Sergio Martínez-Morato1,2, Maria Feijoo-Cid3,4, Paola Galbany-Estragués5,6, Maria Isabel Fernández-Cano2,7, Antonia Arreciado Marañón2,6. 1. CAP Vila Olímpica, Parc Sanitari Pere Virgili, Barcelona, Spain. 2. Department of Nursing. Faculty of Medicine, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Bellaterra, Spain. 3. Department of Nursing. Faculty of Medicine, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Bellaterra, Spain. maria.feijoo@uab.cat. 4. Grup de Recerca Multidisciplinar en Salut i Societat (GREMSAS), (2017 SGR 917), Barcelona, Spain. maria.feijoo@uab.cat. 5. Research Group on Methodology, Methods, Models and Outcomes of Health and Social Sciences (M3O), Faculty of Health Science and Welfare, Centre for Health and Social Care Research (CESS), University of Vic-Central University of Catalonia (UVIC-UCC), 08500, Vic, Spain. 6. AFIN Research Group and Outreach Centre, Autonomous University of Barcelona Campus Bellaterra, Carrer Vila Puig, s/n, Edifici B-13, 08193, Cerdanyola del Vallès, Spain. 7. Grup de Recerca Multidisciplinar en Salut i Societat (GREMSAS), (2017 SGR 917), Barcelona, Spain.
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Nursing requires a high load of emotional labour. The link between nursing, emotional labour and the female sex, complicates the figure of the male nurse, because masculinity is associated with physical or technical (rather than emotional) and moreover is defined in contrast to femininity. Our objective was to understand how emotion management is described by male nurses who work in the paediatrics department of a Spanish tertiary hospital. METHODS: Qualitative descriptive study. The participants were selected through intentional sampling in the paediatrics department of a Spanish tertiary hospital. We conducted semi-structured interviews until reaching data saturation. We carried out a content analysis, using Lincoln and Guba's definition of scientific rigour. RESULTS: We identified two key themes in the data: 1) Stereotypes related to the emotional aspects of care: Participants took for granted some gender stereotypes while questioning others and defended alternative ways of managing emotions related to care. 2) Emotion management strategies: Participants described keeping an emotional distance, setting boundaries, relativising problems and using distraction and humour. DISCUSSION: Nursing care is conditioned by gender roles and stereotypes that present men as less capable than women of feeling and managing emotions. However, emotion management is necessary in nursing care-especially in paediatrics-and our participants reported using strategies for it. Although participants continued to interpret care in terms of traditional roles, they contradicted them in adapting to the emotional labour that their job requires. CONCLUSIONS: New behaviours are emerging among male nurses, in which care and emotion management are not exclusively the purview of women. Our participants reproduced some gender stereotypes while disrupting others, and they tended to cling to the stereotypes that were favourable to them as male nurses. As we work towards a gender-neutral profession, these results represent a first step: male participants reported that they provide care and manage their emotions as well as (or better than) women. However, because they substantiated their claims by drawing on negative stereotypes of women, further progress must be made.
BACKGROUND: Nursing requires a high load of emotional labour. The link between nursing, emotional labour and the female sex, complicates the figure of the male nurse, because masculinity is associated with physical or technical (rather than emotional) and moreover is defined in contrast to femininity. Our objective was to understand how emotion management is described by male nurses who work in the paediatrics department of a Spanish tertiary hospital. METHODS: Qualitative descriptive study. The participants were selected through intentional sampling in the paediatrics department of a Spanish tertiary hospital. We conducted semi-structured interviews until reaching data saturation. We carried out a content analysis, using Lincoln and Guba's definition of scientific rigour. RESULTS: We identified two key themes in the data: 1) Stereotypes related to the emotional aspects of care: Participants took for granted some gender stereotypes while questioning others and defended alternative ways of managing emotions related to care. 2) Emotion management strategies: Participants described keeping an emotional distance, setting boundaries, relativising problems and using distraction and humour. DISCUSSION: Nursing care is conditioned by gender roles and stereotypes that present men as less capable than women of feeling and managing emotions. However, emotion management is necessary in nursing care-especially in paediatrics-and our participants reported using strategies for it. Although participants continued to interpret care in terms of traditional roles, they contradicted them in adapting to the emotional labour that their job requires. CONCLUSIONS: New behaviours are emerging among male nurses, in which care and emotion management are not exclusively the purview of women. Our participants reproduced some gender stereotypes while disrupting others, and they tended to cling to the stereotypes that were favourable to them as male nurses. As we work towards a gender-neutral profession, these results represent a first step: male participants reported that they provide care and manage their emotions as well as (or better than) women. However, because they substantiated their claims by drawing on negative stereotypes of women, further progress must be made.
Entities:
Keywords:
Emotion management; Gender roles; Gender stereotypes; Male nurses
Authors: Adrien M Winning; Jenna M Merandi; Dorcas Lewe; Lois M C Stepney; Nancy N Liao; Christine A Fortney; Cynthia A Gerhardt Journal: J Adv Nurs Date: 2017-08-31 Impact factor: 3.187
Authors: Dawid Makowicz; Katarzyna Lisowicz; Krzysztof Bryniarski; Renata Dziubaszewska; Natalia Makowicz; Beata Dobrowolska Journal: Front Public Health Date: 2022-09-28