People in rural parts of the Mountain West are dying from COVID-19 at a higher rate than those in urban areas.
Data from the University of Iowa show that rural death rates across the region rose sharply from mid-October through November. Residents in non-metro areas were dying at twice the rate of those in cities, according to Fred Ullrich, who studies rural health at the university’s Department of Health Management and Policy.
“CMS has also recently published a report on rural hospital bypass. This report provides an overview of a study, which sought to explore the drivers of rural hospital bypass for outpatient services. This national mixed methods study explores the relationship between hospital bypass for outpatient services and inpatient utilization to address the extent of rural hospital bypass, patient characteristics, and utilization of outpatient services.” – Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services
“CMS released an updated report that highlights the
activities and accomplishments that CMS has made in improving the health
and wellbeing of individuals living and working in rural, frontier, and
tribal communities in fiscal year 2021. This report emphasizes CMS’s
commitment to working with rural communities to address barriers and
build on existing advancements to achieve optimal outcomes for all rural
Americans.” – Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services
To celebrate the launch of the community networking tool, we will be recognizing rural nurses who excel in his or her profession. The five members of the GRNEN networking tool who gain the most points between October 30 – November 30, will be given the honor to select a rural nurse, who in their opinion, exemplifies the best of rural nursing. The rural nurse should exhibit integrity and dedication to delivering quality care, ambition, and pride in their practice.
The networking tool is designed to accumulate points based on the amount of time you invest in using the tool. Here are some of the many ways you can achieve points:
Posting in discussions, replying to posts, completing your user profile.
DETAILS: The five members who gain the most points by actively engaging with the community on the networking platform will have the honor of selecting a rural nurse for a spotlight on the GRNEN website. They will also receive a Rural Nursing: Concepts, Theory, and Practice textbook, one year of paid membership to the Rural Nursing Organization, paid attendance to the 2023 international Rural Nursing Conference (attendance fee only), a $25.00 U.S currency Visa card (or the equivalent in geographic location), and the book, Stories of Nursing in Rural Aotearoa: A Landscape of Care.
Learn more about Audrey and the others from the GRNEN Leadership Team!
The Matson Halverson Christiansen Hamilton (MHCH) Foundation is pleased to announce the first round of grant recipients for their Global Rural Nursing Virtual Collaboration Learning Grant, which provides funding for partnerships between international nursing students and educators to collaborate on rural community health projects.
More information about the grant can be found on the MHCH website.
The following groups and organizations have been name recipients of this year’s grant award.
The purpose of this program is to foster a rich learning exchange program between nursing students from the United States (U.S.) and Canada (CA) to help develop an interest in pursuing rural nursing practice and be future nurse leaders capable of developing solutions for increasing rural healthcare access across both countries. Through this international collaboration, nursing students from the U.S. and CA will learn from their local projects and exchange knowledge and ideas about what they are learning with their international colleagues in virtual meetings that may otherwise not have been possible without an international collaboration. This program will help prepare nursing students to join the current rural healthcare workforce in creating sustainable innovations to promote greater equity in rural healthcare access.
The proposed Promotion of Global Health Competencies: The Moshi Tanzania –South Dakota rural Community Nursing Program is a collaboration between the Kibosho School of Nursing in Moshi, Tanzania and the University of South Dakota Department of Nursing in Vermillion, South Dakota. Located in rural locations within their respective countries, both schools serve a critical role in nursing workforce development.
Because the world is increasingly interconnected through technology and travel, the need for healthcare providers to develop global health competencies including social justice and equity, holistic care, advocacy, health as a human right, sustainability, and collaboration is essential. In addition, the need for enhancement of skills to promote healthy aging throughout the world has been established. The overarching aim of the proposed project, to promote student development of skills that enhance global collaboration as they learn from each other through the community-based assessment of the rural elderly population, addresses both critical international priorities.
This learning grant application partners a collaborative venture between the Nursing Education Institution at the School of Nursing, Otago Polytechnic, Dunedin, Otago, New Zealand, and the La Trobe Rural Health School, La Trobe University, Victoria, Australia.
We intend to develop an interactive virtual reality film of the rural village of Bishop’s Castle, Shropshire, United Kingdom (the Community Case Study) to enhance the nursing students’ engagement and understanding of this community as they profile and assess this community’s health and identify health needs. We intend to showcase the CHASE model in Action (supported with the virtual reality film of the identified rural community) with all the nursing students. This will encourage the students to share their knowledge from their own countries including the community case study in the UK in relation to rural community development and public health, focused on the mental health of rural youth and COVID-19 lockdowns.
Follow us on your favorite social media network, join our professional networking groups, or sign up for our email newsletter to stay up-to-date with all that is happening on the Global Rural Nurses Exchange Network.
GRNEN founders Lisa Feller and Audrey Snyder recently presented the vision and progress of the Global Rural Nursing Exchange Network to attendees at the 2021 International Rural Nursing Conference. This annual conference is always a great way to gather with other rural nurses, and this year was no exception!
Please enjoy the video below. And our thanks to the IRNC for graciously allowing us to share this video with you!
Although the live portion of the 2021 Conference has ended, registration for online access to online sessions continues through the beginning of September.
Follow us on your favorite social media network, join our professional networking groups, or sign up for our email newsletter to stay up-to-date with all that is happening on the Global Rural Nurses Exchange Network.
The SoRHA (Students of Rural Health Aotearoa) recently launched a video series featuring health practitioners in rural New Zealand. Like many countries, New Zealand is facing a shortage of rural healthcare workers. The SoRHA is an initiative that is seeking to promote rural nursing as a career option and to support current students interested in rural health.
Their first video features Awhi Kingi (Te Atihaunui-a-Paparangi, Ngāti Rangi, Ngāti Maniapoto, Ngāti Tūwharetoa), a rural registered nurse working in Ohakune.
You can find more information about the program below.
Follow us on your favorite social media network, join our professional networking groups, or sign up for our email newsletter to stay up-to-date with all that is happening on the Global Rural Nurses Exchange Network.
