Amid nurse shortage, a university rolls out the welcome mat for men
5 hours ago
- Nursing is a high-demand profession with 189,000 annual openings, but only 1 in 8 nurses are men.
- The University of Alabama at Birmingham has a higher proportion of male nursing students (1 in 6) and faculty (1 in 5), outpacing national averages.
- Efforts to attract men include featuring male students in marketing, high school recruiting, and an employee resource group.
- Stereotypes persist, such as men being mistaken for doctors or assumed to be gay, which can deter some from entering nursing.
- Nursing offers stable careers, good pay (median $90,000/year), and increasing technological advancements like robotics.
- Personal motivations for men include family experiences, desire to provide care, and the ability to support a family.
- Professor Curry Bordelon leads the American Association for Men in Nursing, advocating for men's health as a nursing specialty.