Opinions of health professionals on male nurses: Qualitative study

This study was carried out using a qualitative research method in a phenomenological design This thesis study was carried out using a qualitative research method in a phenomenological pattern in order to determine the opinions and expectations of healthcare professionals regarding male nurses. The population of the study consisted of healthcare professionals (nurses, doctors, pharmacists, dentists, midwives) working in three private hospitals, three Ministry of Health and one university hospital in Istanbul, while the sample consisted of 27 healthcare professionals who agreed to participate in the research. Purposive sampling and maximum diversity sampling methods, which are frequently used in qualitative research, were used in sample selection. Research data was collected between September 2022 and January 2023 using the individual in-depth interview method, one of the qualitative research methods. In the study, a semi-structured interview form prepared with support from scientific literature was used and the obtained data was evaluated using the content analysis method. Findings from the study; They were grouped and evaluated under five themes: opinions about men becoming nurses, factors affecting men choosing the nursing profession, career plans of male nurses, experiences of working with male nurses, and the reflections of male nurses working in hospitals on the service. It has been determined that healthcare professionals have both positive and negative opinions about men being nurses. Positive opinions about men becoming nurses; It is listed as changing the perception of women regarding the nursing profession in society and contributing to the professional organization of the nursing profession. Negative opinions about men becoming nurses were stated as changing the perception of women in the nursing profession and male nurses putting pressure on their female colleagues. It has been determined that economic status and family conditions have important effects on the career choice process of male nurses. In addition, it was determined that male nurses did not choose the department they wanted because of the concern of not being able to find a job, while the main reasons for choosing the nursing profession were the job guarantee and the belief that they would quickly reach economic freedom. It has also been determined that when men choose the nursing profession, they are under pressure from their environment and family to choose the nursing department. It has been determined that male nurses are more willing to receive postgraduate education for reasons such as having a regular family life, gaining status and not adopting a professional identity. It has been determined that male nurses emphasize the necessity and importance of specialization in nursing and that they want to specialize in a certain clinical area of the nursing profession and try to improve themselves in this context. It has been determined that male nurses do not fully embrace the nursing profession and want to escape from it, and they want to become managers and academicians for reasons such as gaining more positive working conditions, being able to move to management positions, and having a more prestigious position. It has also been observed that male nurses want to leave their jobs in the clinical field and open a health cabin, elderly care home or nursing home for reasons such as not liking the working environment in the hospital and earning a better income by starting their own business. While it was determined that the participants had both positive and negative experiences regarding working with male nurses; The positive aspects of working with male nurses are listed as feeling safe, benefiting from the physical strength of male nurses, having a positive approach to job sharing, and contributing positively to teamwork. The negative aspects of working with male nurses were stated as undisciplined behavior, efforts to put pressure on their female colleagues, disrespectful and undisciplined behavior in the work environment, slang conversations, being evaluated as a doctor by patients and their relatives, and problems in providing care to female patients. Participants' views on the effects of male nurses working in hospitals on the service; It focuses on the fact that male nurses are more work-oriented and work faster, that they are employed in areas that require more strength, and that male nurses have comfortable communication and cooperation with their colleagues and other healthcare professionals. As a result, the findings of the study on the subject reveal that more studies on male nurses are needed. Although there are studies in the scientific literature revealing that there are different views on male nurses entering the profession, it has been observed that the number of qualitative studies examining the views on this subject in depth is low and there are no scale studies to determine the approaches of healthcare professionals towards male nurses. In this context, it may be recommended to develop a scale that will allow collecting quantitative data from larger sample groups.