남자 간호사의 전문직 사회화 영향요인: 혼합연구설계

Abstract

Background The number of men choosing nursing as a profession is steadily rising worldwide because of high employment rates, job security, and an increased societal recognition of nursing professionalism (Konuch, 2022). The proportion of male nurses in healthcare settings rose from 1.5% in 2010 to 5.1% at 2020 in Korea, marking nearly a threefold increase over a decade (Ministry of Health and Welfare, 2022). Furthermore, as of 2021, men comprised 20.5% of total nursing program entrants, suggesting an anticipated further rise in the proportion of male nurses (Korean Educational Development Institute, 2022). However, nursing is still predominantly perceived as a female occupation, and there exists negative and skeptical societal perceptions that men choosing nursing as a profession might possess feminine or homosexual tendencies (Martínez et al., 2022). Additionally, male nurses face experiences of patient or caregiver rejection (Kim et al., 2017) and encounter difficulties in forming relationships and communicating within nursing organizations primarily comprised of women (Mao et al., 2020). Due to these reasons, male nurses harbor hesitations toward choosing nursing as a profession (Kim et al., 2017). Professional socialization in nursing refers to the process of internalizing and developing professional self-concept by acquiring knowledge, skills, attitudes, beliefs, values, norms, and ethical standards required to perform specialized roles (Chitty & Black, 2011), and influenced by personal, situational, and organizational factors (Creamer & Laughlin, 2005). Nursing professional socialization is known to enhance job satisfaction, increase job engagement (Choi, 2014; Cohen & Veled‐ Hecht, 2010), decrease burnout and turnover intentions (Choi, 2014), and contribute to improving the quality of nursing care (Noh & Yoo, 2016). Hence, it's imperative to identify factors influencing professional socialization and provide organizational support to enable male nurses, who exhibit higher levels of job hesitancy and turnover, to undergo successful professional socialization. Previous studies have highlighted that nurses reach effective professional socialization when their self-efficacy (Kim & Woo, 2018) and professional selfconcept (Park et al., 2016) are high, coupled with an improved nursing work environment (Dinmohammadi et al., 2013). However, these studies predominantly focused on female nurses or the overall nursing population where females dominate, lacking substantial research on professional socialization among male nurses. Male nurses face various discomforts and social prejudices as sexual minorities within organizations (Sasa, 2019), displaying significantly higher turnover rates than female nurses (Ministry of Health and Welfare, 2022). Therefore, there's a need for distinct research considering the unique attributes male nurses bring to organizations and society. Prior studies conducted on male nurses in the United States and Iran shed light on factors influencing their professional socialization. LaRocco (2008) conducted a qualitative study on 28 American male nurses, reporting that family and peer support, collaboration with fellow nurses, and experiences of discrimination impacted professional socialization. Azadi et al. (2017), in a qualitative study on 22 Iranian male nurses, highlighted the perception of nursing as a female occupation and lack of support from family and peers as hindrances to professional socialization. These studies underscored the need to consider not only individual factors but also the socio-cultural context and background to comprehend the professional socialization of male nurses. Notably, both studies highlighted the significance of support from family, peers, and coping with gender-based inequalities for the professional socialization of male nurses. Therefore, this study aims to explore how self-efficacy, professional selfconcept, gender role conflict, social support, and nursing work environment