The prevalence of female nurses isn’t anything new in the United States. There are currently 3.2 million active professional female nurses across the country. According to a study from MidAmerica Nazarene University, however, the number of male nurses pale in comparison: 333,000 nationwide.
“Unfortunately,” says Jerry Lucas, a registered nurse and the publisher of Male Nurse Magazine, “one of the biggest detriments to men entering nursing is TV shows and movies like Meet the Parents.”
These days, though, some believe the stigma is waning. Dr. Barry Anderson, an assistant professor at the Medical University of South Carolina College of Nursing, is one of those people.
“I think that has come with the increase in health care technology, competitive salaries, high job satisfaction, and that others are now recognizing that nursing is a great career,” he says. “People are seeing it as a worthwhile profession in which you can make really good money with career opportunities.”
Conversely, the salaries for female nurses are actually lower even though they make up a big majority of this workforce.
Click here to read more data on male vs. female nurses.
Source: MidAmerica Nazarene University
