---
title: "Men Wanted: New Efforts to Attract Male Nurses"
url: "https://arizonacollege.edu/blog/men-wanted-new-efforts-to-attract-male-nurses/"
type: post
date_published: 2024-11-07
date_modified: 2024-11-07
schema:
  @type: Article
language: en-US
word_count: 1212
reading_time: 7 min
canonical: "https://arizonacollege.edu/blog/men-wanted-new-efforts-to-attract-male-nurses/"
featured_image: "https://arizonacollege.edu/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Male-Nurse.webp"
categories:
  - Newsroom
---

# Men Wanted: New Efforts to Attract Male Nurses

![Male Nurse](https://arizonacollege.edu/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Male-Nurse.webp)

[**Medscape**](https://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/men-wanted-new-efforts-attract-male-nurses-2024a1000k6k?form=fpf)
, November 5th, 2024
Written by Jodi Helmer

_A nationwide nursing shortage has led to increased efforts to attract more men to the profession and ensure that men in nursing feel valued and supported and want to continue their careers long term. Jason Dunne, chief academic officer [Arizona College of Nursing](https://www.arizonacollege.edu/), shares how to recruit men to the profession._

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Only
[12%](https://www.aacnnursing.org/news-data/all-news/data-spotlight-men-in-nursing-five-year-trends-show-no-growth)
of the nurses providing patient care at hospitals and health clinics today are
men. Although the percentage of nurses has increased — men made up just
[2.7%](https://www.census.gov/newsroom/archives/2013-pr/cb13-32.html) of nurses
in 1970 — nursing is still considered a “pink collar” profession, a
female-dominated field.

“We’ve made strides over the last couple of decades, but [the number of men
pursuing nursing careers] is leveling out,” said Jason Dunne, DNP, MSN, RN,
chief academic officer at the Arizona College of Nursing, Phoenix. “There
continues to be persistent gender stereotypes that [have] discouraged men from
entering the profession.”

A nationwide nursing shortage has led to increased efforts to attract more men
to the profession and ensure that men in nursing feel valued and supported and
want to continue their careers long term.

“The nursing shortage is very real,” Dunne said. “We need to be highly focused
on the shortage and look at opportunities to bring diversity into the
profession, and one big way to solve it is bringing more men into nursing.”

## Representation Matters

Colleges recognize the need to diversify their nursing student population and
have turned their attention to increasing the number of men attending
informational sessions and career days. Dunne believes, “There is a general lack
of awareness of nursing as a career choice [for men].”

The [Nursing Consortium of Florida](https://nursingconsortium.us/) hosts a “Day
in the Life of a Nurse” program to introduce high school students to nursing
careers, and the University of Virginia School of Nursing invites male nursing
students to speak at educational events to promote workforce diversity.

“When I was growing up, the males wouldn’t have been included in those
sessions,” said Melissa Gilbert Gomes, PhD, APRN, PMHNP-BC, FNAP, FAAN,
associate dean for diversity, equity, and inclusion at the University of
Virginia School of Nursing, Charlottesville, Virginia. “It was nice to see their
interest and to have a male student there for them to ask questions and to help
them see that this could be a place for them.”

Nursing schools have also engaged in other efforts to encourage more men to
consider nursing careers, from highlighting male nurses in marketing materials
and engaging with men at career fairs to updating course curriculum to include
content on men’s health and connecting male nursing students with men in nursing
faculty or clinical settings.

Focusing on nursing as a lucrative career choice could also attract more men to
the profession. On average, male registered nurses (RNs) make
[$7300 per year](https://nursejournal.org/resources/the-gender-pay-gap-in-nursing/)
more than their female counterparts due to the gender pay gap. The
[median wage](https://www.journalofnursingregulation.com/article/S2155-8256%2823%2900047-9/fulltext)
for male RNs in acute care, cardiology, and perioperative specialties is $90,000
annually.

At the University of Virginia School of Nursing, which the American Association
for Men in Nursing (AAMN) named “Best School for Men in Nursing” in 2023, 20% of
nursing students are men.

The school has a Men Advancing Nursing club and is in the process of chartering
a new AAMN chapter. The goal, according to Gomes, is to create an environment
where male nursing students feel represented and supported.

“Valuing the perspective that men bring [to nursing] is important,” she said.
“Coming together [and] having that camaraderie and intrinsic motivation to
specifically speak to areas that impact men…is important.”

## Promoting Patient Care

Highlighting the diversity of career options within the nursing profession is
also essential. RNs can pursue careers in specialties ranging from pediatrics,
orthopedics, and occupational health to anesthesia, cardiology, and nephrology.
The specialty with the highest number of male RNs tends to be acute care, which
encompasses emergency/trauma and medical-surgical.

John Schmidt, DNP, MSN, BSN, faculty member and program lead for the acute care
nurse practitioner program at Purdue Global School of Nursing, refers to these
specialties as having a high excitement factor.

“Men gravitate to nursing to help people,” he said. “In critical care, there is
instant gratification. You see patients get better. It’s the same in the
[intensive care unit] and the emergency department. We take care of them and
can see how we made a difference.”

When hospitals and health systems create environments that support men in
nursing, patients also benefit. Research shows that patients often prefer nurses
of the same gender, and a more diverse healthcare workforce has been linked to
improved patient outcomes. Reducing gender inequities among nursing staff could
also improve job satisfaction and retention rates for men in nursing.

“When you’re in a vulnerable space as a patient…it’s important to know that your
care provider understands you [and] having men as nurses is a part of that,”
said Gomes. “Even though patients might not be used to having a male nurse at
the bedside, once they have the experience, it challenges preconceived notions
[and] that connection is important.”

Hospitals must proactively support men in nursing to achieve the benefits of
greater gender diversity in the nursing workforce. Male nurses have fewer role
models and
[report](https://www.aonl.org/news/voice/mar-2021/professional-pathways-men-in-nursing)
higher levels of loneliness, isolation, and role strain.

Groups such as
[NYC Men in Nursing](https://www.nycmeninnursing.com/mentorship-program#:~:text=NYC%20Men%20in%20Nursing%20values,knowledge%2C%20and%2For%20thinking.)
and mentorship programs such as Men in Nursing at RUSH University College of
Nursing and RUSH University Medical Center and the North Carolina Healthcare
Association
[Diverse Healthcare Leaders Mentorship Program](https://www.ncha.org/programs/mentorship-program/)
were designed to provide coaching, education, and networking opportunities and
connect men in nursing.

Male nurses, Dunne added, must be role models and must take the lead in changing
the conversations about gender roles in nursing. Establishing support systems
and mentorship opportunities is instrumental in inspiring men to pursue nursing
careers and creating visibility into the profession and “would create a level of
parity for men in the profession and encourage them to want to stay in nursing
as a long-term career.”

He told Medscape Medical News that creating scholarships for men enrolled in
nursing school, increasing the involvement of male nurse leaders in recruitment
efforts, and updating curriculum to ensure men are reflected in the materials
are also essential.

“We’ve got to be willing and open to having the conversations to end the
stereotypes that have plagued the profession,” said Dunne. “And we’ve got to
push men in nursing to be front and center so folks see that there are
opportunities for men in nursing.”

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_Jodi Helmer is a freelance journalist who writes about health and wellness for Fortune, AARP, WebMD, Fitbit, and GE HealthCare._

**Categories:** Newsroom