towards inclusion, values the diversity in the workforce and supports healthy workplace environments.

PATIENT OR PUBLIC CONTRIBUTION

No patient or public contribution.

Healthcare Professional's Attitudes Toward Male Nurses Working in the Context of Pediatric Care

To examine the attitudes of healthcare professionals (HCPs) toward male nurses working in the context of pediatric care. This cross-sectional quantitative using purposeful sampling of 135 participants. The questionnaire gathered socio-demographic data, including age, gender, marital status, nationality, and education. It also examined cultural influences and beliefs as barriers. The opinions about male nurses were evaluated using the attitude of people toward men in the nursing profession (AMnQ) scale. The relationship between attitudes toward men in nursing and cultural/organizational factors had no statistical differences (P > .05). However, age groups, encouraging male family members to pursue nursing, and working with male nurses in pediatric units showed statistically different attitude levels (P = .029, .008, .001). HCPs' positive attitude toward male nurses can eliminate gender bias. Male nurses serve as role models, supervising and monitoring work. Nursing education programs must address this challenge and promote gender balance to attract more men to the profession. The nursing field is evolving, with more male pediatric nurses joining the workforce. However, male pediatric nurses face challenges in leadership and management roles due to gender bias, lack of career advancement opportunities, and inadequate support from colleagues. They also struggle to build relationships with patients and families due to societal norms and gender stereotypes. Nursing leadership must address these issues to create a more inclusive environment for male pediatric nurses, ultimately enhancing the quality of healthcare services for pediatric patients.

Identifying engagement and associated factors in nursing students: An exploratory study

BACKGROUND

Burnout and engagement in health students surpass work life. Although levels of burnout in Nursing students are high, academic engagement is an understudied topic in Nursing, which has shown benefits. The aims were to know the level of engagement of Nursing students and to identify factors that prompt higher levels of engagement.

METHODS

An exploratory study was conducted during 2019 in three Universities in Spain. The UWES-S-17 questionnaire was used.

RESULTS

The sample consisted of 808 Nursing students. An average level of engagement was found. Engagement differed significantly by gender and age, with females and older students showing greater attitudes. Participants in the second year showed lower scores in the willingness to dedicate effort and persistence than those in the first and third year (p < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONS

The identification of the level of engagement and factors involved are an opportunity to probe into this approach by reinforcing positive attitudes in Nursing students. These findings show the need to seek strategies through specific educational interventions and policies. Engagement should be upheld throughout the degree and once they enter the job market to ensure the well-being during academic and future work life, a high-quality nursing care and patient safety.

How do male nursing students' voluntary activities affect their image in society?

AIM

To determine the effect of male nursing students' voluntary activities on their image in society.

BACKGROUND

The role of voluntary nursing services in enhancing the visibility of nursing in society can also contribute to enhancing the image of male nurses in society.

METHODS

This study employed a one-group, quasi-experimental pre-post analysis design. It was carried out between September 2020 and June 2021 in the pedestrian zone, which is one of the main streets of Bartın in Turkey. Using a convenience sampling approach, tradesmen aged 18 and over operating in commercial enterprises (n = 81) were asked to participate in the study. Information form and Nursing Image Scale were used to collect the research data. Results from the paired sample t test were utilized to analyse the study's data using the intervention of 'men nursing students' voluntary activities'.

RESULTS

The total Nursing Image Scale score of the participants was statistically considerably greater after the intervention than the pre-intervention score. Based on the paired sample t test results, it was observed that the participants obtained higher scores after the intervention than before in the gender sub-dimension as well as all other sub-dimensions of the Nursing Image Scale, and these results were statistically significant.

CONCLUSION

According to the findings of the study, volunteering by male nursing students improved both the profession of nursing and the perception of men in nursing in society.

IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING/HEALTH POLICY

This study suggested that male nursing students' voluntary activities could be one of the strategies to overcome the nursing shortage due to its enhancing effect on the profession of nursing and the perception of men in nursing in society.

Barriers and facilitators to enrolling in nursing programs as perceived by male students: a qualitative study in the United Arab Emirates

OBJECTIVES

Despite the cultural challenges and stigma associated with nursing in the United Arab Emirates, there has been an increase in male nursing students. It is therefore important to understand barriers and facilitators that influence their decision to choose nursing education.

METHODS

This qualitative study used purposive sampling to recruit 30 male undergraduate students. Semi-structured interviews were conducted and data were analyzed with thematic analysis.

RESULTS

Ten themes were identified that described barriers and facilitators to choosing nursing programs as perceived by male students. Four themes reflected barriers and six themes were identified that encompassed facilitators to choosing nursing programs.

CONCLUSIONS

For international audiences, our findings could be helpful in enhancing both the recruitment and educational opportunities for male nursing students. Male students may be inspired to pursue the nursing profession by the presence of men in the profession and favorable male role models. Effort is needed to recruit male role models in nursing schools.