affect the professional socialization of male nurses, as identified in the literature review. The theoretical framework of Benner's (1984) Novice to Expert theory and Bronfenbrenner's (1979) ecological systems theory was applied to address the scarcity of research focusing on the professional socialization of male nurses, followed by a mixed-methods explanatory sequential design, incorporating qualitative research after quantitative analysis. This research design is expected to provide a deeper understanding of the experiences and influencing factors of professional socialization among male nurses, serving as a foundation for societal discussions on interventions to enhance professional socialization. Methods This study employed an explanatory sequential design in a mixed-methods approach to comprehensively assess the level of professional socialization and its influencing factors among male nurses working in clinical settings. 1. Quantitative study To explore the level of professional socialization and its influencing factors among male nurses, a cross-sectional survey study was conducted using an online questionnaire. The quantitative study participants were male nurses currently working in hospitals who understood the purpose and intent of the study and consented to participate. However, individuals currently on leave were excluded from the research sample, as their experiences in professional socialization were anticipated to be limited due to their absence from active duty. G*power program was used to determine the appropriate sample size for linear regression analysis. Considering a Type I error of .05, power of 90%, 22 independent variables, and an effect size of .15 (Hsiung & Hsieh, 2003), the targeted sample size was 191 participants. Accounting for a dropout rate of 10%, a total of 213 participants was aimed to recruit. This study collected data using a structured questionnaire consisting of a total of 142 items: 21 items for measuring professional socialization of the participants (Moon & Chang, 2023), 7 items for self-efficacy measurement (Park et al., 2015), 27 items for professional selfconcept measurement (Noh & Song, 1997), 37 items for measuring for gender role conflict (Lee et al., 2012), 10 items for social support measurement (Kim, 2021), 29 items for assessing the nursing work environment (Cho et al., 2011), and 11 items for general and occupational characteristics of the participants. The quantitative study collected data through an online survey conducted over a period of four months from June to September 2023. Following approval from the Yonsei University Health System Institutional Review Board (IRB No: 4-2023-0508), data collection commenced. Explanation of the research objectives was provided via telephone to healthcare institutions nationwide, and with the cooperation of nursing departments in consenting institutions, online survey links were distributed to male nurses working in hospitals. Additionally, to meet the targeted sample size, recruitment notices were posted on N-Portal, an internet community for male nurses. A total of 217 individuals responded to the online survey. However, 5 were not currently working at a hospital, 4 were on leave, 3 declined the use of their data for academic research purposes, and 11 were excluded due to inconsistent or unreliable responses (e.g., using the same identification number, completing the survey within 120 seconds, etc.). Ultimately, data from 194 participants (89.4%) were utilized for the analysis in this study. Hierarchical linear regression analysis was conducted to identify the factors influencing the professional socialization of male nurses. 