by Yes, there are.
However, men who decide to specialize as women’s health nurse practitioners, have a demanding path.
The first reason behind it is that they choose a predominantly female specialization.
Also, the patient population is predominantly female, which can add more challenges.
Since 1970, the number of males entering this career has tripled.
More men are deciding to take the women’s health nursing practitioner specialization track.
According to the data by the U.S. Census Bureau, in 2011 there were 9% of male nurses.
The same source shows that in 1970, that percentage was 2.7.
There are differences within specific areas of nursing and for example, nurses anesthetists hold almost the same percentage as women, with 40% of male anesthetists.
The job of the women’s health NPs is to care for women during the lifespan.
Women’s health NPs are in charge of well-women exams, screening for female-related cancers, education and prescription of contraceptive medicine, managing and assisting with the family planning, and taking care of reproductive health, etc.
The majority of men in the nursing field obtain an advanced-practice degree to earn the credentials to work in the diagnostics.
Many of them pursue a career as a primary care provider and are focused on women’s health and pregnancy.
The choice to pursue a career of women’s health practitioners is just the regular men calling such as other nursing careers.
What are Challenges for Men?
In the women’s healthcare field, typically, there are female providers, and facing old-school care providers can be challenging for men.
On the other hand, there are many male OBGYNs, but men rarely become nurses.
Fortunately, more males are entering all nursing fields, and the challenges and historical gender trends in nursing are slowly changing.
More men are taking advanced-practice nursing programs and creating an inclusive working field for all aspiring nurses.
There is another challenge that male women’s health nurse practitioners face often, and that is quite significant.
The majority of women prefer the provider of the same gender, especially when it comes to women’s health-related issues.
Many women feel uncomfortable during well-woman exams, and if a man is performing the test, it can only raise the anxiety and discomfort.
Talking about health issues such as STFS, hormonal and other contraception, sexual health with a male healthcare worker, can be uncomfortable for women, especially young girls.
The reason behind preferring female providers is that majority of female patients can connect and discuss issues from a personal perspective, as the female providers are the same gender, experience the same or similar issues.
The preference for the female provider can lead to a more narrow range of patients for male nurse practitioners.
Additionally, it leads to an unbalanced workload and other organizational issues.
Also, male women’s health nurse provider aspiring to have their practice can have issues with not enough patients to become financially sustainable.
Male women’s health nurse practitioners often feel as if they aren’t taken seriously.
It couldn’t be farther from the truth.
Nowadays, all nurse practitioners receive excellent training and educated, and numerous male nurse practitioners are competent, educated, and experts in many areas.
However, the gender preferences for the care provider are personal, and it can change in the future, which will lead to a balanced practice, especially for the women’s health nurse practitioners.
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