Adelphi University has one of the best nursing programs in the country.
In the 2025 U.S. News & World Report rankings, Adelphi earned Best Undergraduate Nursing Program honors, advancing 10 spots to number 218 from the prior year’s ranking. Additionally, in that same report, Adelphi was ranked 92nd in the Best Nursing Schools: Master’s category. Adelphi’s College of Nursing and Public Health (CNPH) has also been recognized by several organizations for its excellence, including Colleges of Distinction, the NLN Center of Excellence in Nursing Education, and Abound.
There’s just one issue: Adelphi’s nursing program is made up of roughly 88 percent women.
This isn’t a surprising number. The nursing field is currently around 90 percent women. That’s why the dean of the College, Deborah Hunt, PhD ’12, and Anthony Egan, director of its Clinical Education and Simulation Lab, formed an organization that would increase support and representation for the University’s small population of male nursing students: the Adelphi University Men in Nursing Association (AUMNA). The dean’s office provided financial support for them to become an official group. “Every nursing student needs to have a voice in their school,” Egan explained. “Men are the minority in nursing, so it’s essential to get them more involved.”
Although it’s produced many male nursing graduates over the years, Adelphi has never had an organization dedicated to its male nursing students, something that exists at other universities with reputable nursing programs. AUMNA has been a goal for Egan and student representative Salvatore Carollo since 2023. During the spring and summer of 2024, with the help of numerous staff and faculty, the pair established an e-board for this new organization. Carollo also created a constitution and a fall events calendar as part of the approval process, and he was named the organization’s first president.
Influencing Career Development and Postgraduate Opportunities
AUMNA exists to build a bond among male nursing students, to hear any of their concerns or questions, and to provide encouragement in a difficult but rewarding major. “It provides a network for nurses as a group to meet, discuss and influence the factors which affect men in nursing,” Carollo elaborated. “We intend to spread awareness and education on the various challenges men in healthcare may face and create a group of unity within the community of men in nursing.” And so far, AUMNA has been doing just that.
During its first fall semester, the organization held several events that were open to all Adelphi students and faculty, not just AUMNA members. Some of these events were tailored to career development and postgraduation life. There was a Navy Nurse Veteran Q&A, where a speaker discussed their experiences overseas and nursing career opportunities both in America and abroad. There was also an Alumni Q&A that provided tips and tricks on passing the National Council Licensure Examination (NCLEX), which is required to become a registered nurse.
Even more events were lined up for the Spring 2025 semester, including a recruiting event with the Adelphi University Student Nurses Association (AUSNA) to spread AUMNA awareness and hopefully attract new members. Other events focus more on career development and enhancing the skills of Adelphi’s nursing students. AUMNA co-hosted an event with AUSNA to teach medication administration to newer students and offered CPR certification at a reduced price for all nursing students. The Dean’s office provided financial support to send one of our men in nursing students to the National Student Nurses’ Association convention, so there would be representation from both the AUSNA and AUMNA groups. In addition to events, AUMNA has also participated in fundraisers. The group organized a toy drive for Memorial Sloan Kettering and is working on a fundraiser for pediatric cancer with Adelphi’s Delta Chi fraternity.
AUMNA isn’t stopping at in-person events. The organization created a social media series for the spring semester called Nurse-Monday. These posts highlight Adelphi alumni and nursing staff and faculty, offering insight into their experiences and giving advice to student nurses and new graduates. It helps to create a valuable network among Adelphi men in nursing that will help them progress their careers. “AUMNA provides an opportunity for men in nursing to gain leadership and a voice within their community,” said Carollo. “It’s important to have these programs because they allow our students to enrich themselves within the community surrounding their careers.”
What’s Next for AUMNA?
So what’s next for AUMNA? The team hopes to join the national organization, The American Association for Men in Nursing (AAMN) this fall, to further develop their network and provide a greater impact on the male nurse community. “We are hoping to apply in the future,” said Egan. “We just wanted to get our footing before we did that.”
And AUMNA certainly seems to have found its footing. It started out strong with 43 active members this past year, which does include a handful of women members. Egan and Carollo are hopeful that number will increase, especially since the percentage of men in the nursing field has slowly been ticking up. It climbed from 3 percent to 9 percent in recent years. “The number of male nurses is increasing because of societal changes,” Carollo explained. “Currently, nursing provides stability and a comfortable salary and lifestyle that is unmatched in comparison to the long education a doctor may partake in. Men in nursing are a growing population year after year, so it’s important that they are accommodated.”