Local nursing school graduates a record 40 percent male nursing class
An examination room at the Rainy River Medical Center in International Falls. More men are choosing nursing as a career as part of a growing trend in Minnesota and across the country.
Evan Frost | MPR News 2019
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In Minnesota and across the country, more men are choosing nursing as a career.
In this year’s class of new nurses, there are more men going into the profession than ever. Over the last ten years, the number of men in the field has increased by nearly 60 percent.
Earlier this week, nurses at Rasmussen University's Bloomington campus celebrated its graduating class. A record 40 percent of those graduates are men.
Mason Voth, one of the Rasmussen graduates, joined Minnesota Now to talk about shifts in the field of nursing.
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Audio transcript
NINA MOINI: As we near graduation season, a new batch of nurses and doctors are preparing to join the medical field. This year's class of new nurses, though, is significant. There are more men going into the profession than ever. In the last 10 years alone, the number of men in the field has increased by nearly 60%. Earlier this week, nurses at Rasmussen University's Bloomington campus celebrated its graduating class. A record 40% of those graduates are men. One of them is Mason Voth. He's here to talk about it. Mason, thank you so much for your time today, and congratulations.
MASON VOTH: Thank you so much. Thank you for having me. It's great to be here.
NINA MOINI: Well, I really love this. When I heard that these numbers are what they are of men entering the field, I was really shocked. I mean, is that something that you were even shocked to learn, or what has it been looking like for you as you've pursued nursing?
MASON VOTH: That's a really interesting question. I actually work in a facility currently where there's actually a lot of male nurses. So I don't think I was maybe as shocked as maybe some others just because I had a lot of strong male nurse role models on the floor in the facility that I worked in. But then doing my own research, I have seen men do only make up about 12% of the registered nurse workforce in the US.
NINA MOINI: Yeah. And so what drew you to nursing? I'm curious.
MASON VOTH: Ah, yeah. I have always known that I wanted to do something in health care. And I spent a large part of my life trying to figure out exactly what that was. I don't think I would have ended up in nursing if it hadn't been for the pandemic. Before the pandemic, I was thinking that I was going to maybe go be a physical therapist. And I was working at the Courage Kenny Rehabilitation Institute in Golden Valley as in the product specialist.
But right before the pandemic or at the time of the pandemic, the pool got shut down, and I was furloughed for six months. And then I was redeployed as kind of a nursing assistant in our transitional rehab program, which is a very specialized neuro rehab program. It's a very unique program. And then that was my kind of aha moment that I could think so much more creatively than I think I ever would have been as a physical therapist, that nursing was really my calling, just given how much I quickly fell in love with patient care.
NINA MOINI: What is it about nursing? Because it is a very difficult and very taxing job. It is giving so much of oneself. What do you love about it?
MASON VOTH: It is giving a lot of oneself, but what we give to the patients you can't put a value on that. So the patients that I've cared for in our transitional rehab program, they come in with traumatic life experiences. To be able to provide them excellent patient care and give them a peace of mind is what I really enjoy about nursing.
NINA MOINI: Yeah. And when you say, caring for people and giving them peace of mind, some of the stereotypes might still linger that that is more of a role that, say, a woman would take on. I mean, do you feel like that lingers?
MASON VOTH: Absolutely. There are definitely still those gender stereotypes in nursing that are rooted in the time of Florence Nightingale, when nursing was being developed as a profession. So the primary roles of nursing at that time were focused on reproduction, raising the family, versus the role of men in society at that time was focused on production and raising money for the family, but at a distance from emotion.
NINA MOINI: Hmm. What do you think it's going to take to continue to get men into the profession? Because I know that in a lot of professions surrounding the medical field, there has been some burnout-- you mentioned the pandemic-- and there has been staffing shortages. I think nursing is back up closer to where it needs to be, according to some of our more recent reporting. But there are spots to fill certainly. What do you think it would take to attract even more just all types of people?
