Legacy 2005 Spring - School of Nursing - University of Virginia

FEATURE [male] to go into a predominantlyfemale field.”But it’s not for a lack of persuasion.David has heard of some Southernnursing schools that recruit men atNASCAR races. Others seek out maleswho have had a service-oriented background,such as Boy Scouts or militarycorpsmen.Luring more men into the fieldwon’t necessarily alleviate a growingnational nursing shortage. Nursingschools generally have more thanenough applicants; addressing theshortage is more a question of increasingcapacity and retention rather thanrecruitment.Theresa Carroll, the chief undergraduateadmissions recruiter at thenursing school, says bringing moremen into nursing is a question of overcomingsocial stigmas that preventmen from pursuing a field where theymight flourish.“Each of us has our talents andgifts, and shouldn’t be excluded from afield because of gender,” she says,adding rhetorically, “Why do we needmore women engineers and womenphysicians?”Nationally, men make up 8.4 percentof baccalaureate nursing students,according to the American Associationof Colleges of Nursing. At U.Va., thatnumber is just 5.4 percent.The Men in Nursing group startedlast year. Its mission: to support malenursing students, to help recruit othermen, and to address health issues thatmay be more sensitive for men.U.VA. MEN IN NURSING20 current undergraduate students26 current graduate students274 male alumni (all programs)The Men in Nursing group started last year. Itsmission: to support male nursing students, to helprecruit other men, and to address health issues thatmay be more sensitive for men.One December morning, David satwith the organization’s vice president,Darroch Massie, in the lobby ofMcLeod Hall, and the two discussedtheir personal learning experiences.Massie worked as an emergencyroom technician about 10 years ago,and later went on to earn an associate’sdegree in science at Central VirginiaCommunity College in Lynchburg.Now 39, he said he never considerednursing as a field until about two yearsago, despite having worked with malenurses in his ER job and having a malecousin who is a nurse.“It was one of those things thatfinally clicked,” Massie says. “Peoplegave me encouragement to go intonursing.”David earned his BS in psychologyfrom the University of Massachusetts-Amherst, and then targeted a doctoratein neuroscience. But “I really didn’tlike the fact that I didn’t get to interactwith people,” he says. So he settled fora master’s in biomedical science fromthe University of Colorado and set sailfor nursing school.Both say they find the nursingfaculty “extra supportive” of men, evenif they occasionally slip up and refer toa generic nurse as “she.”“At first I felt uneasy,” Massie says.“I was much older, and the only guy.But they were very accepting. Beingthe only guy in class, they kind ofadopted me.”“I’m almost embarrassed,” Davidsays. “I’m a white male, and I’m aminority.”Once they hit the hospital floor forclinical training, they found that beingmale cut both ways with patients.Older men often are more comfortabletalking with other men about sensitivematters, Massie says, but “somewomen don’t want me to give them abath.”David often is conscious of hisresponsibility as a role model for boyshe encounters in the hospital. “Youwant to show a little of what you cando, just to show what the profession islike,” he says.The nursing shortage means thatfew nurses of either gender have troublefinding work after graduation.Neither man comes across as a barrier-bustingcrusader. Instead, they arejust two guys pursuing a career theyfind to be rewarding. But if their successcan break down stereotypes, allthe better.“In the field, I hear, ‘I had a malenurse once. He was excellent,’” Massiesays, smiling.The Virginia Legacy SPRING 2005 5