The experiences of male professional nurses regarding nursing as a career in a private hospital in Johannesburg

M.Cur. (Professional Nursing Science: Nursing Management)The history of nursing focuses almost exclusively on a female-dominated profession, created with the assumption that such a role is inherently natural to women only. Yet, men have worked as nurses since the profession’s infancy, 250 BC, but their contributions seem to be unnoticed and underrepresented. Male nurses ascribe to a minority status within the nursing profession, with only 6.8% currently registered with the South African Nursing Council. Men who enter the nursing profession will fall victim to prejudice, stereotyping, role strain and isolation (often referred to as the islands in nursing). International literature provided significant evidence that men are well served with nursing as a career. It is unclear how South African male professional nurses experience nursing as a career in the light of the deterring factors mentioned previously. The purpose of this qualitative, exploratory, descriptive and contextual study was to explore and describe the experiences of male professional nurses regarding nursing as a career in a private hospital in Johannesburg in order to develop strategies to support them in their career. The target population consisted of male professional nurses working in all disciplines in the private hospital. A purposive sampling technique was used. Data were collected by means of four (4) in-depth, semi-structured individual interviews, five (5) naïve sketches and field notes until data saturation was obtained. Data analysis was done by following Tesch’s open coding strategy (Creswell, 2013:158). The data obtained was incorporated into existing literature during the conceptualisation phase of this study. Trustworthiness of the study was ensured by employing the model promulgated by Denzin & Lincoln (2005:290 – 326), focussing on credibility, transferability, conformability, dependability and authenticity. The principles of ethical considerations, as suggested by Dhai & McQuoid-Mason (2010:14 – 15) pertaining to privacy, confidentiality, anonymity, informed consent and beneficence were applied in this study