A Qualitative Study On Experience Of Male Nurses Who Demonstrate Caring In Clinical Setting

Objective: 1. To explore the experiences of men in nursing from social gender perspective. 2. To understand and analyze the individual practice chosen by the participants and understand the concept of caring from male nurses’ perspective who voice has not been actively solicited in the literature,and finally examine the issues facing men in nursing and provide reference for setting targeted standard of caring for men.Method: Qualitative research method was used. 14 Participants were recruited by purposive or snowball sampling method in twelve different hospitals. Individual semi-structured interviews were conducted. Sampling continued until redundancy in themes and data saturation was reached. A consent form and an interview outline were formulated before the formal interviews. Interviews focusing on individual experiences of male nurses demonstrating caring in clinical practice were conducted after permission from every participant. All the interviews were tape-recorded, fully transcribed. Data were analyzed according to Colaizzi’s technique with the help of NVivo8.Result: 1. Participants included 14 male practicing RNs ranging in age from 25 to 42 years(M=31.2), and who had been in practice as a full-time nurse ranging from 1 to 21 years(M=8.1). Initial nursing degrees included two Master of Science in nursing(MSN), six Bachelor of Science in Nursing(BSN), four Associate Degree in Nursing(ADN), and two diploma. Highest nursing degrees at the time of the study included seven MSNs, five BSNs, and two ADNs. The participants’ practice areas included psychiatry(n=1), neurology(n=1), ICU(n=4), osteopathy(n=2), urology(n=1), emergency medicine(n=2), and nursing department(n=2). And their professional qualifications ranges from nurse practitioner(n=7), nurses-in-charge(n=6), and chief nurse(n=1). 2. Their motivation to pursue nursing including the system of college entrance examination, personal interest in nursing, employment after graduate and registered permanent residence. 3. Four sub-themes emerges about the concept of caring from the participants:: the category of nursing care(care for patient; care for nurses; care for the relatives of the patients); the traits of caring demonstrated by men; the barriers to care(caring for young lady; atmosphere among hospital; recognition from patient and relatives of patients; communication); experience of be cared(support and care from leaders; help from colleagues; recognition of patients).Conclusions: 1. Men who engaged in nursing profession almost dominated by women, will face issues from society,patients and the significant others, and also challenge the profession itself. In order to recruit and retain more men in nursing, gender equity education should be strength to school and society. 2. The importance of nursing care is positive affirmed by participants. There are no obvious differences in cognition with women, but some in behavior. Nursing educators and managers should take targeted training methods for the special group and accept diversified styles of caring.