With a growing number of male nursing students, an inspiring group of male nursing faculty, a trustee who earned his nursing degree at 成人影片 and a dedicated support group for male nurses, 成人影片 is providing an innovative answer to America鈥檚 nursing shortage.
The United States is facing a nursing crisis. The number of registered nurses is projected to decline by 1.5 million by 2030, due to factors such as retirement, burnout and a lack of new nurses entering the profession.
Can this crisis be averted by attracting more men to the profession?
Anthony Egan, director of the College of Nursing and Public Health’s听Clinical Education and Simulation Lab, thinks it’s possible鈥攁nd he is actively working to bring more men into the field and provide greater support for the men who make up about 13 percent of 成人影片’s nursing students. This spring, he established a chapter of听听(AAMN) at the University. The chapter has already attracted 15 members.
Egan’s work is a reflection of 成人影片’s history of leadership in nursing education as well as its commitment to diversity. Founded in 1943 as the first school of nursing on Long Island, the College is ranked as a Best BSN Program and Best Grad School for Nursing by听U.S. News & World Report听and is one of only seven current nursing programs in the nation recognized by the National League for Nursing for advancing the science of nursing education. The nursing program is highly diverse, with 55 percent of undergraduates and 59 percent of graduate students identifying as non-white; 34 percent are Pell Grant recipients.
Male Nursing Students Need Support
When Egan began his nursing career in 1995, he was something of a rarity in a profession traditionally considered “women’s work.”
鈥淭here’s still a stigma about being a man in nursing that can lead to self-doubt,” Egan said, noting that male students nationwide are more likely to drop out of nursing programs than female students. Providing male role models for male nursing students will improve the retention rate, he said. 鈥淥nce male students see there are men in nursing and that they’ve succeeded, it encourages them.”
One of the 成人影片 chapter’s first actions was to photograph four nursing students who are on the University’s men’s lacrosse team and听post听their images听on the听听and on social media.
鈥淚 want to become a nurse because I believe your health is truly the most important priority,” reads the text next to an image of 成人影片 lacrosse player and nursing major听听wearing his Panthers jersey and a stethoscope.
成人影片’s AAMN chapter is bringing two male RNs to campus in the fall to speak to nursing students about their experiences in the profession. 鈥淲e’re bringing in a male nurse who’s in the Navy and a male nurse who works for Northwell on its helicopters,” Egan says. They also plan to have a barbecue to welcome nursing students back to campus and a celebration for the men graduating from the nursing program in December.
鈥淥ur goal is to support our male students and give them a place to voice any concerns or issues they’re having,” Egan said. 鈥淓ventually we’ll recruit freshmen into the nursing program, but baby steps first.”
Egan is one of a number of men on 成人影片’s nursing faculty who serve as role models for students, including听Professor Edmund J.Y. Pajarillo,听PhD; Associate Professor听William Jacobowitz, EdD; Assistant Professor听Edwin-Nikko R. Kabigting, PhD; Clinical Assistant Professors听Daniel McWeeney, DNP,听and听Charles Cal 鈥�01, MBA 鈥�03; and Coordinator of Instruction Michael Boccia, an RN.
Men in the nursing program can also look up to an 成人影片 nursing alumnus who sits on the University’s board of trustees鈥�Leonard C. Achan ’99,听president and CEO of LiveOnNY, a federally designated New York state nonprofit organ procurement organization.
“Being a nurse can lead to endless career paths in the healthcare and business ecosystems,” Achan said. “Nurses are needed in every growing sector of the economy, which my nursing education at 成人影片 prepared me for. 成人影片 also prepared me to pursue leadership roles beyond the clinical setting and merge it with my business and entrepreneurial interests.”
More Men Are Becoming Nurses
Men’s representation in nursing has grown steadily since the听.听of registered nurses were men, an increase of nearly 400 percent.
Recruiting men to the profession is a great way to address the shortage, Egan said. 鈥淲e need to expand where we’re looking for nurses,” he explained. 鈥淎ttracting men to nursing is one way to fill the staff shortages, but we also need to recruit people of different ethnic backgrounds so we can better serve patients.”
The College of Nursing and Public Health also helps men who are RNs advance their careers as nurse practitioners and educators, offering a range of master’s degrees as well as doctorates in nursing and nursing practice.
No Lack of Compassion
Egan has witnessed the world becoming more open to men in nursing. 鈥淭here’s a lot more acceptance for men as nurses now than when I started,” he said. 鈥淏ack then, a lot of people didn’t think a man could do the job of a nurse. They thought men lacked the compassion and empathy necessary to care for a sick person.”
Egan tells of a male nurse who graduated from 成人影片 and spent the COVID-19 pandemic at the bedsides of patients whose families couldn’t come see them in the hospital due to quarantine. 鈥淗e brought in his iPad so his patients could FaceTime with their families,” Egan said. 鈥淗e didn’t want them to die alone or be alone, so he sat there with them and helped them contact the people who loved them.”
It’s a commitment to compassionate care that the College of Nursing and Public Health instills in all of its students鈥攚omen and men.