Voices From a Minority: Experiences of Chinese Male Nursing Students in Clinical Practice

Abstract

In Hong Kong, males constituted only about 10.2% of the nursing workforce in 2010. The learning experiences of male nursing students in Hong Kong during their clinical practicum have rarely been explored. If these students cannot maintain their psychological well-being and psychological health in formal education and clinical placements, then their physical health will also suffer. This ethnographic qualitative study gave male nursing students in Hong Kong a chance to voice their experiences during their clinical practicum. Selected through snowball sampling, 18 male nursing students from a local university participated in individual face-to-face semistructured interviews. The data were processed with content analysis. The findings indicated that male students not only received more support and understanding from male rather than female members of staff but endured a certain amount of oppression while working in female wards. According to the students' comments on nursing culture, the work climate of male nursing students could be improved by reorganizing the clinical placements and providing extra support to male nursing students.