Decades after an all-male nursing school shut its doors for the last time, Susan LaRocco, dean of Mount Saint Mary College's School of Nursing, took it upon herself to document the institution's history before it faded away forever.
In her recent Investigating Research on Campus (iROC) talk, "Male Nursing Students in Obstetric Clinical Experiences," LaRocco delved into the history of Alexian Brothers Hospital School of Nursing in Chicago, the experiences its students had, and how the school handled changing professional requirements.
During the 1950s and 1960s, many nursing schools did not admit men, LaRocco explained. The Alexian Brothers Hospital School of Nursing was one of the few male nursing schools in the United States, and when it closed in 1969 – after graduating nearly 800 men over 70-plus years – it was the last of its kind.
But LaRocco refused to let the rich history of the school or its alumni be lost to time: her recent talk drew from nearly two dozen interviews with the men who graduated from the school, as well as her research in the provincial archives.
For most of the time the school was in operation, male nursing students were not required to have an obstetrical clinical experience. When they took the licensing exam, LaRocco explained, they were allowed to substitute urological nursing for the section on obstetrics.
"The students did receive didactic experience in obstetrics – they were taught obstetrics," LaRocco explained. "They just never had the chance to practice it, nor did they have an exam in it."
But as the times changed, so did nursing requirements. Around 1956, one of the school's graduates was denied a license to practice in Michigan, as the state had started requiring all nurses to have obstetrical training. For the first time, the Alexian Brothers had to work with other hospitals to allow the men to get the experience they needed.
By 1958, all the men were receiving 80 hours of clinical obstetrics over 60 days. That is, except for the religious men. Initially, the cardinal had refused to give permission for them to do the obstetrics training. There was also some concern over society's negative perception of male nurses assisting in childbirth.
It wasn't until December of 1961 that the religious men were allowed to participate in the same training as their laymen counterparts at the school. The brothers would be allowed to take both theory and practice courses in obstetrics until the school closed several years later. Each brother would need to get the approval of their own religious community before taking part.
Some of the Alexian Brothers alumni that LaRocco interviewed noted that they were often treated like doctors during these obstetric clinical experiences, since society viewed male nurses as undesirable at the time.
"They often got to do things that their female nursing students didn't get to do," LaRocco explained. "This was definitely a dilemma for many, many people that were interacting with the men."
But while some treated them better than their female counterparts, others discriminated against the men. The brothers sometimes had to advocate for the students when they were given menial tasks to keep them out of the delivery room.
In 1958, the first Alexian Brothers Hospital School of Nursing students took the obstetrics portion of the state board exam. All but one of the 27 students passed – a success rate of more than 96 percent.
This presentation started as an invited presentation at the Midwest Nursing Archives in Chicago. It's based on research funded by the Karyn and Terrance Holm Visiting Scholar Award. This recent presentation at the Mount was part of a larger oral history project focused on the men who graduated from the Alexian Brothers Hospital School of Nursing. Other aspects of the project have focused on the men's choice of nursing as a career, their experience as nursing students, and their subsequent careers.
LaRocco's research interests include the recruitment and retention of men in the nursing field. As a Fulbright Scholar during academic year 2014-15, she taught qualitative research and professional writing at the University of Jordan in Amman, while also researching where male Jordanian nurses fit in to their profession and culture.
LaRocco earned a bachelor's degree from Boston College and a master's degree in Nursing Administration from Boston University. Her PhD is from the University of Massachusetts Boston where she received the Brenda S. Cherry Doctoral Dissertation Award. In addition, she holds an MBA from New York University. She is a Certified Nurse Educator (CNE) and has certification as a Clinical Nurse Leader (CNL).
She has published extensively, including clinical articles in Nursing and the American Journal of Nursing. In 2010, she received the Mary Ann Garrigan Award from the Theta-at-Large Chapter of Sigma Theta Tau International, and in 2014, she was inducted as a Fellow in the National Academies of Practice.
Mount Nursing students consistently score higher than the state average on the NCLEX-RN test, and they benefit from state-of-the-art simulation labs and learning resources, clinical relationships with dozens of area hospitals, and passionate faculty. Mount-trained nurses have become known locally and beyond for their compassionate and skillful care.
The talk was part of the Mount's Investigating Research on Campus (iROC) series, which is taking place virtually this semester and is open to the public. The series provides a forum for Mount faculty, staff, and students to showcase their research endeavors with the college and local communities. Presentations include research proposals, initial data collection, and completed research projects.
The next iROC presentation will feature Thuy Linh Nguyen, associate professor of History at Mount Saint Mary College, with her talk, "Learning History through Oral Tradition: The Stories of Vietnamese Coal Miners," on Thursday, March 25 at 12:45 p.m. It will take place virtually via Zoom. It's free and open to the public, but you must register to attend. Register at www.msmc.edu/NguyeniROC