2. Qualitative study For the purpose of exploring the factors influencing the professional socialization of male nurses and identifying supportive resources, a qualitative exploratory study was conducted through focused group interviews. From October to November 2023, a qualitative study was conducted via remote video conferencing with 11 male nurses who expressed interest in participating in the qualitative study among the respondents of the online survey. The participants were divided into three groups (Group 1: 5 individuals, Group 2: 3 individuals, Group 3: 3 individuals) for the focus group interviews. A semi-structured interview guide was prepared to ensure the flow of the discussion, and the researcher documented important points and the participants' reactions deemed significant in the field notes during the interviews. Content analysis was employed for qualitative data analysis. The reseacher repeatedly reviewed the interview content to grasp an overall sense, then systematically marked specific words during the content review that appeared to represent important concepts, thus generating codes. This iterative process allowed me to compile primary codes representing crucial concepts. Subsequently, organized these codes into meaningful clusters, forming sub-categories and categories for classification. This study ensured research quality by considering four criteria—credibility, transferability, dependability, and confirmability—according to Lincoln & Guba's (1986) standards of research rigor. Results 1. Quantitative study The average age of the total 194 participants was 31.8±3.7 years old. Among them, individuals aged 29 or younger accounted for 45 (23.2%), those between 30-34 years old were 109 (56.2%), individuals aged 35-39 were 34 (17.5%), and those aged 40 or above were 6 (3.1%). The average of work experience in their current department was 3.1±2.5 years. The highest proportion was individuals with 1-3 years' experience, accounting for 108 individuals (55.7%). Following this, 3-5 years' experience was reported by 46 individuals (23.7%), over 5 years' experience by 22 individuals (11.3%), and less than 1 year's experience by 18 individuals (9.3%). Among the respondents, 89 individuals (45.9%) confirmed the presence of male nursing colleagues in their department, while 105 individuals (54.1%) indicated otherwise. The professional socialization averaged at 4.7±0.6 points out of a maximum of 6, indicating a moderately high level. Among its sub-factors, ethical awareness scored the highest at an average of 4.9±0.5 points, followed by enthusiasm for professional development and motivation at 4.8±0.7 points, leadership-based clinical competence at 4.6±0.7 points, and experiences of respect and recognition at 4.4±0.9 points respectively. Self-efficacy rated at an average of 3.3±0.4 points out of 4, indicating an above-average level. In the general and occupational characteristics, the presence or absence of male nursing colleagues within the department was the only variable which demonstrated a significant difference in professional socialization scores. The professional socialization scores of participants without male nursing colleagues stood at 4.6±0.6 points, demonstrating statistically lower professional socialization scores compared to those with male nursing colleagues (4.8±0.5 points) (t=2.97, p=.005). The Pearson correlation coefficient was used to examine the relationships among the key study variables: professional socialization, self-efficacy, professional self-concept, gender role conflict, social support, and nursing work environment. Professional socialization exhibited significant positive correlations with self-efficacy (r=.78, p<.001), professional self-concept (r=.65, p<.001), social support (r=.77, p<.001), and nursing work environment (r=.70, p<.001), while showing a significant negative correlation with gender role conflict (r=-.17, p=.013). Factors influencing the professional socialization of male nurses were examined through hierarchical linear regression analysis. Prior to the analysis, the fundamental assumptions of regression—independence, normality, and homoscedasticity—were checked. Independence was assessed using the DurbinWatson statistic, which resulted in a value of 1.770, close to 2, indicating a negligible correlation among the residuals. Normality was confirmed by inspecting