Travel Nursing Agency News

Men Shift Career Focus to Travel Nursing

Clever recruitment campaigns to put a dent in nurse shortage

Boca Raton , FL (MarketWire) July 17, 2007

Nursing organizations and travel nursing employers around the country are attracting more men to the female-dominated nursing profession with innovative recruitment tactics and lucrative salary and benefits packages. Roughly six percent of the nation’s 2.9 million nurses are now men, up from 2.7 percent in 1980, reports the Department of Health and Human Services. 

One campaign launched recently by the Michigan Center for Nursing features the slogan “It’s a Guy Thing ” printed on thousands of posters distributed to career fairs, high schools and colleges, while “Nursing … a real career for real men,” appears as the tag line on the Oklahoma Nurses Association second annual “Men in Nursing” calendar.

“We expect men to have a positive impact on the current nurse staffing shortage,” said Valerie Podwill, recruitment manager for travel nurse company 50 States Staffing. “Schools are expanding nurse curriculum in the U.S. and more male nurse graduates are entering the field.”

The healthcare industry is short about 150,000 nurses this year, a figure expected to grow five times by 2020, per federal estimates. State colleges and universities around the country have reported graduating 25 percent more nurses in 2006 than the year before. More than 50,000 students pursued nursing education last year. Roughly 13 percent of those students were males.

“Recruitment campaigns depicting men in high tech hospital situations or portraying male nurses as heroes or lifesavers seem to be working for both schools and employers,” said Podwill. Recruitment efforts by the Oregon Center for Nursing feature a snow boarder and rugby player poised under the headline “Are you man enough to be a nurse?” Another campaign from travel nurse company American Traveler, targets rescue workers, firemen and other civil service emergency personnel.

Travel nursing jobs at 50 States Staffing include free private housing, free health insurance, bonuses and reimbursements.  Travel nurses can take family and pets on the road, or choose rent subsides if they own a house or have an apartment and would like to commute to an RN travel job close to home. A career in travel nursing offers men advance practice opportunities and flexible schedules, along with generous bonuses and enough job security to have a family.

“At first it was about the money,” said 28-year-old Wisconsin male travel nurse Eric D. “But now travel nursing fits in perfectly with our goal to raise children.”

About 50 States Staffing:

With years of experience providing hospital staffing opportunities to healthcare professionals, 50 States Staffing provides travel nursing jobs, per diem nursing jobs, and permanent jobs to healthcare professionals in prestigious hospitals nationwide. They offer high salaries, free private housing, and top benefits to traveling nurses, physical therapists, respiratory and occupational therapists, and technologists all across the U.S.

50 States Staffing is proud to be recognized by The Joint Commission with their Gold Seal of Approval™ for the Health Care Staffing Services program. Certification acknowledges compliance with The Joint Commission's national set of consensus-based quality standards and demonstrates a commitment to excellence in providing health care staffing. Visit The Joint Commission Web site for more information about this prestigious award.

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