On The Pulse: Men In Nursing

In 2020, the Johns Hopkins School of Nursing was named a Best School for Men in Nursing by the American Association for Men in Nursing (AAMN) for the second consecutive year. The recent State of the World’s Nursing Report also emphasized the need to increase the diversity of our profession. Within our school we are proud of our efforts to build a diverse pipeline of nurses, and particularly for our support of men who bring needed perspective and experience to nursing.

Our world needs competent and credentialed nurses across all genders, backgrounds, and experiences in order to provide the best health outcomes for the populations we serve—but this can be challenging as we are continually addressing cultural norms and values. This dialogue cast a spotlight on men in nursing.

Key Takeaways

“I started The RN Mentor Podcast to share how broad nursing is. In nursing programs people mostly see the bedside. But there are nurses all over the world doing incredible things beyond the bedside.”

Dr. Ali Tayyeb

What advice do you have for men considering a career in nursing? “Do it! It’s a rewarding career and you can change course easily. There are so many opportunities in the field, and nurses will always be in demand, and even more now.”

Dr. Kenneth Dion

Have you experienced gender stereotyping? How have you managed it? “Approach it as a teachable moment,” says Dr. Reginald Bannerman. Dr. Ali Tayyeb adds, “Stereotyping is more common outside the profession, not as much within.”

Dr. Reginald Bannerman and Dr. Ali Tayyeb

“We should talk about increasing the number of men in nursing as enhancing diversity to improve patient outcomes.”

Dr. Caleb Ferguson

About the Panelists

Dr. Patricia Davidson, moderator, is dean of the Johns Hopkins School of Nursing.

Alex Nava, student moderator, is an MSN (Entry Into Nursing) candidate at Johns Hopkins School of Nursing. He is a board member for the Gertrude Stein Society (GSS) and the Latinx Health Advocacy Group. He earned his Bachelor’s degree in History of Science and History of Medicine from Yale University with a concentration in Public Health, Race, and Migration. His nursing interests include psychiatry and public health as they relate to eliminating disparities among marginalized populations. He hopes to work toward filling in practice and knowledge gaps within the burgeoning field of LGBTQ+ health by way of advanced nursing practice, advocacy, and activism.

Kenneth Dion, PhD, MSN, MBA, RN, FAAN is Assistant Dean for Business Innovation and Strategic Relationships at the John Hopkins School of Nursing, and President- elect of Sigma Nursing. He is a 40-year veteran of the health care industry, a nurse entrepreneur, inventor, and scholar. In 1999, Dr. Dion founded Decision Critical, Inc., an information systems company, to meet the education, compliance, and competency development needs of health care organizations. He was awarded patents for Critical Portfolio, a first-of-its-kind ePortfolio application, and Critical Staffer. In 2012, Decision Critical was acquired by HealthStream, Inc., where Dr. Dion served as vice president and chief of nursing informatics until 2014.

Reginald Bannerman, MSN, MBA, RN, NE-BC has over 31 years of experience in the health care field. He obtained his undergraduate degree in 1997 and graduate degrees form the Johns Hopkins Schools of Nursing and Business in 2003. Reginald has been with Children’s National Health System for over 17 years, now serves as the Director of the Division of Psychiatry (Inpatient) and Behavioral Science; and has led his team to a 75 percent reduction in the incidence of seclusion and restraints. Reginald is a certified Crisis Prevention Intervention and Autism Spectrum Disorder trainer, and a member of Children’s National’s Behavioral Health System-Wide Taskforce, charged with working on initiatives to better serve patients and families on the mental health continuum.

Ali Tayyeb, PhD, RN, NPD-BC, PHN, is a United States Navy Veteran, having served as a Fleet Marine Force Corpsman with Naval Medical Center San Diego, 1st Marine Division, and 3rd Marine Division. After his military service, Dr. Tayyeb pursued his career as a RN, earning his Bachelor’s and Master’s degree in Nursing from California State University, Los Angeles and his Ph.D. from the University of San Diego. Dr. Tayyeb’s experiences in the health care field include combat trauma, emergency medicine, education, Human Patient Simulation, Professional Development, Leadership, Veterans Healthcare, and Policy. Dr. Tayyeb is a Jonas Veterans Healthcare Scholar Alumni and is currently an Assistant Professor at California State University, Los Angeles and is the creator, producer, and host of the RN-Mentor Podcast and Blog. His interests in Veterans related research include: Transition from military service, Post-Traumatic Stress, Traumatic Brain Injuries, Depression, Alcohol and Drug abuse, Pain, Suicide, Family environment, Disenfranchisement, Policy, Advocacy, Culture, Veteran Benefits, & Reintegration.

Caleb Ferguson, RN, BSc, MHlth, PhD, FACN, FESC, FCSANZ, has over a decade of clinical experience caring for individuals with stroke, neurological and cardiovascular conditions. Caleb is an Australian National Health and Medical Research Council Emerging Leadership Fellow and Heart Foundation Postdoctoral Fellow at the Western Sydney Nursing & Midwifery Research Centre. He also holds a conjoint appointment at Western Sydney University and Western Sydney Local Health District. Dr. Ferguson leads a program of research focused on patient-centered approaches to the management of atrial fibrillation, stroke prevention, and digital health. He serves as Cardiovascular Nursing Editor of Heart Lung & Circulation. Since 2012 he has been a StrokeSafe Ambassador for the Stroke Foundation undertaking community advocacy work. He is appointed as a member of the Stroke Foundation Research Advisory Committee and an executive member of the Cardiovascular Nursing Council of the Cardiac Society of Australia and New Zealand and Deputy Director of the Implementation Science Platform of SPHERE.