Sex role orientation , stressors and resources in male and female nurses

In order to cope with the demands of an aging society it is important to counteract the nursing shortage by recruiting female and male nurses (Hasselhorn, Müller, & Tackenberg, 2005; McLaughlin, Muldoon & Moutray, 2010). There are still plenty of stereotypes in society about typically male and typically female traits, behaviors and occupations (Arkkelin & O’Connor, 1992; Sieverding & Alfermann, 1992; White & White, 2006). This leads to a “continued sex-typing of careers” (Rochlen, Good, & Carver, 2009, p. 44). In the media the prototypical nurse is presented as female, subordinate, young and single (Brodie et al., 2004; Fletcher, 2007; Purnell, 2007). Films paint pictures of effeminate male nurses (Burton & Misener, 2007; Roberts & Vasquez, 2004). Nurses’ right to academic education is challenged (Meerabeau, 2004). In Austria, nurses are still regularly educated on the secondary level, whereas most European countries offer nurse education on the tertiary level (Spitzer & Perrenoud, 2006). A self-responsible field of action for nurses was defined in Austria in 1997, but the healthcare system is still dominated by physicians (Porter-O’Grady, 2007). Given all these problems, who chooses nursing as a career? Male nurses – feminine, masculine, androgynous? As gender-role transgressors, male nurses face a variety of difficulties, especially stigmatization in society and in the workplace (Evans & Frank, 2003; Kada & Brunner, 2009; Twomey & Meadus, 2008). Despite some advantages of their minority status (e.g. better career opportunities) “men undertake considerable ‘gender work’ to re-establish a masculinity that has been undermined by their female occupation” (Simpson, 2004, p. 366). One strategy is to leave bedside care and to enter more “manly” areas like elite specialties (Evans & Frank, 2003; Stott, 2007). Studies investigating the sex role orientation of male nurses (e.g. Fisher; 1999; Loughrey, 2008; McCutcheon, 1996) lead to inconsistent results. Male nurses are frequently confronted with stereotypes, e.g. being underachievers, being homosexual or doing dirty work (Burton & Misener, 2007; Kada & Brunner, 2009). The gender self-concept influences the social valuation of nursing (Fletcher, 2007) and correlates with coping in the workplace (Reime, 2000) Sex role orientation and work stress. Nursing is associated with high levels of stress and a high risk of burnout (Hasselhorn et al., 2005). Gianakos (2000, 2002) demonstrated that masculinity and femininity are better predictors of coping with work stress than biological sex. There are several models which provide a theoretical framework for explaining the role of nurses’ gender self-concept in vocational stress (Kirchmeyer & Bullin, 1997; Whitley, 1983). The androgyny model (Bem 1974, 1977; Kirchmeyer & Bullin, 1997; Taylor & Hall, 1982) assumes that a person who possesses a wide variety of masculine and feminine traits is more flexible in his/her roles than a sex-typed person; this leads to a higher degree of psychological wellOlivia Kada, Carinthia University of Applied Sciences, School of Health and Care, Jägerweg 12/2, 9500 Villach, Austria. E-mail: [email protected] (the address for correspondence). Sex role orientation, stressors and resources in male and female nurses