Male Vs Female Nurses Case Study

During the hiring process male nurses encounter more difficulties than female nurses even though, both might have the same level of education, experience and qualification. Compared to women, men have a limited of places where they can apply to, which medical field is open to them, and where their employers choose to staff them. In some hospitals, employers refuse to hire men that want to work with infants or where they have to come in close contact with women such as gynecology, and some “policies actually barred men from certain jobs such as birthing and women’s surgery units” (McMurry, 2011, p. 24). The reason behind this is that hospitals are afraid of a misunderstanding between the patient and the male nurse resulting from what seems to …show more content…
Female nurses often complain and feel like they have to do more work than their male counterparts, because of these feelings female nurses claim that male nurses are lazy (Rangel et al., 2012). Since they often have to have to oversee the work of the male nurses, which only increases their own workload. Another problem that exists between male and female nurses is how fast men move up the work ladder, and how female nurses resent men for this. In certain job profession, women encounter the glass ceiling which prohibits them for getting a higher position, however, men have the glass escalator which escalates them into higher positions. In this case, men in the nursing profession have the opportunity to use the glass escalator to propel them into better jobs. But the glass escalator is a double sided blade, according to McMurry, men sometimes feel pressure to move up in the job force even though they do not want to (2011). Also, these men work in a field where there are other men and it is not considered to be a feminine profession. Because of all these factors, women feel like there are less opportunities for them to move up and that men received prefered and better treatment than …show more content…
Not only does having a male nurse brings a variety to the staff and to the hospital, but it also, helps to destroy the social construction of masculinity and femininity. One of the benefits is that male patients, especially, young boys have someone to talk to. Teenage boys might not want to talk to a female nurse about their bodies, sex, and other issues ( Duffin, 2009,) because they might be shy around females, they might not know how to approach the topic and explain it someone of the opposite sex. Which is similar to how female patients feel around their male nurses. Another benefit is that male nurses can be a role model to younger boys who wants to become a nurse, but does not have the support from friends, family and society. The biggest benefit is that male nurses are showing other males that they do not have fit into the stereotypical male category. That it is okay for men to show emotions, be sensitive and caring towards others without questioning their own value of a being a man and