MASON VOTH: Absolutely. It's a really good question. That is definitely the big question right now is, Where do we go from here? It's going to be very hard to shift whole societal views. We as nurses and as society need to have really important conversations about gender equality in nursing. So nursing, our two big challenges is that workforce shortage that you mentioned, and of course, pay. So first, we need to make sure that we have equal opportunities for all people, regardless of sex or gender, to enter the field of nursing, and then also making sure that equal pay is present to recruit and retain these nurses, regardless of sex or gender.
NINA MOINI: And one of the things I love that I read was that part of the reason that people say that men are more drawn to nursing, part of that is opportunities for career advancement. And I think some people, I don't know, a ton about nursing, you might just think, oh, you become a nurse. And that's it. But there can be a lot of growth and evolving. Where do you fit in that kind of evolving, or what are you up to next?
MASON VOTH: Sure. That's a great question. So as I just graduated, I have accepted my first nursing position on the Neuroscience Unit at Mayo Clinic in Rochester.
NINA MOINI: Wow!
MASON VOTH: Yeah.
NINA MOINI: Congrats.
MASON VOTH: Thank you so much. I'm super excited. Like I said, I have a whole lot of experience in the post-acute rehab side of neuro care and neuro rehab. And I'm very excited to bring that experience to the acute hospital side of things within a neuro context. There are lots of opportunities for nurses to go up the ladder in terms of leadership, in terms of academia and research. I don't quite know exactly what my ladder is, but I'm excited for life and maybe my time at Mayo Clinic to help me figure out exactly what that is.
NINA MOINI: Yeah. And just lastly, I'm curious to know what you would say to a young man or a boy who is interested in nursing. Like, where would they go to figure out if that's something that's for them?
MASON VOTH: Sure. I guess my advice was just kind of listen to yourself, and it took a lot of introspection for me to realize that nursing was it. But if you are someone that likes a lot of variety, quick to think on your feet, but also want something that maybe has a lot of avenues for career advancement, definitely get some patient-care experience first before you go into it. Like I said, I would not have gone into nursing if it hadn't been for the pandemic and the opportunity that was offered to me in the transitional rehab program. And I think that's very vital for someone to figure out, wow, patient care is for me. I want to help make this kind of difference in someone's life.
NINA MOINI: Absolutely. You've got to know if you really like working with people on that level. Mason, thank you so much for stopping by. Congratulations to you, and wishing you all the best.
MASON VOTH: Thank you so much.
NINA MOINI: That was newly graduated nurse, Mason Voth. Want to thank the Minnesota Now team for another great week and all of you for listening. Senior producer, Aleesa Kuznetsov, and producers Alanna Elder, Ellie Roth, and Ellen Finn. Our engineers this week where Jess Berg, Alex Simpson, and Josh Savageau.
MASON VOTH: Thank you so much. Thank you for having me. It's great to be here.
NINA MOINI: Well, I really love this. When I heard that these numbers are what they are of men entering the field, I was really shocked. I mean, is that something that you were even shocked to learn, or what has it been looking like for you as you've pursued nursing?
MASON VOTH: That's a really interesting question. I actually work in a facility currently where there's actually a lot of male nurses. So I don't think I was maybe as shocked as maybe some others just because I had a lot of strong male nurse role models on the floor in the facility that I worked in. But then doing my own research, I have seen men do only make up about 12% of the registered nurse workforce in the US.
NINA MOINI: Yeah. And so what drew you to nursing? I'm curious.
MASON VOTH: Ah, yeah. I have always known that I wanted to do something in health care. And I spent a large part of my life trying to figure out exactly what that was. I don't think I would have ended up in nursing if it hadn't been for the pandemic. Before the pandemic, I was thinking that I was going to maybe go be a physical therapist. And I was working at the Courage Kenny Rehabilitation Institute in Golden Valley as in the product specialist.
But right before the pandemic or at the time of the pandemic, the pool got shut down, and I was furloughed for six months. And then I was redeployed as kind of a nursing assistant in our transitional rehab program, which is a very specialized neuro rehab program. It's a very unique program. And then that was my kind of aha moment that I could think so much more creatively than I think I ever would have been as a physical therapist, that nursing was really my calling, just given how much I quickly fell in love with patient care.
