Professional becoming of male nurses: a qualitative study in Lithuania

Abstract

Purpose To reveal the features of Lithuanian male nurses’ professional becoming. Methods The participants were six men who had been working as nurses for over a year, and one man who had been formerly employed as a nurse for over a year. Data was collected using semi-structured interviews and analysed using inductive thematic analysis by Braun & Clarke. Results 17 themes emerged after analysis: nursing not being the first choice, weird feelings of being in the minority during studies, having a vague initial idea of the work and a hard time starting the job; desire to help and interact with people, a tiring but fascinating variety of work, wide professional opportunities and love for the job; the challenges of high pace and workload, undervaluation and stereotypes, coping by standing up for oneself and separating work and life; the importance of a good team, gender being of little significance and joy that the number of men is increasing. Conclusion These findings contribute to the growing knowledge of male nurses’ experiences. The study sheds light on the challenges and rewards of being a male nurse in Lithuania, providing guidance for future research and highlighting the need to raise public awareness.

Keywords

• male nurses
• professional becoming
• entry into profession
• work experiences
• qualitative research
• thematic analysis