Career Identity and Career Success among Chinese male nurses: The mediating role of Work Engagement

AIM

This study aimed to investigate the effect of career identity on career success among Chinese male nurses and to examine the mediating role of work engagement in this relationship.

BACKGROUND

Recently, with the development of the nursing career, male nurses take up a higher share and play a more important role in the nursing team. With its own particularity and advantages, this group's stability closely relates to the future of the nursing team. Therefore, promoting the career success of the male nurses is essential to the nursing team development.

METHODS

The data were collected in China. A sample of 557 male nurses completed measures of career identity, work engagement and career success scale. Structural equation model was adopted to verify the research hypotheses.

RESULTS

Career identity was significantly and positively related to male nurses' work engagement and career success (p< .01). And work engagement partially mediated the association between career identity and career success.

CONCLUSION

Career identity are critical to predicting and enhancing male nurses' career success. Work engagement plays an intervening mechanism explaining how career identity promotes career success among male nurses.

IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING MANAGEMENT

Nursing management should minimize the impact of the traditional concept, implement the gender equality and provide moderate care for male nurses to facilitate balanced development of gender by upgrading the management system. The administrators should carry out skill training based on male nurses' features and the need of the department. Given full play to their respective advantages, male nurses will make great progress in professional development and achieve greater career identity and work engagement. Meanwhile, the further exploration of better incentive mechanism also makes sense in improving career identity and work engagement by the reform of performance appraisal mechanism and salary adjustment according to their ability.

Listening to the minority: A qualitative study exploring male students' perceptions of the nursing profession and reasons for choosing nursing as a career

INTRODUCTION

Nursing is a rapidly growing profession that has traditionally been dominated by women. Research has highlighted various challenges associated with increasing the number of male nurses, such as cultural challenges and stigma related to nursing. The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has experienced an increase in male students enrolling in nursing programs. To ensure this is sustainable, it is important to understand how male students perceive nursing and clarify factors that influence their decision to choose nursing as a career.

OBJECTIVES

To explore male nursing students' perspectives of the nursing profession and understand why they chose nursing as a career.

METHODS

Participants in this qualitative analysis were 30 male students that were selected using purposive sampling. Semi-structured interviews were used to collect data about participants' experiences. We used a qualitative content analysis to guide the data analysis.

RESULTS

Three main themes were identified that described male students' perspectives of and reasons for choosing nursing: (1) perceptions of nurses and nursing profession; (2) individuals as facilitators or role models in choosing the nursing profession; and (3) barriers to choosing the nursing profession.

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION

Our results regarding barriers and facilitators for male students in choosing to study nursing may be useful to help improve the recruitment of and learning opportunities for male nursing students. Highlighting the male presence in the nursing profession and positive male role models may encourage males to enter the profession. Therefore, understanding the experiences of male nursing students in choosing nursing as a career has important implications for nursing practice and education.

Development and psychometric testing of the gender misconceptions of men in nursing (GEMINI) scale among nursing students

BACKGROUND

Misconceptions about men in nursing may influence recruitment and retention, further perpetuating the gender diversity imbalance in the nursing workforce. Identifying misconceptions and implementing early intervention strategies to address these deep-rooted stereotypes remain challenging but is considered critical to support students who are commencing a nursing career.

OBJECTIVE

To develop and evaluate the psychometric properties of the 'Gender Misconceptions of meN in nursIng (GEMINI) Scale.

DESIGN

Cross-sectional survey.

METHODS

Pre-registration nursing students enrolled in undergraduate nursing programs across 16 nursing institutions in Australia were surveyed from July to September 2021. The 17-item self-report GEMINI Scale measured the gender misconceptions of men in nursing.

RESULTS

Of the 1410 completed surveys, data from 683 (45%) women were used for exploratory factor analysis showing a one factor structure, while data from 727 men (47%) were used for confirmatory factor analysis of the 17-item GEMINI Scale, which showed a good model fit. The scale demonstrated high internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha of 0.892). Men were found to have higher gender misconceptions (p < 0.001) while respondents who: a) identified nursing as their first career choice (p = 0.002); b) were in their final year of program enrolment (p = 0.016); and c) engaged in health-related paid work (p = 0.002) had lower gender misconceptions.

CONCLUSION

The GEMINI Scale is a robust, valid, reliable, and easy to administer tool to assess misconceptions about men in nursing, which may potentially influence academic performance and retention. Identifying and addressing specific elements of misconceptions could inform targeted strategies to support retention and decrease attrition among these students.

IMPACT STATEMENT

Genderism harms nursing, as well as the men and women working in the profession. Recruitment and retention of men into nursing is needed to cultivate male role models and diversify the workforce, however this is impeded by negative portrayals in popular culture and misconceptions entrenched in society.

Recruiting males to the nursing profession: acceptability testing of the 'Make a Difference with Nursing' intervention for post-primary school students

Background

The nursing profession is facing a worldwide recruitment shortage which could be partially addressed by recruiting more males. However, in many developed countries numbers of male nurses have traditionally been low. To address this issue we developed and tested a post-primary school-based intervention to recruit more males into the nursing profession.

