The nursing programs at St. Petersburg College are getting ready for significant increases in applications from males, a trend that is already under way at SPC and at other nursing schools, college officials said today.

The college offers both a two-year AS degree and a four-year RN to BSN completion nursing program, and applications from males are on the upswing in both programs, according to Jean Wortock, Dean of SPC’s College of Nursing.

“We have been seeing a steady increase in applications from men for the last few years,” Wortock said. “Jobs in all health care fields are more stable than jobs in many other fields during a slow economy, so that may be one of the reasons.”

Whatever the reasons, rising enrollments among men in nursing programs are happening around Florida and around the country. In Central Florida, increases in male enrollment have been noted at Seminole Community College, Valencia and the University of Central Florida.

Last year at Seminole Community College, 32 men applied for the college’s nursing programs; this year, that number jumped to 58.

At SPC, male enrollment in the AS program was 83 and the RN to BSN was 48 last year; this year, 90 men are enrolled in the AS and 60 in the BSN.

A review of nursing profession statistics show that Florida may be a likely place for an increase in male enrollment in nursing programs. Nationally, men occupy six percent of all nursing jobs; in Florida, 9.4 percent of nurses are men, according to the Florida Center for Nursing.

The upward trend in male nursing enrollments has not gone unnoticed by Rod Davis, Coordinator of Student Activities and the Male Outreach Initiative at SPC. The Male Outreach Initiative aims to increase male enrollment at the college, where female students now outnumber male students 63 percent to 37 percent.

“We’re glad to see any of our programs attracting more interest among males,” Davis said. “To have that happen in a program that has historically drawn many more women than men is especially gratifying.”

According to Davis, men are becoming increasingly aware of the good pay and benefits that nursing provides, they see the serious demand, and they like the fact that quality employment is available to nurses in virtually any geographic area.

Those benefits may be especially attractive in Florida. According to a survey by the Florida Center for Nursing, there were more than 5,000 vacant nursing positions in 2007.