the normal probability plot (Q-Q plot) of the residuals, which demonstrated a distribution closely aligned with a straight line, satisfying the assumption of normality. Homoscedasticity was evaluated via residual plots, showing no discernible patterns and thereby meeting the assumption of homoscedasticity. The hierarchical linear regression analysis revealed that factors such as age, education level, department tenure, and the presence of male nurses within departments did not significantly influence the professional socialization of male nurses. However, individual factors like self-efficacy (β=0.30, p<.001) and professional self-concept (β=0.17, p=.048) showed significant positive effects on professional socialization, while gender role conflict (β=0.05, p=.275) did not exhibit a significant impact. Social support as an interactive factor (β=0.38, p<.001) demonstrated a significant positive influence on professional socialization, and the institutional factor of the nursing work environment (β=0.18, p=.007) displayed a significant static effect. The adjusted R2 for the final model indicated an explanatory power of 70.3%. 2. Qualitative study The focus group interviews involved a total of 11 participants across 3 groups: the first group consisted of 5 members, while the remaining 2 groups had 3 members each. Participants' ages ranged from 26 to 41, with an average age of 32.4±5.1 years. The departmental work experience ranged from 2 to 171 months, with an average of 70.5±58.0 months. Three categories emerged from the focus group interviews: 'Factors promoting professional socialization,' 'Factors hindering professional socialization,' and 'Hopeful resources for enhancing professional socialization.' Under 'Factors promoting professional socialization,' subcategories included 'social support,' 'desire for recognition among peers,' 'yearning for acquiring nursing knowledge,' and 'fulfillment in contributing to patient well-being.' For 'Factors hindering professional socialization,' subcategories consisted of 'experiences of nursing rejection,' 'unfair treatment encounters,' 'challenges in forming relationships with female nurses,' and 'negative social biases and stigmas.' Lastly, under 'Hopeful resources for enhancing professional socialization,' subcategories involved 'cultivating male nurse role models' and 'improving the work environment. The participants emphasized the importance of support from those around them in advancing their professional growth. They mentioned that aspiring for acknowledgment as a nurse from their colleagues or physicians, and actually experiencing that recognition, contributed significantly to their professional development. Some participants expressed feeling a sense of fulfillment when observing patients' health improvements or witnessing their healthy discharge, motivating them to redouble their efforts in caring for patients. On the other hand, male nurses within the organization encountered situations where they faced rejection from patients due to their gender, experienced unfair treatment from fellow staff members, and encountered difficulties in forming relationships with female nurses. Moreover, they expressed struggling due to societal biases and stigmatization they faced from the public. Male nurses expressed their opinion that fostering male nurse role models within the hospital setting and improving the nursing work environment through various policy and environmental supports would contribute to enhancing professional socialization. Discussion This study applied an explanatory sequential design among mixed research methods. It aimed to investigate the level of professional socialization among male nurses and the factors influencing their professional socialization through quantitative research. Additionally, qualitative research was conducted to explore the factors enhancing and hindering professional socialization, as well as the resources for improving it. The study aimed to provide foundational data to enhance the understanding