The University of Portland today was named the nation’s “Best Nursing School for Men” by the American Assembly for Men in Nursing. The award is being presented tonight to the University at the annual AAMN conference in New Orleans.

 “The University of Portland has been recognized for the significant efforts in recruiting and retaining men in the school and providing a supportive educational environment,” said Demetrius Porche, president of AAMN.

 Xavier Champagne, a senior nursing student from Tualatin, was chosen to represent the University in New Orleans to accept the award.

The University’s School of Nursing was cited for its growth in enrollment of male nursing students and graduates and its ongoing support for educating males in a field traditionally dominated by females.           

“We are very proud that our efforts have yielded a 75 percent increase in the number of men enrolled in the School of Nursing over the past five years, and an 88 percent increase in the number of men graduating from the School of Nursing since 2003,” said nursing professor Chad O’Lynn. “These increases come at a time when male enrollment and graduation from baccalaureate programs nationwide have remained relatively flat over the same time period.”

O’Lynn praised the past efforts of the late Terry Misener, who passed away last year during his ninth year as the University’s dean of the nursing. Misener, according to O’Lynn, was instrumental in establishing an environment conducive to the recruitment and retention of male nursing students, the scholarship of men in nursing, and leadership and innovation of nursing education excellence.

Joanne Rains Warner, the current dean of nursing, said that the University will begin awarding grants this year from the School of Nursing’s Terry Misener Memorial Fund – “a bittersweet process of continuing the legacy of our remarkable past dean.”

The University also is pursuing grants for innovative strategies to attract and support men through nursing school and transition into professional practice. In addition, the School of Nursing’s Executive Committee has endorsed an explicit goal to foster the University of Portland’s “national recognition as a leader in supporting men in nursing,” according to Warner.

“Our commitment is sustained and ongoing,” she said.

The AAMN is a national organization designed to provide a framework for nurses as a group to meet, discuss, and influence factors which affect men as nurses.