According to the most recent statistics on nursing, the United States employs 3.2 million female nurses, which means that 91% of the nurses in this country are women. There are only 330,000 guys wearing men’s scrubs sets in the nursing profession, but the good news is, more men than ever are becoming nurses.
Since 1970, the number of male nurses has tripled from 2.7 to 9.6 percent and in certain states, the numbers of male and female nurses becoming more proportionate. In California, for every five female nurses, there is one male nurse, and in Nebraska there are more male nurses than females.
While these numbers are encouraging, The American Association for Men in Nursing (AAMN) feels that the country has a long way to go when it comes to employing more male nurses. It’s their goal that between the years 2018 and 2020, there will have been a 20 percent increase in the number of males finding gainful employment in the nursing field.
Nursing Provides a Guaranteed Job for Men
The AAMN feels confident they will reach their goal as there are many incentives for doing so. One such incentive is that there are plenty of jobs available in the healthcare industry, especially in the nursing profession. This is primarily due to the nursing shortage that is plaguing the country and that is only expected to get worse.
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, an additional 1.1 million nurses are needed in order to keep the shortage from spiraling out of control. The American Nurses Association (ANA) states that there will be more jobs available for registered nurses through 2022 than any other profession.
Besides the guarantee of having a job once their nursing education is complete, men who go into nursing can also earn a decent salary. While there are many types of nurses, the best paid ones are certified registered nurse anesthetists (CRNA) who have the potential to earn up to $130,000 a year.
Other high paying nursing jobs include nurse researcher, geriatric nurse, mental health nurse practitioner, pediatric nurse, and nurse practitioner. Registered nurses make about $68,000 a year. The salary varies widely, however, according to the state in which a nurse works. Registered nurses in California can make over $100,000 a year but in Iowa the salary drops to $58,000.
