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The Rural Monitor
Articles by Topic: Primary care

Physician Burnout: Definition(s), Cause(s), Impact(s), Solution(s)

January 22, 2020
National research has revealed it and rural research suggests it: over 40% of today's physicians are burned out. This in-depth story reviews information about burnout in healthcare professions and for physicians in particular. Along with reviewing causes and impact, a medical school wellness-advocate, a researcher, and a large healthcare organization with a rural footprint shared interventions and solutions.

Burnout: Measurement Tool(s), Cause(s) and Impact(s)

January 22, 2020
Over 40% of today's physicians are burned out. A closer look at research indicates that not only is this a system problem rather than an individual problem, but that burnout impacts a system's revenue streams, healthcare quality, and patient safety and satisfaction. Experts suggest the problem may even be of more concern in rural areas.

Diagnosing the Rural COPD Patient: Ask About Symptoms, Use Spirometry

November 20, 2019
The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute calculates that 3.5 million rural Americans have COPD, or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. It's also estimated that hundreds of thousands of rural Americans have the condition and don't know it. Though it is a condition without a cure, it is a condition with hope. The COPD Foundation's Chief Science Officer and a State Captain share how asking questions and doing spirometry can help diagnose the condition.

Office-Based Spirometry: Key to Diagnosing Rural COPD Patients

November 20, 2019
Chronic obstructive lung disease, or COPD, is a disease with a stronghold in rural America: almost double the prevalence and double the mortality rates compared to large urban areas. Though it is a condition with no cure, it's a condition that has treatments — and hope — making proper diagnosis by spirometry imperative.

Rising from the Ashes: How Trauma-Informed Care Nurtures Healing in Rural America

April 17, 2019
Wildfires. Child abuse. Sexual assault. The negative and ongoing effects of these experiences are the reason communities and medical providers are using an approach called trauma-informed care. This article features ways trauma is understood and treated in a rural community, a Wyoming pediatrician's clinic, and for nurses providing assault exams.