Alabama nursing school sees rise in male students amid national shortage
8 reported
A nursing school in the South is seeing a higher proportion of male students than the national average, according to a report from NPR. The University of Alabama at Birmingham reports that close to 1 in 6 nursing students are men, outpacing the national figure of 1 in 8 nurses being men. The school has been intentional about creating a welcoming environment, featuring male students in marketing materials and sending male and female nurses into high schools to recruit. Professor Curry Bordelon, who will assume leadership of the American Association for Men in Nursing this fall, noted that stereotypes about men in nursing are slowly being eroded. Some male students report being mistaken for doctors or facing assumptions about their sexuality, while others find that patients respond better to providers who look like them. The national median wage for registered nurses tops $90,000 a year, and the Labor Department projects 189,000 job openings each year for the next decade.
What’s reported
The Labor Department projects 189,000 job openings for registered nurses each year for the next decade.
Only 1 in 8 nurses nationally are men.
At the University of Alabama at Birmingham, close to 1 in 6 nursing students are men, and nearly 1 in 5 faculty are men.
The nursing school features male students on all its marketing materials and sends male and female nurses into high schools to recruit.
There is an employee resource group for men in nursing at the university hospital.
Professor Curry Bordelon will assume leadership of the American Association for Men in Nursing this fall.
The national median wage for registered nurses tops $90,000 a year.
Bordelon and a colleague at Purdue University School of Nursing got men’s health officially designated as a nursing specialty.
Key figures
Ethan Stinson, nursing student at University of Alabama at Birmingham
Hatim Nasser, nursing student at University of Alabama at Birmingham
Amiri Saadiq, nursing student at University of Alabama at Birmingham
Curry Bordelon, professor at University of Alabama at Birmingham nursing school
Nicholas Seay, nursing student at University of Alabama at Birmingham
Chris Jones, graduate student pursuing dual master’s degree in nursing and business administration
Steven Parsons, cardiovascular operating room nurse and adjunct instructor at University of Alabama at Birmingham
Connor Aderholt, former college baseball player and nursing student
Sources: NPR