of professional socialization among male nurses. By comparing and contrasting the study's results with previous research, it aimed to describe multifaceted approaches to the current state of professional socialization among male nurses and strategies for its enhancement. This research is anticipated to contribute to a deeper understanding of improving professional socialization among male nurses and lay the groundwork for societal discussions regarding interventions to elevate professional socialization. Male nurses scored an average of 4.7±0.6 out of 6 in terms of professional socialization, indicating a moderate to high level. This did not significantly differ from scores measured using the same tool among 881 hospital nurses (women: 4.4±0.6, men: 4.2±0.6) in Moon & Chang's study (2023) (Moon & Chang, 2023). Notably, the aspect of respect and recognition, one of the four sub-factors of professional socialization, scored 4.4±0.9 in this study and was also the lowest scoring factor in both this study and Moon & Chang's study (female: 4.0±0.9, male: 3.7±1.0) (Moon & Chang, 2023). Being acknowledged and respected by patients and society is known to positively impact nurse motivation, identity establishment, and nursing competence (Hoeve et al., 2014; Yang, 2018). This aligns with the qualitative analysis results, indicating that positive societal perceptions of nursing enhance professional socialization, while negative biases and stigmas hinder it. Positive social perceptions of nurses are closely related to self-efficacy, professional self-concept (Lee & Park, 2017), and gender role conflict (Yeom & Seo, 2016), indirectly and directly influencing professional socialization. While positive nurse images form through direct interactions and observation, they can also change through nursing-related information (Kim et al., 2013). Efforts to shape a positive and professional nurse image for male nurses can be through personal efforts in providing high-quality nursing care, as well as societal efforts exposing their professional identity in media like newspapers and the internet, correcting biases and stigmas. Therefore, improving the professional socialization of nurses requires efforts to enhance the perception and trust in the nursing profession (Mariet, 2016). In this study, self-efficacy among male nurses significantly influenced their professional socialization. This aligns with prior domestic research indicating that nurses with higher self-efficacy levels tend to achieve a higher degree of professional socialization (Kim & Woo, 2018). Nurses with greater self-efficacy exhibit confidence in their roles and abilities, leading to deeper immersion in nursing tasks (Orgambídez et al., 2019), facilitating successful professional socialization. Conversely, chronic decreases in self-efficacy hinder effective coping in challenging situations, often accompanied by feelings of depression, hopelessness, suicidal thoughts, and insomnia (Castro et al., 2020), complicating the journey toward professional socialization. Hence, strategies enhancing selfefficacy should be integrated for nurses to achieve professional socialization. Personally, practices like regular diary entries to organize thoughts and embracing gratitude for small aspects within situations are known to enhance self-efficacy (Bedin, 2014; Filipiak, 2023). At an organizational level, providing forums like support groups or counseling programs for nurses to express difficulties and address emotional strains can be beneficial (Filipiak, 2023). Professional self-concept also emerged as a personal factor showing a positive influence on professional socialization. This is corroborated by qualitative research suggesting that nurses experience a sense of fulfillment and professional purpose through high-quality nursing, enhancing patient health. Nurses evaluating their competencies and knowledge levels positively impact their self-efficacy, which, in turn, reinforces their professional self-concept (Chang et al., 2022; Cheng