‘Grow your own’ programs effective in rural areas

The best way for rural hospitals to have enough nurses and NPs is to invest in people who already live in the community, says Michele Reisinger, DNP, APRN, an assistant professor of doctoral nursing at Washburn University School of Nursing in Topeka, Kan.  Nurses and NPs who participate in loan-forgiveness incentives, such as the National Health Service Corps Scholarship Program, often leave the rural area after they have fulfilled their obligation to practice in a community. Colorado offers the Grow-Your-Own APRN Fellowship, which recruits and develops nurses already vested in their own rural community to earn an advanced practice nursing degree and transition to practice as a rural primary care APRN. (HealthLeaders Media article, 7/10/23)