Editor’s Letter

By Sarah Rowell Nurse-Recruiter.com

June is a month that for some brings the school year to an end and welcomes the beginning of summer. For all of us, the sixth month marks the halfway point of the year 2010. Where did the year go? June also honors fathers everywhere on Father's Day. In honor of that special day, I wanted to take a look at male nurses and the history men hold in the nursing field. There was so much interesting information on this subject that I will do another article soon that focuses on the attitudes and stereotypes that many male nurses encounter.

And please don't forget to submit your articles so we can publish them in our newsletter. We also welcome comments on any articles written.

 

Men in Nursing

By Sarah Rowell Nurse-Recruiter.com

Today there are 2.1 million registered nurses in the United States and only 5.4% of them are male. Men also make up only 13% of all new nursing students, according to MinorityNurse.com.

Obviously these statistics point to a female dominant field, yet history reveals a different story. During the Middle Ages, most nurses were male, since religion controlled everything. Women were not only excluded from any authoritative positions, but were being slaughtered as "witches". At this time, St. Benedict started the Benedictine nursing order and the Alexian Brothers provided nursing care in the 1300's. These two organizations are still in existence today. Throughout the Middle Ages, military, religious and lay orders of men were providing the majority of the nursing care.

Nursing schools for men were common in the United States until the early 1900's. In fact, more than half of those offering paid nursing services to the ill and injured were male nurses. Yet by 1930, men made up less than 1% of RN's in the United States. As more lucrative occupations were found, many men left the nursing field behind.

The men that continued to persevere in the field of nursing found they needed a voice. The American Assembly for Men in Nursing (AAMN) was founded in 1971. The role of the AAMN is to provide a framework for male nurses to meet, discuss and look at what factors affect them as nurses.

The 1980-1990;s created another shift in the nursing profession for men, as well as for women. Inflation, a shortage of nurses, the rise in nurses wages and a change in gender attitude all contributed to bringing more men into the profession. Although the current percentage of male nurses is still low, the number of male students is slowly on the rise, which should allow greater numbers of men to enter the nursing profession.

 

Vault For Nurse Records

By Sarah Rowell Nurse-Recruiter.com

Nurse Recruiter is researching a business that would be a new division of it's current job board business. The new business would be a major credentialing system for nurses, hospitals and healthcare staffing firms throughout the country. The key question is whether the nurses or hospitals and staffing firms would be interested in our services. We thought maybe you could help. If you could take a minute to read the information below to see what our services would entail, you may know immediately from your experience as a nurse, a hospital administrator or staffing firm rep, whether the concept has merit for either the nurses or hospitals or staffing firms.

Here's the concept.........

We would offer nurses an opportunity to put all their credentials, licensures, I-9, recent shot updates, resume and any other required info in a single source which we will call The Nurse Vault, and be able to update it themselves online rather than go scrambling for the info every time they interview or start a new position. We would not charge the nurses anything for these services.

The hospitals and staffing firms would constitute our source of revenue and would be assessed a subscription fee based on the number of credential records required. Some will want all interviewees credentialed and some will only want new hires credentialed. The hospitals and staffing firms could experience significant savings by using this service. Background checks would not be included unless the hospitals or staffing firms wanted to contract separately with us for that.

We would appreciate your professional opinions. Please e-mail comments to info@nurserecruiter.com

 

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