SOUTH DAKOTA NURSING STUDENT ASSOCIATION 2015-2016 RESOLUTION
TOPIC:
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INCREASING RURAL PROMOTION OF BACHELORS OF SCIENCE IN
NURSING TO ADDRESS THE RURAL NURSE SHORTAGE.
SUBMITTED BY:
South Dakota Nursing Student Association (SDNSA) Board
Abstract: As the need for skilled nursing professionals grow throughout the nation, the
shortage is felt nowhere more urgently than in rural communities. These communities tend
to have higher health care needs due to their prevalence of chronic disease, educational
disparities, lower income, and elderly population (Burrows, Suh, & Hamann, 2012 p.6).
Encouraging and providing opportunities for rural students to attain a Bachelor of Science
in Nursing could be an effective strategy of addressing this need as they are trained to
address health needs of a population, are eligible to gain further training to become
nursing faculty, and are more likely to return to and work in rural setting than their urban
counterparts (Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, 2010).
WHEREAS,
roughly 20% of the American population resides in rural communities,
only approximately 15% of registered nurses work in rural settings
(American Nurses Association, 2014; Robert Wood Johnson Foundation,
2010); and
WHEREAS,
these counties tend to be older, less well-insured, have a higher chronic
disease/obesity prevalence, infant and maternal morbidity, mental illness,
and suffer more occupational and environmental injuries (Burrows, Suh,
& Hamann, 2012 p.6), resulting in an increased workload to limited
nursing staff ; and
WHEREAS,
minority groups such as Native Americans are largely represented in rural
areas and currently suffer from some of the largest health disparities, with
higher instances of chronic disease and lower life expectancies than the
general population (Cooper et al., 2015; Braun & LaCounte, 2014); and
WHEREAS,
attaining a Bachelors of Science in Nursing is a critical step to both
addressing the health needs of rural communities as well as pursuing roles
as nursing faculty, a shortage of which remains one of the largest barriers
to rural students access to nursing education (Robert Wood Johnson
Foundation, 2010); and
WHEREAS,
the increasing support for “grow your own” health care force recognizes
the idea that individuals from rural backgrounds are more likely to be
SOUTH DAKOTA NURSING STUDENT ASSOCIATION 2015-2016 RESOLUTION
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intrinsically motivated to remain in or return to rural settings (Burrows et
al., 2012 p.6); therefore be it
RESOLVED,
that the National Student Nurses’ Association (NSNA) will allocate
resources to promote nursing as a worthy profession in rural counties
throughout the United States, be it feasible, via its website and constituent
platforms; and be it further
RESOLVED,
that the NSNA will support the efforts of rural nursing students pursuing a
Bachelor of Science in Nursing by offering 4 $1,000 scholarships to
selected students on the condition that they express interest and
commitment to remaining in and addressing the healthcare needs of their
rural community after graduation, and encourage its constituents to
incorporate similar programs; and be it further
RESOLVED,
that the NSNA Breakthrough to Nursing Chairperson collaborate with
Breakthrough to Nursing representatives to promote the nursing profession
in Native American communities in effort to grow their future skilled
health care staff; and be it further
RESOLVED,
that the NSNA will encourage its constituents to develop communityspecific campaigns such as scrub camps and demonstrations in an effort to
recruit larger enrollment of nursing students from rural areas; and be it
further
RESOLVED,
that the NSNA send a copy of this resolution to the National League for
Nursing, American Nurses Association, American Association for the
Colleges of Nursing, American Association for Retired Persons, National
Council of State Boards of Nursing, National League for Nursing
Accreditation Commission, Rural Nurse Organization, American Red
Cross, American Hospital Association, National Association for Rural
Mental Health, Indian Health Services, National Association for Rural
Health Clinics, office of the Surgeon General of the United States, Kaiser
Family Foundation, and all others deemed appropriate by the NSNA
Board of Directors.
SOUTH DAKOTA NURSING STUDENT ASSOCIATION 2015-2016 RESOLUTION
Estimated Cost
Document Size 3 pages Photocopy costs $.10/page x 2 pages = $.20/copy x 13 mailings = $2.60
Postage costs $.49/mailing x 13 mailings = $6.37
Envelopes costs $.10/envelope x 13 envelopes = $ 1.30
Rural BSN Student Scholarship costs $1000/scholarship x 4 = $4,000.00
Total cost: $4,010.27
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SOUTH DAKOTA NURSING STUDENT ASSOCIATION 2015-2016 RESOLUTION
Contacts
National League for Nursing
Beverly Malone, Ph.D., R.N., F.A.A.N.,
C.E.O.
