In less than two years, the U.S. could face a shortage of up to 450,000 nurses. The health-care system won’t be able to fill this gap with half the potential workforce on the sidelines: More must be done to recruit men into nursing.
Men currently comprise about 12% of nurses, up from less than 3% in 1970. Boosting their number would not only ease shortages, but offer a pathway to good jobs for a demographic that has been exiting the workforce in alarming numbers in recent years. Employment growth in some traditionally male sectors, such as manufacturing, has all but vanished.
Yet men traditionally haven’t entered nursing because, much like teaching, it’s stigmatized as a female profession — the term “male nurse” is a case in point. Men in nursing tend to be career-switchers, and often include former members of the military, police officers and firefighters. In short: civic-minded workers drawn to the six-figure salaries, career progression and flexible schedules, with the added bonus of not having to sit behind a desk.
