PAN DORA writes:

I read with interest your response regarding nursing in America. I note you left out discussion of a significant part of the nursing fields, namely the staffing of long-term care facilities. If you believe introducing more men into these institutions is either possible or desirable, I’d suggest you actually try working in one for awhile.I spent over a decade working in numerous long-term care facilities. While the majority of the staff was female, there were at times males employed as CNAs (certified nursing assistants),LPNs (licensed practical nurses) and RNs (registered nurses.) Most were competent, compassionate caregivers, however their presence was frequently an additional burden. Many residents of both genders did not want male caregivers at all, others would only allow them under certain circumstances (i.e. a female physically present in the same room.) Family members were also not always welcoming to the idea of male caregivers. This led to disruption of assignment scheduling and increased workload for female staff to complete patient care that the males could not do (answering call bells, performing nursing duties that involved intimate bodily contact.) Similar issues were often present in home care, staffing of group homes and in facilities for the profoundly retarded, in my personal experience.

You also appear to believe that there are just loads of men kicking down the doors of nursing schools to get these jobs. If this were true we would not have the profound nursing shortages we currently are experiencing.

I am aware that your personal beliefs call for women to leave the workforce. While you are entitled to this opinion, I would appreciate it in the future that you not attempt to present this view in a manner that denies or minimizes its feasibility in nursing.

Laura writes:

Just to clarify, I never said men were kicking down the doors to become nurses. Nor did I say that it was possible to make nursing staffs predominantly male. I said that nursing can be a demanding job and that it is not easy to be a full-time nurse and a mother. It would be better if more nurses were men, but there shouldn’t be a preference for male nurses in hiring or education because that is simply not practical. Women bring obvious gifts to nursing; it is a feminine vocation for good reason. Also, as far as I know, there are many more part-time positions in nursing than other fields.

This is what I wrote: 

Nursing is a more serious career than it once was, involving much more training and expertise. It used to be something women did before they became mothers and wives or did for their entire lives if they didn’t marry or have children.

In the case of both teaching and nursing, they are now lifelong careers. It is a myth that both these careers easily meld with being a wife and mother, even during the years when children are not babies or toddlers. They can be very taxing jobs that require long hours away from home. It would be better if more nurses were men, and there already is a significant minority of male nurses. That’s not to say that the work of women nurses is less valuable. Nursing is always more than a job or, it should be viewed as more than a job. It’s a vocation, and anyone who does it well, no matter what their life circumstances, deserves praise and gratitude. But taking care of one’s children and husband is more important than working as a nurse, barring an extreme shortage that cannot possibly be filled by men. [bold added]

That said, many women nurses are now in situations where they are supporting their families. Those who have no choice deserve credit for what they do.

As for long -term care, your point is well-taken. However, the demand for long-term care is much greater today because more women are in the workforce. There is no question women are much less available to take care of the old and that more of the old are institutionalized as a result. I know several people who never entered long-term institutions despite serious debilitation. There were non-working relatives to care for them.

                                                       — Comments —

Pan Dora writes:

You stated it would be better if there were more male nurses, and acknowledged that males are a significant minority. How will your desire for more male nurses be achieved if there isn’t a big rush commencing tomorrow? I also note you continue to wish for more male nurses but offered no solutions to the difficulties of having them, assuming we can get that much-needed boost in male applicants.

You also stated there were many more part-time positions in nursing than in other fields. I do not know where you obtained this information, but let us assume for the sake of our discussion this is true. I will once again draw on my experiences in long-term care facilities, and tell you I can not think of a single instance where having a lot of part-time staff provided optimal patient care. Nurses who only worked a few hours per week (in my experience) had a tendency to be mainly concerned with putting in their hours and going home on time. If things were left undone in most cases they weren’t going to be the ones called on the carpet for it. That was for the full-time staff. Certainly there are always exceptions to the rule, but they are just that; exceptions. A long-term care facility with a high number of part-timers is frequently regarded as a facility with problems, rationale being if they were a good place to be employed they’d have no trouble keeping full-time staff. Similar situations exist in home care situations.

Regarding women in the workforce being the cause of the increased need for long-term care ….. did your acquaintances who avoided long-term care have family members able to deal with ventilators? What about tracheotomies, NG and G-tubes, intravenous lines, portable oxygen? Did the family members know how to deal with the ever-increasing variety of medications? Many long-term care residents have these and many other needs, some of which are of fairly recent development.

Laura writes:

How will your desire for more male nurses be achieved if there isn’t a big rush commencing tomorrow? I also note you continue to wish for more male nurses but offered no solutions to the difficulties of having them, assuming we can get that much-needed boost in male applicants.

I am not obliged to offer a sure path for men to go into nursing in order to assert that it would be good if more men who want to be employed in a well-paying job would find their way to nursing. The first step is to debunk the idea that it is perfectly easy to be a full-time nurse and a full-time mother. A problem is still a problem even if there are no ready solutions.

A long-term care facility with a high number of part-timers is frequently regarded as a facility with problems, rationale being if they were a good place to be employed they’d have no trouble keeping full-time staff. Similar situations exist in home care situations.

I trust you are correct with regard to the drawbacks of part-time employment in long-term care.

Regarding women in the workforce being the cause of the increased need for long-term care ….. did your acquaintances who avoided long-term care have family members able to deal with ventilators? What about tracheotomies, NG and G-tubes, intravenous lines, portable oxygen?

I did not say there would be no need for nurses or for long-term nursing care if fewer women worked.

Y. writes:

Read allnurses.com if you want to learn about “the profound nursing shortages we currently are experiencing.” There are plenty of nurses there who say otherwise and explain why.

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