Does the nursing curriculum influence feelings of gender-role conflict in a cohort of nursing degree male students?

Martin Christensen, Nick Purkis, Raph Morgan, Chris Allen

Research output: Journal article publicationJournal articleAcademic researchpeer-review

2 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

It is estimated that more than 9% of the global nursing workforce is male and that this share will gradually rise over the next decade. Although there are some positive aspects of having a male nursing workforce, men in the profession still experience discriminatory behaviours and practices. Fortunately, this does not deter a number of men entering undergraduate degree programmes. The aim of this study was to understand the experiences of 14 male nursing students in their first year of the adult Bachelor of Nursing programme. Using the Inventory of Male Friendliness in Nursing Programs and the Gender Role Conflict Scale, this study found that the male students felt welcomed, supported and included into the nursing programme. In addition, they felt no overall genderrole conflict, although feelings of success and achievement caused some challenges. The results of this study suggest that the male students did not necessarily experience those inequitable behaviours and practices reported in the literature. It has been suggested that perhaps the reality of clinical practice may change the perception of nursing for male students. Therefore, implications for further research could include a longitudinal study to ascertain where the perceptions of the nursing programme change for the male nursing students over time.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)1024-1030
Number of pages7
JournalBritish Journal of Nursing
Volume30
Issue number17
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 23 Sept 2021
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • Male nurses
  • Male nursing students
  • Men in nursing
  • Staffing issues

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • General Nursing

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