Luther Christman had his own experiences of discrimination during his career. One of his earliest experiences was being denied admission to two different nursing programs just because of his gender. Although he was granted permission to study at Pennsylvania Hospital School of Nursing later on, he was denied to get his maternal rotation because he was a man.
Christman became successful in his advocacy for male nursing after establishing the National Male Nursing Association, which was eventually renamed as the American Assembly For Men in Nursing. Aside from this achievement, he was also the first man to be inducted into the hall of fame of the American Nurses Association.