NINA MOINI: What is it about nursing? Because it is a very difficult and very taxing job. It is giving so much of oneself. What do you love about it?
MASON VOTH: It is giving a lot of oneself, but what we give to the patients you can't put a value on that. So the patients that I've cared for in our transitional rehab program, they come in with traumatic life experiences. To be able to provide them excellent patient care and give them a peace of mind is what I really enjoy about nursing.
NINA MOINI: Yeah. And when you say, caring for people and giving them peace of mind, some of the stereotypes might still linger that that is more of a role that, say, a woman would take on. I mean, do you feel like that lingers?
MASON VOTH: Absolutely. There are definitely still those gender stereotypes in nursing that are rooted in the time of Florence Nightingale, when nursing was being developed as a profession. So the primary roles of nursing at that time were focused on reproduction, raising the family, versus the role of men in society at that time was focused on production and raising money for the family, but at a distance from emotion.
NINA MOINI: Hmm. What do you think it's going to take to continue to get men into the profession? Because I know that in a lot of professions surrounding the medical field, there has been some burnout-- you mentioned the pandemic-- and there has been staffing shortages. I think nursing is back up closer to where it needs to be, according to some of our more recent reporting. But there are spots to fill certainly. What do you think it would take to attract even more just all types of people?
MASON VOTH: Absolutely. It's a really good question. That is definitely the big question right now is, Where do we go from here? It's going to be very hard to shift whole societal views. We as nurses and as society need to have really important conversations about gender equality in nursing. So nursing, our two big challenges is that workforce shortage that you mentioned, and of course, pay. So first, we need to make sure that we have equal opportunities for all people, regardless of sex or gender, to enter the field of nursing, and then also making sure that equal pay is present to recruit and retain these nurses, regardless of sex or gender.
NINA MOINI: And one of the things I love that I read was that part of the reason that people say that men are more drawn to nursing, part of that is opportunities for career advancement. And I think some people, I don't know, a ton about nursing, you might just think, oh, you become a nurse. And that's it. But there can be a lot of growth and evolving. Where do you fit in that kind of evolving, or what are you up to next?
MASON VOTH: Sure. That's a great question. So as I just graduated, I have accepted my first nursing position on the Neuroscience Unit at Mayo Clinic in Rochester.
NINA MOINI: Wow!
MASON VOTH: Yeah.
NINA MOINI: Congrats.
MASON VOTH: Thank you so much. I'm super excited. Like I said, I have a whole lot of experience in the post-acute rehab side of neuro care and neuro rehab. And I'm very excited to bring that experience to the acute hospital side of things within a neuro context. There are lots of opportunities for nurses to go up the ladder in terms of leadership, in terms of academia and research. I don't quite know exactly what my ladder is, but I'm excited for life and maybe my time at Mayo Clinic to help me figure out exactly what that is.
NINA MOINI: Yeah. And just lastly, I'm curious to know what you would say to a young man or a boy who is interested in nursing. Like, where would they go to figure out if that's something that's for them?
MASON VOTH: Sure. I guess my advice was just kind of listen to yourself, and it took a lot of introspection for me to realize that nursing was it. But if you are someone that likes a lot of variety, quick to think on your feet, but also want something that maybe has a lot of avenues for career advancement, definitely get some patient-care experience first before you go into it. Like I said, I would not have gone into nursing if it hadn't been for the pandemic and the opportunity that was offered to me in the transitional rehab program. And I think that's very vital for someone to figure out, wow, patient care is for me. I want to help make this kind of difference in someone's life.
NINA MOINI: Absolutely. You've got to know if you really like working with people on that level. Mason, thank you so much for stopping by. Congratulations to you, and wishing you all the best.
MASON VOTH: Thank you so much.
NINA MOINI: That was newly graduated nurse, Mason Voth. Want to thank the Minnesota Now team for another great week and all of you for listening. Senior producer, Aleesa Kuznetsov, and producers Alanna Elder, Ellie Roth, and Ellen Finn. Our engineers this week where Jess Berg, Alex Simpson, and Josh Savageau.
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