1. Discussion and Conclusions
Acknowledgements
Research funded by the Women´s Health Institute (Instituto de la Mujer) of the Ministry of Health (Ministerio de Sanidad, Servicio Social e Igualdad), Social Services and Equality Reference number: 18/09
Health and conformity with traditional gender norms in men and women nurses
Authors: María del Pilar Sánchez-López1, Ana Isabel Saavedra-SanRoman2, Virginia Dresch1,3, and Rosa Limiñana-Gras4 1Research Group of Psychological Styles, Gender and Health (EPSY), Universidad Complutense de Madrid (Spain), 2Hospital Universitario de Getafe (Spainl), 3Universidade Federal Fluminense (Brazil), 4Universidad de Murcia (Spain)
Introduction Diverse current research (for example, Mahalik, Morray, Coonerty-Femiano, Ludlow, Slattery & Smiler, 2005; Woo & Oei, 2006) reveal the need to introduce into studies the variable gender, operationalized by means of an adequate measurement instrument, because it helps to explain various behaviors (Costa, Terracciano, & McCrae, 2001; Hyde, 1984; Maccoby & Jacklin, 1974; Mahalik, Lagan, & Morrison, 2006; Brooks & Good, 2001), and, specifically, health-related behaviors (Evans & Steptoe, 2002). Some authors have shown that traditional masculinity is associated with behavior containing a coronary risk (Wish, Mahalik, Hayes & Nutt, 1995), drug abuse (Blazina & Watkins ,1996; Mahalik et al., 2003), several health behaviors (Mahalik, Burns, & Syzdek, 2007), better mental health (Sánchez-López, López-García, Dresch, & Corbalán, 2008; Cortés, Artacoz, Rodríguez-Sanz, & Borrell, ,2004). The gendered nature of occupational and family-care paths, in turn, produces patterned disparities in a constellation of health-related resources, relationships, and risks, as well as feelings of mastery and control (Moen & Chermack, 2005). In nurses, Eriksen, Tambs, and Knardahl (2006) find that work factors explain a modest part of the psychological distress in nurse’s aides. Exposures to role conflicts and threats and violence at work may contribute to psychological distress in nurses’ aides.
Results
The statistical package SPSS version 19.0 was used for statistical analysis.
Purpose Verify in nursing, if the relations between sex, gender and health are the same as the general population. That is, if female nurses have poorer health in the variables in which women in the general population have poorer health (sex) and whether differences in conformity with gender norms in nurses compared to the general population (unless conformity with the masculine norms in male nurses and more conformity with feminine norms in female nurses) influence the pattern of health female and male nurses (gender).
Method
Discussion and Conclusions
The pattern of health differences between men and women nurses fits the known pattern of differences between women and men: men have better self-perceived health, fewer illnesses, use less drugs, have better mental health, less stress, consume more alcohol, have fewer problems with sleep and exercise more.
As for the relationship between these variables and scales according to gender norms, manifested greater emotional control (Scale 2), show better self-perceived health and less go to the doctor, the more score on the scale of violence (Scale 4 ), consume less drugs and more alcohol consumed, the more score in dominance (level 6), go to the doctor less and have more satisfaction at work, the more score in playboy (Scale 7), the more alcohol consumed, the more score in disdain of homosexuality (Scale 10), suffer less ailments. Positive relationships between risk taking (escala3) and doctor visits can perhaps be explained precisely by the increased likelihood of accidents if they take more risks. And relations between the higher value of status (Scale 11) and lower job satisfaction will be explained, perhaps because the type of work exercised by these men nurses hospital, which probably are not too many possibilities to increase their prestige social, which may also take him to greater consumption of alcohol. For women, higher scores on the scale of thinness (Scale 2) but are related to a mental health and worse tobacco consumption, both features consistent with a pattern of female health, the highest scores on the scale children (Scale 5) are associated with worse perceived health and lower alcohol consumption, the greater conformity with the importance of romantic relationships (Scale 6) are related to mental health but paradoxically regard to female pattern of health with increased consumption of alcohol. Alcohol consumption is problematic because it is also associated with higher image score (scale 8) and modesty (level 3) the latter is also associated with greater sleep problems, which also fits the pattern of female health.
Participants
From a total number of 103 male nurses (all of them Spanish in the one of the tertiary university hospitals of the Community of Madrid), 98 nurses volunteered to do the study. In order to obtain two equivalent groups, the
nurses were chosen by matching with the most important sociodemographic and work variables from the initial survey of nurses. Of the total number of women hospital nurses (588), 98 were selected since they met the same sociodemographic criteria (age, marital status, number of children and number of dependents being cared for by them , and with the same shift and work service in the hospital as their male colleagues.
The average age was (SD= 16.84), and age ranges are between 20 and 56. The average age of the men is (SD= 8.64) and that of the women (SD=8.20), and the age range lies between 22 and 56 for women and between 20 and 56 for men. The number of months worked was (SD=99.43) for men and (SD=92.83) for women.
Instruments and Variables
Physical Health and Health Styles
Some questions of the “National Health Survey” (MSC, 2006) about self-perceived health, tobacco, alcohol, consumption of medication and physical complaints.
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Procedures This study obtained approval from the institutional review board of the university hospital (Madrid, Spain). All participants were invited individually to take part in the study following a short description of the nature of the study and all participants gave (written and signed) informed consent