By Erica Techo
The American Association of Men in Nursing (AAMN) has recognized the UAB School of Nursing as a 2019 AAMN Best School for Men in Nursing, recognizing the School’s significant efforts in recruiting and retaining men into the nursing profession, providing a supportive educational environment and educating faculty, students and the community about contributions from men in nursing.
“The UAB School of Nursing is extremely committed to excellence in the area of gender diversity as we build on our vision of sustaining nursing leadership worldwide,” said Dean and Fay B. Ireland Endowed Chair in Nursing Doreen C. Harper, PhD, RN, FAAN. “We are proud of the success we have had in increasing the number of men on our faculty and in our student ranks. We will continue to make this an area of emphasis in our efforts to meet the greatly intensifying challenges and demands of the health care profession.”
The School revitalized the Birmingham Chapter of AAMN in 2018, dedicating additional resources to recruitment, awareness, mentorship and community partnerships.
Associate Professor Greg Eagerton, DNP, RN, NEA-BC and Assistant Professor Curry Bordelon, DNP, MBA, CRNP, CNE, NNP-BC, CPNP-AC, are board members for the Birmingham Chapter of AAMN and established Nursing in Real Life (NiRL), a new mentorship program, in 2019. While the program is hosted by AAMN, it is open to all students and seeks to educate regarding diversity and inclusion, emotional intelligence and making nursing a welcoming profession for all nurses.
“It is important to knock down the perceived barriers and boundaries in nursing,” Bordelon said. “Through Nursing in Real Life, we provide a safe space for open conversations, and those conversations help to break down barriers for our students. Bringing together nurses from a variety of backgrounds allows for collaboration of different perspectives of care. The diversity of ideas and experiences ultimately improves the care we can provide and gives insight into nursing in the real world.”
Greg Eagerton and Curry Bordelon host monthly mentorship sessions called Nursing in Real Life.Through AAMN, Bordelon and Eagerton seek to not only support male students in the School of Nursing, but also show them how many opportunities and options are available in the field. Men in nursing tend to gravitate toward transport nursing, emergency room, intensive care and anesthesia. As a Neonatal Nurse Practitioner, Bordelon hopes to show male students they can find success in all departments.
"As faculty and a Neonatal Nurse Practitioner, I am excited to share my experiences and help guide more men to career pathways in nursing not traditionally thought of as male roles, including working within the Neonatal ICU," Bordelon said.
"Dr. Bordelon and I are always looking for ways to mentor the next generation of men in nursing and to explore career options they are passionate about," Eagerton added. “The UAB School of Nursing and its community partners are above average in the number of male faculty and male nurses, and those numbers are climbing.”
According to AACN, baccalaureate programs have an average of 12.9 percent male students, while UAB SON had an average of 15.8 percent male students per year from 2015-2018. The School also has 14.3 percent male graduate students, 15.4 percent PhD students, 19.2 percent Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) students and 18 percent male faculty. Faculty also represent a variety of programs, including nurse anesthesia, pediatric nurse practitioner, palliative care and emergency nurse practitioner.
“At the UAB School of Nursing, have a very high satisfaction rate among our male students and faculty,” Eagerton said. “We see students return for additional degrees, and when faculty come here, we stay here because we enjoy working in an environment that is supportive of men in nursing. With this recognition and our newly revitalized chapter, we look forward to building awareness of and supporting men in nursing.”
