The Rural Nurse: Transition to Practice

"Transitioning to rural practice can be daunting for both experienced nurses and new graduates who have an urban orientation and are accustomed to specialized practice with abundant health care resources. Since most nursing education programs and practicing nurses are located in urban settings, programs are needed to prepare nurses who choose rural practice. In their book, Dr. Molinari and Dr. Bushy provide excellent examples of practice models from North America, New Zealand, and Australia with curricula that address transition issues. The text makes a significant contribution to the discussion about how to best prepare nurses for rural practice and will be of interest to administrators, educators, and clinicians.

From the Foreward by Charlene A. Winters, PhD, APRN, ACNS-BC
Associate Professor
Montana State University College of Nursing

This is the only volume to address the pressing need for practical information about transitioning from an urban-based nursing education or practice to a rural health care environment. It provides successful strategies that nurses in rural settings can use to develop, implement, and evaluate innovative programs that will meet the needs of individual rural communities. The book details current rural nursing transition-to-practice trends and issues, national standards, and evidence-based model programs worldwide. Rural practice culture is described along with professional education issues, competency, patient care, and safety.

Chapters are presented in easy-to-access formats that offer ready solutions for problems commonly encountered in rural practice such as nurse recruitment and retention. In addition to health care delivery issues for specific rural populations, the book presents program descriptions from local to state levels, including locally developed education programs, urban hospital systems outreach to rural facilities, universities collaborating with rural businesses, city-based workshops, statewide competencies tracked by employers, and a distance education program customized by rural agencies. Case studies demonstrate how rural facilities-even the smallest and most isolated-are advancing health care through nurse support. The text will be of value to rural nursing staff developers, critical access hospitals and community clinic administrators, rural professional organizations, small urban health facilities, continuing education providers, nursing workforce centers, and graduate programs.

• The first transition from academia-to-practice guide for rural nursing
• Charts evidence-based successes and offers model programs in different rural settings
• Provides rural-specific information to facilitate statewide health mandates
• Features residency program development processes, with tips and tools that work