Abstract: Objective: To investigate the professional status and occupational cognition among male nurses in China. Methods: Two nationwide surveys were undertaken in 2015 and 2017, respectively. A self-designed online questionnaire was distributed. Results: The first survey involved 5939 participants from 287 cities while 10676 questionnaires were collected from 312 cities in the second survey. Participants from both surveys were quite young, with the mean age of 26.85±4.06 years old and 27.80±4.46 ears old. The mean years of practice as registered nurses was approximately 4 to 5 years. Most participants worked in tertiary Grade A hospitals located in the first-tier and second-tier cities. The majority of respondents hold a positive cognition toward nursing profession and nurse roles, as the response rate ranged from 40.9% to 94.7% for items indicating positive cognition toward nursing profession and nurse roles. 71.4% to 87.4% respondents perceived gender differences in nursing profession and coped with them positively. Conclusion: This study confirmed the rapid development of male nurses and their critical roles in nursing. More guidance and attention should be paid to this population to optimize the healthy and rapid development of male nurses in China.

Key words: male nurse; professional status; occupational cognition; survey