Conference Proceedings - School of Nursing & Midwifery - Trinity ...

School of Nursing & Midwifery, Trinity College Dublin: 8 th Annual Interdisciplinary Research Conference
Transforming Healthcare Through Research, Education & Technology: 7 th – 9 th November 2007
Conference Proceedings
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Just how male are male nurses?
Mark Loughrey
m_loughrey@yahoo.com
RGN, MSc, H. Dip Nursing (Critical Care), Dip Mgt.
University College, Cork and Mercy University Hospital, Cork.
Aim. The aim of this study was to examine how male nurses
perceive their gender and their caring roles, and to examine the
relationship, if any, between them.
Background. Caring, the core concept of nursing, has become
intractably associated with the female gender role. This may explain
why the majority of nurses are female. However some men also
chose to become nurses, thus adopting profoundly caring roles
themselves. Must these men adhere to the female gender role in
order to care? Alternatively, might these men maintain a sense of
themselves as men, by perceiving of care in a more instrumental
(masculine) than expressive (feminine) manner, and resultantly
migrate to the more instrumental specialities in the profession
(management, critical care, education)?
There is a dearth of evidence to support or refute these
suppositions, and they therefore remain merely speculative
underlining the need for the study at hand.
Method. A quantitative descriptive correlational approach was
adopted. A random sample of 250 male registered general nurses
were sent questionnaires to assess the extent of their adherence to
male or female gender roles, and to assess whether they perceived
caring in more instrumental or expressive terms. Respondents were
also asked to state the speciality in which they worked.
Results. 104 valid responses were received. The vast majority of
the sample (n=78) identified more with the female gender role.
Only 21 of these men identified more with the male gender role.
The largest single group of nurses were employed in the area of
gerontology (not a stereotypically instrumental area). Only one
small subset of nurses were consistently more strongly male
gendered than the rest of the sample, these were the men
employed in the learning disabilities sector.
Most respondents ranked both instrumental and expressive caring
forms as very important, however respondents showed a small
predilection towards expressivity. On correlation, those who
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