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Gender Differences : The Advantage Of Women In Nursing

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Necessity According to the US Department of Health and Human Services survey in 2008, the percentage of licensed registered nurses who are men is 9.8% and only 6.6% of nurses who are actively practicing (2010). The 2008 survey numbers show an improvement from the survey taken in 2004, that showed only 5.8% of actively practicing nurses were men (2010). While this survey shows an improvement, there is a long way to go until some semblance of gender parity is reached. This gender disparity here in the US is mirrored throughout the English-speaking world. The nursing profession female to male ratio helps to exacerbate the problem in health care, namely the shortage of nurses. According to Moore and Dienemann, “the nursing shortage is expected to continue to worsen by 2020 with an expected need of over one-hundred thousand new nursing positions” (2014). This shortage is predicted to have a ripple effect across the entire healthcare community as decreasing nurse to patient ratios affect client health outcomes and overall satisfaction with their healthcare. Reduced patient satisfaction will also have another effect on the healthcare system, patient satisfaction is now linked to how much Medicare will pay healthcare providers (Chin, 2012). The systemic consequences of the nursing shortage have led to the question being asked, how do we successfully recruit from half of the population and then retain them once they join the nursing workforce? Colleague perceptions One of the

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