Rural Nursing

Personal protective equipment for healthcare workers can be hard to come by during a pandemic. But Heart4Heroes and its partners have stepped in to help.

2018 marked 25 years of the state’s nurse practitioners being able to practice independently of physicians and having prescriptive authority. Despite this influx in rural healthcare providers, New Mexico’s rural residents are struggling with a severe shortage of primary care providers.

The nursing shortage. For years, those three words have invoked concern among nurses, healthcare leaders and recruiters. Though the phrase is usually mentioned regarding hospital settings, a shortage of nurses is being felt in home care as well, specifically by families who have children with complex medical needs.

How nurses help more than 5 million military veterans living in rural areas of the country and experience difficulties obtaining access to health services.