U of A Offers Student Chapter of Men in Nursing Organization

Men make up a small proportion of the students enrolled in nursing degree programs at the University of Arkansas. However, they have the backing of a national organization designed to support male nursing students through a U of A student chapter starting its third year.

The Eleanor Mann School of Nursing created a chapter of the American Association for Men in Nursing for U of A students in 2022. The association’s goals include encouraging men of all ages to become nurses and join all nurses in strengthening and humanizing health care. The number of male nurses in Arkansas is below the national average.

The nursing school offers the Bachelor of Science in Nursing program both in person on campus and online. The online programs include the LPN to BSN and the RN to BSN. The U of A also offers master’s and doctoral degrees in nursing delivered online with an in-person clinical component in the student’s area.

Spring graduate Matthew Pham was one of the first members of the U of A student chapter of the American Association for Men in Nursing. He said it means different things to members.

“Not everyone understood the chapter, but for me it was about creating diversity, which helps to improve health outcomes,” Pham said. “It also was about critical mass or the ratio of a group, that is not to feel out of place. I think the group has a lot of potential for recruitment to increase diversity, give high school students ideas on stable career paths and reach critical mass in school and in the workplace.”

He offered several ideas for the chapter as it grows, including more social events, scholarship opportunities and cords for members to wear with their graduation robes.

“I think healthy connections, volunteering and social events would be a benefit of the chapter for students,” Pham said. “To summarize, I think it can help male students feel less out of place and make lifelong connections, which are important for feelings of purpose.”

Pham said his class had two men and 100 women.

The American Association for Men in Nursing offers its members resources such as a career center for searching and applying for jobs, continuing education opportunities, scholarships, and discounts on certifications, merchandise and scrubs, and the annual conference. Students can learn about joining the U of A chapter by contacting Professor Tom Kippenbrock at tkippen@uark.edu.

In the fall of 2023, the two online BSN programs at the U of A included 35 men, or 6% of the total enrollment of 565 students, in the program for LPNs and 18 men, or 25% of the total enrollment of 73 students, in the program for RNs. The on-campus BSN program included 131 men, or 10% of the total enrollment of 1,359 students. The Office of Strategic Analytics & Insights at the U of A provided this information.

 

Education Pioneer

Men who enroll in nursing programs at the U of A will have the opportunity to learn from a pioneer. Kippenbrock spearheaded the effort to establish the U of A student organization, his third time to establish such a chapter at a large state university. Kippenbrock, who served as director of the Eleanor Mann School of Nursing from 2003 to 2008, also helped establish chapters at Indiana University and the University of Nebraska, where he previously held teaching and administrative roles. Kippenbrock has a long history with the organization, serving with the leadership team that founded it in Chicago in 1974. Over the years, he has focused his research on both men’s health issues and men in the nursing profession. He has been honored several times for his efforts to attract a diverse nursing workforce.

Edward Halloran, chairman of the American Association for Men in Nursing, nominated Kippenbrock for a national award based in part on his work with the organization as well as his research and accomplishments in other areas. Kippenbrock received the 2022 Luther Christman Award from the organization based on the criteria of visible, commendable and substantial contribution to nursing and to men in nursing.

“Tom is one of a few good men who sustained the organization during its transition from the National Male Nurse Association to the American Assembly (now Association) for Men in Nursing,” Halloran said in his nomination letter. “He and his colleagues at Indiana University established one of the earliest chapters of AAMN, and their continued presence at AAMN Annual Meetings held at Rush University in Chicago strengthened the organization in two ways.”

Forming local chapters in university settings set the tone for the continued expansion of the national organization into all 50 states, Halloran said, and attendance and support for AAMN at the annual meetings helped improve AAMN’s financial standing.

Kippenbrock’s involvement on the organization’s executive team resulted in national objectives and bylaws with the primary goal to develop gender diversity in nursing, Halloran said.

“Like Dr. Christman, Tom Kippenbrock is a scholar, researcher, educator, nursing school administrator and outstanding supporter of men in nursing,” Halloran said. “Most significantly, Tom Kippenbrock is among the longest and most loyal supporters of AAMN.”

The College of Education and Health Professions, of which the Eleanor Mann School of Nursing is a part, recognized outstanding faculty last May, giving Kippenbrock the Belonging and Equity Excellence Award. In addition to men’s issues, Kippenbrock’s research and publication contributions have focused on advanced practice nurses in rural areas, particularly in the Mississippi Delta and southern states.

For his contributions to the nursing profession, Kippenbrock will be inducted as a Fellow of the American Academy of Nursing in October in Washington.

 

Male Perspective

David Hall, an instructor of pathophysiology and nursing science in the nursing school, serves as vice president of the U of A chapter. He and Kippenbrock are the only men on the full-time faculty.

Coming up in the profession since 2000, he does not feel he faced any barriers as a man in the nursing profession, Hall said, and he doesn’t believe men face different challenges in nursing than women. It’s a challenging profession for anyone, he said.

Hall echoed the sentiment Halloran expressed when the U of A chapter invited him to give a talk on campus last year. Both men said, because women are the majority in nursing, they should be supported in leadership roles.

“All my heroes in nursing are ladies,” Hall said. “In the public view, nursing tends to be seen as something that is ‘girly,’ implying that the profession is somehow weak or easy. To me, that is not a thing. We need to change our perspective about what is considered masculine and what is considered feminine. We really should be advocating for more female leadership roles, advocating for more diversity. There is solid evidence that diverse groups tend to outperform homogenous ones when it comes to problem-solving, leadership, justice, etc. My role is promoting that. I try to do it one class, one student at a time. I get out of the way and listen.

“Other faculty members mentor me and they don’t even know it,” Hall continued. “It’s ingrained in them. Everyone here is absolutely brilliant.”

With a mother who was a nurse and a grandfather and uncle who were physicians, medicine was all around Hall, he said. He chose nursing over medical school because it allowed him to take a “whole person approach to individual care,” he said.

More information about the U of A student chapter can be found on the chapter’s website.