While the nursing industry is still mostly made up of women, more men are entering the profession as the demand for nurses continues to grow, according to a U.S. Census Bureau study.

In fact, the study finds that men account for 9.6 percent of registered nurses, a major jump from 2.7 percent in 1970. The proportion of male licensed practical and licensed vocational nurses has also grown from 3.9 percent to 8.1 percent.

"The aging of our population has fueled an increasing demand for long-term care and end-of-life services," says Liana Christin Landivar, author of the report and a sociologist in the Census Bureau's Industry and Occupation Statistics Branch. "A predicted shortage has led to recruiting and retraining efforts to increase the pool of nurses. These efforts have included recruiting men into nursing."

Men even tend to make more than women as nurses, though this gap is not as large as it is in other professions, the study finds. Among women working as full-time nurses, they make $0.91 for every dollar male nurses earn. However, in other occupations, women earn $0.77 to the dollar every man makes.

Additionally, the study notes that unemployment is lowest for nurse practitioners and nurse anesthetists at about 0.8 percent for men and women. Among RNs and licensed practical and licensed vocational nurses, these rates are slightly higher, though still low at 1.8 percent for men and 4.3 percent for women.

In 2011, 3.5 million people were employed as nurses with 3.2 million being women and 330,000 being men, the study reveals. Seventy-eight percent of nurses are RNs for both sexes,19 percent are licensed practical and licensed vocational nurses, 3 percent are nurse practitioners and 1 percent are nurse anesthetists.

Among both sexes, the study finds that 64 percent of RNs work in hospitals while 30 percent of licensed practical and licensed vocational nurses work in nursing care facilities or hospitals. Men most often work as nurse anesthetists at 41 percent, and men in those positions earn twice as much as the male average for all nursing occupations at $162,900 rather than $60,700.

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More men becoming nurses

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