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Rural Health Information Hub

Rural Health
Resources by Topic: Health workforce

Indian Health Service Facilities Made Progress Incorporating Patient Protection Policies, but Challenges Remain
Assesses Indian Health Service (IHS) facility implementation of policies to protect children from sexual abuse by providers. Identifies challenges to carrying out the policies. Also discusses barriers that might prevent staff and patients from reporting abuse. Includes recommendations to IHS to further protect patients from abuse. Recommendations address training and guidance, background checks, abuse reporting processes, and monitoring of facility compliance.
Date: 12/2020
Sponsoring organization: Office of Inspector General (HHS)
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Strengthening the Entry-Level Health Care Workforce: Finding a Path
Examines gaps in the existing healthcare workforce, challenges facing entry-level healthcare workers (EHCW), current EHCW training programs and contexts where training programs are used effectively, and strategies and policy opportunities to strengthen the EHCW. Includes rural references throughout and case studies for programs in rural Alaska and Washington. Provides an interactive inventory of existing policies and programs that support EHCW training, recruitment, and retention.
Additional links: Entry-Level Health Care Workforce: Information and Programs Visualization Tool
Author(s): Shira H. Fischer, Ryan K. McBain, Laura J. Faherty, et al.
Date: 12/2020
Sponsoring organizations: HHS Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation, RAND Corporation
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Buprenorphine Dispensing in an Epicenter of the U.S. Opioid Epidemic: A Case Study of the Rural Risk Environment in Appalachian Kentucky
Explores buprenorphine dispensing practices among pharmacists in rural, Appalachian Kentucky, highlighting issues related to buprenorphine dispensing hesitancy. Identifies themes from interviews with 14 pharmacists operating in 12 rural, Appalachian Kentucky counties and discusses dispensing risk environment. Reviews factors influencing hesitancy, including national and state-level drug policy, stigma, and continuing impacts of the opioid epidemic.
Author(s): Hannah L.F. Cooper, David H. Cloud, Patricia R. Freeman, et al.
Citation: International Journal of Drug Policy, 85, 102701
Date: 11/2020
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Social Workers in North Dakota
Highlights the supply and distribution of social workers in North Dakota. Includes a breakdown of rural and urban distribution and retention.
Date: 11/2020
Sponsoring organization: University of North Dakota School of Medicine & Health Sciences
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Iowa Board of Nursing Annual Report: July 1, 2019 - June 30, 2020
Provides an overview of the nursing workforce in Iowa as of June 2020. Includes county-level data on active Registered Nurse (RN) licenses, highest-level educational attainment for RNs, active Licensed Practical Nurse (LPN) licenses, and active Advance Registered Nurse Practitioner (ARPN) licenses.
Author(s): Kathleen R. Weinberg
Date: 11/2020
Sponsoring organization: Iowa Board of Nursing
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The Arizona Behavioral Health Workforce
Brief reporting on behavioral health needs in Arizona, the distribution of workforce by profession, rural disparities in access to behavioral health providers.
Author(s): B. Koch, S. Coates, D. Derksen
Date: 11/2020
Sponsoring organization: Arizona Center for Rural Health
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Innovative COVID-19 Programs to Rapidly Serve New Mexico: Project ECHO
Details an evaluation of 10 different telementoring programs created by Project ECHO to address the COVID-19 pandemic in New Mexico. Compares the attendance data and infection data by county. Explores lessons learned and discusses Project ECHO's potential role in future crises.
Author(s): Joanna G. Katzman, Laura E. Tomedi, Karla Thornton, et al.
Citation: Public Health Reports, 136(1), 39-46
Date: 11/2020
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Listening to Rural Stories: Q&A with Alisa Druzba
An interview with Alisa Druzba, director of the New Hampshire's Office of Rural Health and Primary Care, who discusses her journey to becoming a State Office of Rural Health (SORH) director, the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on her state, and the work her office focuses on to support rural New Hampshire.
Author(s): Allee Mead
Date: 11/2020
Sponsoring organization: Rural Health Information Hub
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Informing Health Care Workforce Policy by Leveraging Data: A Toolkit for States
Describes how healthcare workforce data can be used to address questions regarding access to care. Discusses three key considerations for states to improve their healthcare workforce data collection practices. Includes examples from states that utilized data to inform policy.
Date: 11/2020
Sponsoring organization: National Governors Association
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Occupational Employment and Wages in Metro and Nonmetro Areas
A collection of charts with data on metropolitan and nonmetropolitan employment and wages. Includes wage comparisons by occupation for metro and nonmetro areas. Provides information on healthcare-related occupations. Also includes information on wages by educational attainment for metro and nonmetro areas.
Author(s): Stella Fayer, Audrey Watson
Date: 11/2020
Sponsoring organization: Bureau of Labor Statistics
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