et al., 2020). Hence, efforts focused on specific goal-setting for achievement, self-monitoring, continuous improvement, and enhancing expertise through education and knowledge contribute to boosting both self-efficacy and professional self-concept among nurses (Dehghani et al., 2020; George et al., 2020). The study found that gender role conflict didn't significantly impact professional socialization among male nurses. This aligns with earlier research showing that higher gender role conflict in male nurses reduces job satisfaction but doesn't affect organizational commitment (Lee & Kim, 2014). Moreover, prior studies (Yeom & Seo, 2016) noted no significant correlation between gender role conflict and nursing professionalism. These results suggest that male nurses exhibit an open attitude toward societal gender norms (Lee & Kim, 2014). However, qualitative research revealed that male nurses do experience negative social biases and stigma, reflecting prevalent gender-based discrimination in Korean society (Lim et al., 2017). Addressing these biases becomes crucial for the advancement of male nurses. Social support among male nurses demonstrated a significant positive impact on professional socialization, mirroring qualitative findings highlighting informational and emotional support from peers/supervisors as crucial resources in enhancing professional socialization. Social support allows them to showcase their skills in an inclusive environment (Vergara et al., 2022), leading to higher job satisfaction, increased job achievement, and improved self-esteem and selfefficacy (Cao & Chen, 2019; Shim & Park, 2023). These findings align with prior research showing that enhancing self-esteem and self-efficacy contributes to job satisfaction and professional growth (Chen et al., 2016). Qualitative results highlighted difficulties male nurses face in building relationships and adapting to their departments due to experiencing unfair treatment from female nurses. Therefore, efforts from colleagues to support male nurses in adapting to nursing duties without gender biases and to understand and address their challenges are necessary. Nursing managers should demonstrate leadership to enhance the competence and professionalism of male nurses, providing opportunities for growth through lectures or research. Additionally, understanding and addressing the challenges faced by male nurses as a sexual minority is crucial. Quantitative findings revealed that a positive nursing work environment significantly impacted professional socialization, echoing results from Azadi et al.'s (2017) qualitative study indicating that work environments lacking autonomy and burdened with excessive work hinder professional socialization among male nurses. Conclusion This study utilized quantitative methods to identify factors related to the professional socialization level of male nurses and, following this, investigated the influencing factors and improvement strategies for professional socialization through focus group interviews. Integration of both quantitative data collected from surveys of 194 male nurses and qualitative data from 11 focus group interviews yielded insights into factors impacting professional socialization among male nurses and suggested strategies for its enhancement. The quantitative study identified self-efficacy, professional self-concept, social support, and the nursing work environment as influencing factors in the professional socialization of male nurses. From the qualitative study, three categories - 'factors enhancing professional socialization,' 'factors impeding professional socialization,' and 'hopeful resources for enhancing professional socialization' - were derived, resulting in 10 subcategories and 47 codes. Combining the quantitative and qualitative findings enabled the identification of factors influencing the professional socialization of male nurses and proposed supportive resources necessary to enhance it. Efforts from individual, interpersonal, organizational, and