Methods

Participants included thirty-four  female students drawn from an all-girls post-primary school, fifty-one males from an all-boys post-primary school and seven males and fifteen females drawn from a mixed gender post-primary school, all located in Northern Ireland. Participants were all sixteen years of age and were in receipt of careers education. The intervention titled ‘Make a Difference with Nursing’ was co-designed with careers teachers, nurses and post-primary school students. This video based intervention was created to fit within existing career lessons and featured nursing staff and students describing their experiences of the profession. Participants completed the six domains of Nursing as a Career Choice Questionnaire prior to viewing the intervention and again after viewing.

Results

Positive and statistically significant increases in perceptions of the nursing profession were found between pre and post test scores across all six domains. No statistically significant differences in perceptions were found between males and females after watching the intervention. Comparison by school type showed statistically significant differences on the domains of prior healthcare exposure (p = 0.046; 95% CI -0.19 to 3.79) and job prospects (p = 0.005; 95% CI 1.04 to 7.01). Students from the all-girls school rated these more positively than those from the all-boys and mixed-gender schools.

Conclusions

A short video presentation to post-primary school students is capable of changing how they perceive the nursing profession. Students expressed surprise over the variety of professional nursing roles suggesting that many were not well informed about the realities of nursing. Providing tailored resources for use in careers lessons can better educate students and teachers about nursing and provide positive portrayals of male role models in the profession.

Current Stereotypes Associated with Nursing and Nursing Professionals: An Integrative Review

Nursing and nursing professionals are associated with social stereotypes, which may hinder the profession's development and future prospects as a scientific discipline. The aim of this study was to identify and describe the stereotypes associated with the nursing profession-students and professionals. Therefore, we carried out an integrative review. The search was conducted using PubMed, WOS, and CINAHL databases, and its search strategy was based on a combination of standardised keywords and natural vocabulary, with a temporal limit between 2016 and 2021. The data extraction and analysis was based on the conceptual framework developed by Whittemore and Knafl. Twenty-seven studies were included in the review, and their results were classified and coded. Two categories emerged, namely, stereotypes relating to the professionals' gender and stereotypes relating to the profession itself. We concluded that the nursing profession is viewed as female with low skills, social status, salary, academic level and entry requirements, and with little autonomy. Male nurses' professional competencies and masculinity are questioned, while the work carried out by female nurses is viewed as unprofessional. To reduce these stereotypes and bias we must present the nursing profession as a scientific discipline, developed by both men and women. Specific channels for this awareness-raising work include interventions from universities and the media, and participation in health policies.

Self-Leadership Practices of Nurse Educators at South African Nursing Education Institutions

Background:

Self-leadership has emerged as a leadership style that could be used to achieve successful performance for individuals and organisations, including higher education institutions. It is, however, not known how nurse educators perceive their self-leadership practices.

Objective:

To describe the self-leadership practices of nurse educators at nursing education institutions.

Methods:

This article reports the quantitative phase of a broader exploratory, descriptive, sequential mixed-method design study conducted with conveniently selected nurse educators (n=265) in two provinces in South Africa. Data were collected using a self-administered questionnaire.

Results:

Constructs found to be valid for self-leadership practices were autonomy-supportive environment, continuing professional development, role modelling, and shared leadership. Respondents perceived themselves to be engaged in self-leadership practices. The Cronbach alpha coefficient indicated the internal consistency of the constructs.

Conclusion:

Educational institutions should create environments that support autonomy and role modelling to facilitate the engagement of nurse educators in self-leadership practices.

A Profile of Novice and Senior Nurses' Communication Patterns during the Transition to Practice Period: An Application of the Roter Interaction Analysis System

Novice nurses' successful transition to practice is impacted by their interactions with senior nurses. Ensuring that novice nurses are adequately supported during their transition to practice has wide-ranging and significant implications. The aim of this study is to explore the communication patterns between novice and senior nurses by applying an interaction analysis technique. Trimonthly onboarding evaluations between novice and senior nurses were recorded. The Roter Interaction Analysis System was adapted and deployed to identify communication patterns. In total, twenty-two interactions were analyzed. Senior nurses spoke more (64.5%). Task-focused exchange was predominant amongst senior (79.7%) and novice (59.5%) nurses. Senior nurses' talk was concentrated in clusters of information-giving (45%) and advice or instructions (17.2%), while emotional expression (1.4%) and social talk (0.4%) were rare. Novice nurses' talk was concentrated in clusters-information giving (57%) and positive talk (39.5%). The communication patterns between senior and novice nurses during the onboarding period indicate aspects of novice nurse transition that could be addressed, such as encouraging novice nurses to use these interactions to communicate more, or emphasizing the importance of social talk. These insights can be used to inform mentorship and preceptorship training to ensure that senior nurses are able to adequately support novice nurses through all parts of the transition to practice period.