DQ: Chapter 14 in the textbook, Leadership in Nursing Practice: Changing the Landscape of Health Care, discusses the nursing profession’s lack of representation in health care policymaking, even though nurses currently represent the largest profession within the health care industry
Changing the Landscape of Health Care discusses the nursing professions lack of representation in health care policymaking even though nurses currently represent the largest profession within the health care industry
Re: Topic 4 DQ 2
Gender inequality within the nursing profession is alive and well, unfortunately. Nursing is one of the oldest practices in history but women within the nursing profession have been viewed in “subordinating, passive, and secondary roles” (Werber, Porter-OGrady, Mangold, & Malloch, 2019, p. 522). Public insights that nursing is a female-orientated role have been a major factor in the low numbers of men in the nursing field. The challenge to change this thought process consists of negative stereotypes, nursing being viewed as traditionally female profession and perception of other professions as more male appropriate. Male nurses move towards areas such as the operating room and emergency care and this may be due to support from male physicians or the male nurse feeling more comfortable in a less caring environment. This may be be
cause society as a whole views nursing as women’s work because it is a caring profession. There are still many patients, both male and female, who prefer a female nurse.
Male nurses are reportedly higher paid and move directly into middle and upper remuneration brackets faster than their female counterparts. Another gender inequality is the unequal power balance between physicians and nurses which has resulted in nurses keeping their voices silent while in the workplace (Weber, Porter-OGrady, Mangold, & Malloch, 2019).
There tends to be a stereotype in health care, where the physicians are viewed as leaders and nurses are handmaidens carrying out their orders. Another stereotype is that of a male nursing being viewed as less masculine, as the media portrays the male nurse in the move “Meet the Parents”, and a physician is portrayed as confident and masculine. Such stereotyping has led to poor recruitment of males into nursing (Englung, 2018).
The American Nurses Association published a study, having surveyed African Americans, Hispanics, Asians, American Indians, and Caucasian nurses. They survey found minority nurses experience barriers to their progress in nursing (Englund, 2018). Race also plays a role in nurses’ salaries, not only in the United States but many countries around the world. Another group that experiences gender inequality is the nurse that falls within the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer/questioning (LGBTQ) community. It is important to foster trust, respect, openness, and positive attitude to ensure this gender inequality is eradicated.
References
Englund, H. (2018). Relationship between marginality and minority status in undergraduate nursing students. Journal of Nursing Education, 57(6), 339-346. Doi:http://dx.doi.org.lopes.idm.oclc.org/10.3928/01484834-20180522-04
Weberg, D., Porter-O’Grady, T., Mangold, K., & Malloch, K. (2019). Leadership in nursing practice: Changing the landscape of health care (3rd ed.). Burlington, MA: Jones & Bartlett Learning.
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Re: Topic 4 DQ 2
Gender inequality is prominent in all professions but not as prominent as it is in nursing. Women make up a majority of the nursing workforce and yet men still are paid more than women in the field of nursing, therefore creating gender inequality in pay in the workplace (Punshon, et al., 2019). Representation in legislation is also lacking because of the fear of retaliation in the workplace. Women are underrepresented in many fields but in nursing, it is an extreme underrepresentation. Although women make up a majority of the workforce in nursing, men are more likely to be in higher leadership roles than women (Punshon, et al., 2019). I see correlation in the argument simply because women are underrepresented nationally in many sectors and this would be no different in the industry that women are more likely to be employed as a nurse than a man. In order to attempt to break the glass ceiling that exists for women, we must encourage our women to use their voices to speak up for their patient’s safety and maintain a safe working environment. Women are on the front lines of the nursing industry and must find it acceptable to use their voices to bring about change. It has been shown that the nursing voice is missing at the level of legislation and that may be caused by the fact that the majority of the profession are women (Anders, 2020). In order to bring women to the forefront of legislation, it is up to women to find their voices. Make the statement necessary to change legislation to make patient safety at the forefront of what we do.
References
Anders, R. (2020). Engaging nurses in health policy in the era of COVID‐19. Nursing Forum: An Independent Voice for Nursing, https://doi.org/10.1111/nuf.12514.
Punshon, G., Maclainea, K., Trevattc, P., MarkRadford, Shanleye, O., & Leary, A. (2019). Nursing pay by gender distribution in the UK – does the Glass Escalator still exist? International Journal of Nursing Studies, 21-29.
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MELINA
Re: Topic 4 DQ 2
Though women make up the majority of the nurse population in the U.S., do believe there may be a lingering stereotypical association between women and the influential roles associated with policy-making processes. The character, content, and role of the nurse mirrors the role of women over time. Women’s subsequent, subordinating, passive, and secondary roles in a historically paternalistic equation is the framework for their roles within the context of nursing.” (Weberg et al., 2019, p. 522) Nurses and nurse practice has come a long way, however, we are not where we need to be as of yet.
Nursing is clearly one of the oldest practices in history, yet it is only since the time of Florence Nightingale that nursing as a profession and practice has been codified and formalized in a manner that provides a disciplined framework and content, grounded in science, evidence, precedence, standards, and ethics. (Weberg et al., 2019, p. 522)
Lack of knowledge may be one of the most significant factors that impacts nurse representation in healthcare policymaking. According to Weberg et al. (2019) “While the noise of the products of equity has not yet subsided, the relevance and value can no longer be legitimately contested.” (p. 523) We are beyond the point of looking solely outside of the nursing profession for the reasons there are not more nurse leaders at the table when policymaking takes place. Research does show that the numbers of nurse leaders is increasing which is promising. Several papers, notably reviews, provide an evidence-based underpinning for strengthening nurse leadership to ensure that nurses have an influential role in health policy formulation and decision-making, and contribute to the effectiveness of health and social care systems. (Buchan et al., 2021) It is up to nursing associations, educational institutions, and individual nurses to advance the profession and to help improve healthcare through participation in healthcare policymaking.
References
Buchan, J., Campbell, J., & McCarthy, C. (2021). Optimizing the contributions of nursing and midwifery workforces: #Protect, #Invest, #Together. Human Resources for Health, 19(1), 1–3.
Weberg, D., Mangold, K., Porter-O’grady, T., & Malloch, K. (2019). Leadership in nursing practice: Changing the landscape of healthcare (3rd ed.). Jones & Barnett Learning. leadership_in_nursing_practice_3e | WebViewer (gcu.edu)
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