societal levels are essential to enhance the professional socialization of male nurses. Personally, maintaining high self-efficacy and fostering a positive professional self-concept are crucial. Interpersonally, efforts should focus on reducing negative perceptions and biases towards male nurses among colleagues, while managers should understand and address the challenges faced by male nurses and provide opportunities for growth through research, education, or workshops. Healthcare institutions must improve work environments tailored to male nurses' needs, such as fostering male nurse role models, deploying male nurses in departments, expanding specialized education programs for new nurses, and offering financial and administrative support for work environment improvements. Additionally, societal efforts are needed to eliminate negative perceptions and biases towards male nurses through informative campaigns and similar initiatives. 남자 간호사 수가 전세계적으로 증가하고 있으나, 이들은 부정적인 사회적 편견이나 대인관계 어려움 등으로 인해 간호직 선택에 회의감을 가진다. 전문직 사회화란 전문적인 역할을 수행하기 위하여 지식, 기술, 태도, 신념, 가치, 규범, 그리고 윤리적 표준을 획득함으로써 전문직 정체성을 내면화하고 개발하는 과정을 의미하며, 이는 업무 만족과 직무 몰입 향상, 이직 의도 감소 등에 기여한다고 알려져 있다. 하지만 전문직 사회화 관련 기존 선행연구들은 모두 여자 간호사나 여자 간호사가 주를 차지하는 전체 간호사 집단을 대상으로 이뤄진 것이었으며, 남자 간호사를 대상으로 전문직 사회화를 연구한 논문은 거의 찾아볼 수 없었다. 이에 본 연구에서는 혼합 연구를 통해 남자 간호사의 전문직 사회화 영향 요인과 향상 방안에 대해 확인하고자 하였다. 양적 연구는 간호 경험이 많을수록 간호 숙련성이 증가된다는 Benner (1984)의 Novice to Expert 이론과, Bronfenbrenner (1979)가 환경과의 지속적인 상호작용을 바탕으로 인간의 발달, 성장을 설명하는 생태체계이론을 바탕으로 전문직 사회화에 영향을 주는 요인들에 대해 알아보았다. 개인적 수준으로 자기 효능감, 전문직 자아개념, 성역할 갈등, 근무 경력을 포함하였고, 상호작용 수준에 사회적 지지를 포함하였으며, 조직적 수준에는 간호근무환경을 포함하였다. 2023년 6부터 9월까지 전국의 남자 간호사를 대상으로 온라인 설문을 이용하여 자료를 수집하였으며, 응답자 217명 중 병원에 근무하고 있지 않은 자 5명, 현재 병원에 휴직 중인 자 4명, 학술연구를 목적으로 하는 자료 활용에 동의하지 않는 대상자 3명, 그리고 불성실한 응답을 한 대상자 11명을 제외한 194명 대상자가 본 연구의 분석에 활용되었다. 남자 간호사의 전문직 사회화 영향요인을 확인하기 위해 위계적 선형회귀분석을 이용하여 분석을 시행하였다. 질적 연구는 온라인 설문 응답자 중 질적 연구 참여를 희망한 11명의 남자 간호사를 대상으로 2023년 10월부터 11월까지 비대면 화상을 통해 시행하였다. 총 3개의 집단(집단1: 5명, 집단2: 3명, 집단3: 3명)으로 나누어 초점집단면접을 시행하였으며, 면담의 흐름이 끊어지지 않도록 면담 질문지를 따로 구성하여 반구조화된 인터뷰를 진행하였다. 질적 자료 분석은 내용분석방법을 활용하였으며, 연구의 질을 확보하기 위해 Lincoln & Guba (1986)의 연구의 엄격성 평가 기준을 적용하였다. 전체 대상자 194명의 평균 연령은 31.8±3.7세였으며, 현 부서에서의 근무 경력은 평균 3.1±2.5년이었다. 전문직 사회화는 6점 만점에 평균 4.7±0.6점으로 중상 수준이었으며, 하위 요인 중 윤리적 소명의식이 평균 4.9±0.5점으로 가장 높았고, 존중과 인정 경험이 4.4±0.9점으로 가장 낮은 점수를 보였다. 일반적 특성 중에서는 부서 내 남자 간호사가 존재하는 경우(평균 4.8±0.5점)에 부서 내 남자 간호사가 존재하지 않는 경우(평균 4.6±0.6점)보다 전문직 사회화 점수가 유의하게 높게 나왔다. 전문직 사회화와 주요 변수간의 상관관계는 자기 효능감(r=.78, p<.001), 전문직 자아개념(r=.65, p<.001), 사회적 지지(r=.77, p<.001), 간호근무환경(r=.70, p<.001)이 유의한 양의 상관관계를 보였으며, 성역할 갈등(r=-.17, p=.013)은 유의한 음의 상관관계를 보였다. 위계적 선형회귀분석을 통해 남자 간호사의 전문직 사회화 영향요인을 확인한 결과, 최종 모형에서 일반적 특성인 연령, 교육 수준, 부서 근무 경력, 부서 내 남자 간호사 유무는 전문직 사회화에 유의한 영향을 보이지 않았다. 개인 수준 중 자기 효능감(β=0.30, p<.001)과 전문직 자아개념(β=0.17, p=.048)은 전문직 사회화에 유의한 양적 영향을 미친다고 나타났으나, 성역할 갈등(β=0.05, p=.275)은 유의한 영향을 보이지 않았다. 상호작용 수준인 사회적 지지(β=0.38, p<.001)는 전문직 사회화에 유의한 양적 영향을 나타냈으며, 기관 수준인 간호근무환경(β=0.18, p=.007)도 전문직 사회화에 유의한 정적 영향을 보였다. 최종 모델의 설명력은 adjusted R2 결과 70.3%로 나타났다. 초점집단면접에 참여한 참여자 11명의 연령은 26-41세였으며, 부서 근무 경력은 2개월 – 171개월로 평균 70.5±58.0개월이였다. 초점집단면접 결과, ‘전문직 사회화 향상 요인’, ‘전문직 사회화 저해 요인’, ‘전문직 사회화 향상을 위한 희망 자원’의 3개 범주가 도출되었다. 먼저, ‘전문직 사회화 향상 요인’의 하위 범주로는 ‘사회적 지지’, ‘동료로부터 인정받고자 하는 마음’, ‘간호학적 지식 습득에 대한 열망’, ‘환자 건강 향상에 이바지하는 보람’이 포함되었으며, ‘전문직 사회화 저해 요인’의 하위 범주로는 ‘간호 거절 경험’, ‘부당한 대우 경험’, ‘여자 간호사와의 관계형성 어려움’, ‘부정적인 사회적 편견과 낙인’이 도출되었다. 마지막으로 ‘전문직 사회화 향상을 위한 희망 자원’에서는 하위 범주로 ‘남자 간호사 롤모델 육성’과 ‘근무환경 개선 ’이 도출되었다. 남자 간호사의 전문직 사회화를 향상시키기 위해서는 개인적, 대인관계적, 조직적, 사회적 노력이 모두 필요함을 확인하였다. 개인으로서는 높은 자기 효능감을 유지하고, 긍정적인 전문직 자아개념을 가져야 할 필요성을 확인하였다. 대인관계적으로 동료 간호사는 남자 간호사에 대한 부정적인 인식과 편견을 줄이고 동료로 받아드리고자 노력해야 하며, 관리자는 남자 간호사가 겪는 고충을 이해하고 해결해주려고 노력하는 것과 동시에 연구나 교육, 강의 등의 경험을 제공함으로써 스스로 성장하고 발전할 수 있는 기회를 제공해야 하겠다. 의료기관은 남자 간호사의 요구에 부합하는 근무환경 개선을 위해 남자 간호사 롤모델 양성, 부서 내 동료 남자 간호사 배치, 신규간호사 전담 교육간호사제도 확대, 근무환경 개선을 위한 재정적·행정적 지원 등을 제공하고, 주기적으로 이들의 고충을 확인하여 적극적으로 해결해주고자 노력하는 태도가 필요할 것이다. 마지막으로 사회적 측면에서는 남자 간호사의 부정적 인식과 편견을 없애기 위한 객관적이고 긍정적인 정보 전달 등의 노력이 필요할 것으로 사료된다.