Rural Healthcare Workforce – Resources

Advancing Rural Health: Nursing Education, Policy, and Practice
Recording of a presentation on June 17, 2020, featuring discussion on educational and policy-related nursing practices necessary for providing socially and culturally appropriate healthcare to individuals in rural areas. Presented at the 2020 National Rural Health Association Annual Conference.
Date: 06/2020
Type: Video/Multimedia
Sponsoring organization: Rural Wisconsin Health Cooperative
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Health Care Professional Workforce Composition Before and After Rural Hospital Closure
Policy brief examining the change in numbers of local healthcare providers before and after rural hospital closures from 2010-2018, to examine associations with eliminating inpatient services in rural areas. Features statistics with breakdowns by advanced practice providers, primary care providers, and specialists.
Author(s): Erin Mobley, Fred Ullrich, Redwan Bin Abdul Baten, Mina Shrestha, Keith Mueller
Date: 04/2020
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: RUPRI Center for Rural Health Policy Analysis
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The Respiratory Therapist Workforce in the U.S.: Supply, Distribution, Education Pathways, and State Responses to Emergency Surges in Demand
An overview of the respiratory therapist workforce across the U.S. including their practice scope and settings, supply and distribution, education and credentialing, and work force capacity with an additional focus on the emergency related concerns of COVID-19.
Author(s): Susan M Skillman, Bianca K Frogner, Arati Dahal, Benjamin A Stubbs, Grace Guenther
Date: 04/2020
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: UW Center for Health Workforce Studies
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The Behavioral Health Workforce in Rural America: Developing a National Recruitment Strategy
Describes successful strategies to recruit and retain behavioral health workers in rural areas, based on phone interviews with state-level experts in rural health and behavioral health. Explores financial incentives, education and training programs, telehealth, licensure or scope of practice changes, innovative state approaches, and policy considerations.
Author(s): Nancy Baum, Jaque King
Date: 02/2020
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Center for Health and Research Transformation
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Healthcare Professionals' Mental Health Needs: Where Can They Go?
Provides an overview of the mental health needs of healthcare providers and the barriers to accessing care. Features the work of physician health programs, professional societies, state licensure boards, and other groups to help ensure providers' mental health needs are addressed. Discusses the impact of provider wellness on patient safety and healthcare quality.
Author(s): Kay Miller Temple
Citation: Rural Monitor
Date: 01/2020
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Rural Health Information Hub
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Support for Rural Practice: Female Physicians and the Life-Career Interface
Reports on the results of a survey of 20 female physicians from the same rural focused family medicine residency, over a 3-month period, to identify emerging themes regarding their experience practicing in rural areas of northwestern United States.
Author(s): Kimberly Stutzman, Ruth Ray Karpen, Pragna Naidoo, et al.
Citation: Rural and Remote Health, 20(1), 5341
Date: 01/2020
Type: Document
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Burnout: Measurement Tool(s), Cause(s) and Impact(s)
Reports on what is known about burnout among rural healthcare providers, highlighting several research studies. Discusses the impact of burnout on turnover, productivity, healthcare quality, and safety.
Author(s): Kay Miller Temple
Citation: Rural Monitor
Date: 01/2020
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Rural Health Information Hub
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Physician Burnout: Definition(s), Cause(s), Impact(s), Solution(s)
Provides an overview of the causes and impact of physician burnout. Highlights interventions and solutions targeted to rural physicians. Features a medical school wellness-advocate in North Dakota, a Michigan researcher examining work-life balance among women physicians in rural family medicine, and South Dakota's Avera LIGHT program addressing physician wellness in a rural region.
Author(s): Kay Miller Temple
Citation: Rural Monitor
Date: 01/2020
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Rural Health Information Hub
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RN-to-BSN Programs: Challenges for Rural Nurse Education
Results of a survey of 237 schools with active RN-to-BSN programs, to ascertain the current status of rural-focused nursing education. Features statistics on proportion of RN-to-BSN students drawn from rural areas, student recruitment methods, barriers to recruiting students, availability of online courses, and challenges in online courses.
Author(s): Selina H. McKinney, Janice C. Probst, Eboni Haynes
Date: 10/2019
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Rural and Minority Health Research Center (formerly the South Carolina Rural Health Research Center)
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Provider Shortages and Limited Availability of Behavioral Health Services in New Mexico's Medicaid Managed Care
Examines the supply and distribution of behavioral health providers and prescribers across New Mexico, with a focus on services available to Medicaid managed care enrollees. Includes data for rural and frontier counties. Discusses rural broadband connectivity challenges that impact the use of telehealth to address access. Offers policy recommendations. Findings are likely to be relevant to behavioral healthcare access in other states' rural and frontier counties.
Date: 09/2019
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Office of Inspector General (HHS)
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