Only 9 percent of nurses are male. This number has increased and according to nursing school enrollments, will continue to increase, but more men need to seriously consider nursing as a career choice. There is a current nursing shortage that is only expected to grow in the future as more people grow older and require medical treatment.
I know many of you think nursing is only for women…but this is not true. In my four years of nursing in the ICU, I have worked mainly only with men. Most weekends it is me and three male nurses. Men do tend to choose jobs in the critical care areas of the hospital such as the ICU or the ER. Male nurses are welcome in most all areas of nursing with the understandable exception of labor and delivery in most health care settings.
As I was looking online for more information on male nursing, I found that there is even a magazine specifically geared towards male nurses called Male Nurse Magazine. There are special scholarship opportunities for male nursing students as well. The American Assembly for Men in Nursing (AAMN) is dedicated to helping further the education of male nurses http://aamn.org/ .
They even have a forum for discussion of issues male nurses may want to discuss. Check out for more information on more potential assistance in paying for nursing school.
There are so many different areas in nursing that you are sure to find the one that is just right for you! So get up, turn off the football game and apply for nursing school today! Ok, just joking about the football….sometimes we watch it at work too…..I’m just sayin…
We hope all you male nurses, or potential male nurses, come back to NursesPTO.com and give us your perspective!
Hi Wendy,
Good on you for posting about the need for more males – I couldn’t agree with you more! 9 percent, wow that’s pretty bad… How are we ever going to break the ‘women’s profession’ label at that rate!!
I work in emergency and the ratio of males is considerably higher, and I’ve found this to be the case in other critical care areas, as you suggest..
Maybe we need to do more to break the stigma’s etc associated with nursing, ie name change?!
As a male nurse with 10yrs under my belt I just want to add that emergency nursing is pretty cool – if you’re a guy and are interested in blood and guts etc, if you enjoy the old adrenaline rush and work well under pressure, check it out – it’s not an easy gig that’s for sure.
Thank you Ross for your response and encouraging comments! Nursing is really a wonderful career opportunity for men as well as women. I understand the stigma associated with male nursing. Most guys consider it a “woman’s” job. As you said, there is plenty of blood, guts, and just plain gruesome work in nursing. Surely there are other men out there that can handle this kind of work…;)
From my experience, men have a better chance of being hired and unfortunately for us girls, usually get paid more for the same work. There are so many opportunities in nursing to further your education and career possibilities. Maybe we can convince more men out there to give nursing a shot and come join our forces!
Thanks again and good luck to you!
nursewendy
Yes! More men please!
We could get rid of some of the stigma that this is a woman’s only job if more caring, professional men entered nursing. Nursing is technique, science and finesse all the time…just like several sports. I work rehab and we currently have 3 males on our unit. We could use a few more. Many veterans identify with men more readily than women.
It seems like things are changing. I surely hope they do!
Thank you RehabRN for your response. You bring up an interesting point that there are some demographics that would respond better to having a male nurse. In my work as an RN in ICU I have actually had more men ask for a male nurse than women asking for a female nurse. Keep up the good work! Maybe we can all work together to get more men into the profession
Thanks again,
nursewendy
Thank you for this post. The battle of we ‘male-nurses’ will be never ending. The stereotypes that the nursing profession have to battle is only magnified by the public’s lack of knowledge. Now we are battling hollywood’s warped ideas of what nurses do and how they act.
I wish I would have chosen the nursing field years ago! This profession continues to give. I do my best to spread the word on how being a nurse, let alone being a male in the nursing profession is such a great decision.
Even as ‘the minority’ the endless amount of opportunities continues to grow, both personally and professionally.
Thanks again!
Sean, glad you liked the post. I find male nurses are great to work with. I think the nursing field is becoming a place where men find their place more and more often these days. I hope that they continue to look to a career in nursing for all it offers. You are right, there are many warped ideas in Hollywood’s depiction of male nurses. I am personally offended by the NurseJackie show on Showtime for its portrayal of nurses, both male and female.
Good luck in your future as a great nurse!
nursewendy
Any thoughts on a career change into nursing for a guy in his 40s?
I’m 43, have been working my whole adult life as a software engineer, which I have grown to steadily despise more and more every day. My wife is in health care (lab tech) and currently going back to school to get her nursing degree as well, so I have a good idea of what’s involved and I find it very interesting.
At this point in my life, I’d be perfectly content to give up my 6-figure income to do something with some meaning. I’m in good shape and don’t mind working hard. I just don’t know how it would be for a guy my age to break into this. Realistically, it will be a couple more years before I can even start because my wife needs to finish her school first.
I’m also thinking of taking a CNA class and working as a nurse’s aid for a while to get some direct patient care experience prior to and during school itself.
Dave, sounds like you have given a lot of thought to this. I am sorry you are dissatisfied with your current job. Nursing is a very interesting and continually changing field to get into. I think you would love the change and the excitement you would find there. Don’t worry about your age! It is never too late to go back to school. When I was in nursing school there were more than a few students around your age or older. I am glad you realize you would be giving up your six figure income…at least initially. There are some career paths you can take as a nurse (granted with much more education) where you can make a living around the six figure mark, such as nurse practitioner or in administration.
I think the idea of taking a CNA class would be good for you to find out if nursing is something you really want to do.
Good luck to you and your wife in your studies!
nursewendy
Nursewendy
I want to thank you for your posting and the fact that you have seen my web site. I started it to try to show that there is many different areas of nursing and the past of nursing was just full of females but many different men. I thank you for helping others to understand there is a need and men need not think of nursing as just women work, the truth is far from that.
I think one thing about getting more men into nursing (will we EVER get rid of the moniker “male nurse”-my license and diploma make no mention of gender) is that it will create more FULL TIME people in the profession.
It’s pretty rare to find a man who is a nurse who works less than .8 or .9-at least that has been my experience. I think for a lot of reform to take place in healthcare and in nursing, we need more men in the nursing profession.
I’ve been reading many articles on this website, and I have to say they’re quite helpful. I’ve just recently made the decision to become an RN. I’m having a kind of anxiety, if you will, towards the matter and articles such as this along with many of your other ones reinforce my decision. My mom is a M.A. for a Cardiologist at the University of Tennessee. I had the privilege of shadowing said Cardiologist for a while, that’s when I came to my conclusion. I’ll be going back to spectate an operation very soon.
I just thought I’d share this. I already have a degree in CIS, but I can’t visualize myself behind a 10×10 cubicle for the rest of my life. Not to mention the economy hasn’t been very kind either, however, it’s not a matter of money. I can say, that I’m already nervous. Is that normal?
Hi, I have spent the past year beating around idea’s in my head, of what I want to do with my life. I earned an associates degree in business year’s ago and have never seen any real benefit from it. I recently got married to a wonderful and extremely sharp nurse. She is an RN in the ER, and is always full of interesting stories, day in and day out. I have met many of her co-workers both male and female, and have to say that the medical field seems really fun to work within. I have recently decided that I am going to take some classes to see if Nursing is right for me. I love the idea of helping people of all ages, as well as the ever changing environment. I think I handle myself well in highly stressfull situations, but am not sure the ER is someplace I’d want to start, can anyone give me some other good nursing field’s of work?? I am brand new to the idea and any advice for getting off on the right foot would be appreciated. Thanks so much, this is really an interesting page that has reinforced my thinking that Nursing is something I should do, thanks for creating this awesome information.