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Rural Health
Resources by Topic: Nurses

Strengthening Rural Health Care: A Scoping Review of Nurse Recruitment and Retention Strategies
Results of a review identifying recruitment and retention programs for nurses in rural areas, including strategy characteristics and location. Features statistics and a county-level map showing locations of programs and Primary Care Heath Professional Shortage Areas.
Author(s): Kelley Arredondo, Laura Witte, Alexander Paterson-Roberts, et al.
Citation: Medical Care, 64(1S), S18-S25
Date: 01/2026
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Predictors of Inpatient RN Turnover in Rural and Urban VHA Hospitals
A study on the rates and associated factors of registered nursing (RN) workforce turnover in rural and urban Veterans Health Administration (VHA) hospitals. Breaks down data by RN demographic factors, such as age, salary, and experience within the VHA, and hospital factors, such as average age, average base salary, and average number of units worked, among other factors.
Author(s): Katherine G. Bay, Chase S. Eck, Melissa K. Knox, et al.
Citation: Medical Care, 64(1S), S9-S17
Date: 01/2026
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Minnesota's Hospital Nursing Workforce: A Study on Turnover and Exits among Minnesota's Hospital-Based Nurses
Provides an overview of the nursing profession in Minnesota, focusing on workforce supply, employment characteristics, nurse retention, and strategies to improve job satisfaction. Includes comparisons of job satisfaction of nurses in rural versus urban settings.
Date: 2026
Sponsoring organization: Minnesota Department of Health
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Access To Sexual Assault Nurse Examiners In Kentucky
Report assessing access to sexual assault nurse examiners (SANEs) and SANE-ready hospitals in 2025 in Kentucky. Offers 10 recommendations to increase access through hospital certifications, training, resource and workforce sharing, compliance, and more. Discusses rural-specific concerns throughout.
Date: 12/2025
Sponsoring organization: Legislative Research Commission
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State of the U.S. Health Care Workforce, 2025
Offers demographic data on a variety of health professions from data sources between 2019 and 2024. Examines distribution, education and licensing, and projected shortages for the physician, nursing, and oral health fields. Describes challenges contributing to health workforce shortages. Highlights nonmetropolitan workforce shortages and state by state comparison of physician distribution.
Date: 12/2025
Sponsoring organizations: Health Resources and Services Administration, National Center for Health Workforce Analysis
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Nurse Workforce Projections, 2023-2038
Offers nursing workforce projections, using historical data up to and including some data from 2023. Features statistics for projected supply and demand for selected nursing occupations in years 2028, 2033, and 2038, projected shortages of registered nurses (RNs) in these years with breakdowns by metro and nonmetro areas, and a list of 10 states with the largest projected shortages of RNs in 2038.
Date: 12/2025
Sponsoring organization: Bureau of Health Workforce
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Virginia's Licensed Practical Nurse Workforce: 2025
An overview of the licensed practical nurse (LPN) workforce in Virginia based on data from the 2025 Licensed Practical Nurse Workforce Survey. Features statistics including the number of LPNs in rural Virginia and how many grew up in rural areas of Virginia.
Date: 11/2025
Sponsoring organization: Virginia Department of Health Professions
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Virginia's Registered Nurse Workforce: 2025
An overview of the registered nurse (RN) workforce in Virginia based on data from the 2025 Registered Nurse Workforce Survey. Features statistics including the number of RNs in rural Virginia and how many grew up in rural areas.
Date: 11/2025
Sponsoring organization: Virginia Department of Health Professions
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Targeted Nursing Interventions for Improving Stroke Care and Outcomes in the Rural Setting: A Scientific Statement From the American Heart Association
Discusses opportunities and continuing challenges in the use of service delivery models and technological innovations to support accessible and high-quality nurse-delivered stroke care in rural settings. Covers topics including telemedicine, artificial intelligence, nursing workforce education, data use, and more.
Author(s): Renee Colsch, Wendy Dusenbury, Michelle Camicia, et al.
Citation: Stroke, 57(1), e45-e57
Date: 10/2025
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Nurse-Directed Coordination of Cancer Survivorship Care in a Tribal Primary Care Clinic
Examines the feasibility of a nurse cancer care coordinator intervention focused on improving cancer care at a tribally-operated primary care clinic in the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma. Provides data on survivorship care plans, cancer-related distress, time spent on coordination activities, and other aspects of program implementation via a trial utilizing data of 23 American Indian intervention participants.
Author(s): Amber S. Anderson-Buettner, Kathleen A. Dwyer, Zsolt J. Nagykaldi, et al.
Citation: BMC Primary Care, 26, 334
Date: 10/2025
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