Office of Beverly Malone, Ph.D., R.N.,
F.A.A.N.
The Watergate
2600 Virginia Ave. NW 8th floor
Washington D.C. 20037
oceo@nln.org
American Nurses Association
Marla Weston, Ph.D., R.N., F.A.A.N., C.E.O.
Office of Marla Weston, Ph.D., R.N.,
F.A.A.N.
8515 Georgia Ave.
Suite 400
Silver Spring, MD 20910-3492
ana-pac@ana.org
American Association for Colleges of Nursing Office of Deborah Trautman
One Dupont Circle, NW Suite 530
Deborah Trautman C.E.O.
Washington, DC 20036
tfrazier@aacn.nche.edu
American Association for Retired Persons
Jo Ann Jenkins, C.E.O.
Office of Jo Ann Jenkins
601 E Street, NW
Washington DC 20049
member@aarp.org
National Council of State Boards of Nursing
Kathy Apple M.S., R.N., F.A.A.N., C.E.O.
Offices of Kathy Apple M.S., R.N., F.A.A.N.
111 East Wacker Drive, Suite 2900
Chicago, IL 60601-4277
info@ncsbn.org
National League for Nursing Accreditation
Commission
Office of Sharon J. Tanner Ed.D., R.N.
3343 Peachtree Road NE, Suite 850
Atlanta, Georgia 30326
Sharon J. Tanner Ed.D., R.N., C.E.O.
nlnac@nlnac.org
Rural Nurse Organization
Sheila Montgomery, President
Sheila Montgomery
sheilamontgomery41@gmail.com
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SOUTH DAKOTA NURSING STUDENT ASSOCIATION 2015-2016 RESOLUTION
American Red Cross
Gail J. McGovern, C.E.O.
American Hospital Association
Rick Pollack, C.E.O.
National Association for Rural Mental Health
Jerry Parker, M.A., President
Indian Health Services
Principal Deputy Director Robert G.
McSwain, M.P.A.
National Association for Rural Health Clinics
Bill Finerfrock, Executive Director
The Office of Gail J. McGovern
2025 E Street, NW
Washington, DC 20006
The Office of Rick Pollack
800 10th St. NW
Washington D.C. 200001-4956
The Office of Jerry Parker, M.A.
25 Massachusetts Ave NW, Ste 500
Washington, DC 20001
The Office of Robert G. McSwain, M.P.A.
5600 Fishers Lane
Rockville, MD 20857
The Office of Bill Finerfrock
1009 Duke Street
Alexandria, VA 22314
info@narhc.org
Office of the Surgeon General of the United
States
Vice Admiral Vivek Murthy, M.D., M.B.A.
Kaiser Family Foundation
Drew E. Altman, Ph.D., President & C.E.O.
The Office of the Surgeon General of the
United States
Vice Admiral Vivek Murthy, M.D., M.B.A.
Tower Building
Plaza Level 1, Room 100
1101 Wootton Parkway
Rockville MD 20852
The Office of Drew E. Altman, Ph.D.
2400 Sand Hill Road
Menlo Park, CA 94025
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SOUTH DAKOTA NURSING STUDENT ASSOCIATION 2015-2016 RESOLUTION
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References
American Nurses Association. (2014). The nursing workforce 2014: Growth, salaries, education,
demographics & trends. Retrieved from:http://www.nursingworld.org/MainMenuCategories/
ThePracticeofProfessionalNursing/workforce/Fast-Facts-2014-Nursing-Workforce.pdf
Braun, K.L. & LaCounte, C. (2014). The historic and ongoing issue of health disparities among native
elders. Generations, 38(4), 60-69.
Burrows, E., Suh, R., & Hamann, D. (2012). Health care workforce distribution and shortage issues in
rural America. National Rural Health Association. [Policy Brief].
Cooper, L.A., Ortega, N.A., Branam, D., Ammerman, A.S., Buchwald, D., Paskett, E.D., ...Williams,
D.R. (2015, July 2). Beyond health equity: Achieving wellness within American Indian and
Alaska Native communities. American Journal of Public Health, 3(105), pp. S376-S379.
doi:10.2105/AJPH.2014.302447.
Rosseter, R. (2014). Nursing shortage. American Association of Colleges of Nursing. Retrieved from
American Association of Colleges of Nursing website: http://www.aacn.nche.edu/mediarelations/fact-sheets/nursing-shortage
Rural nursing facing unique workforce challenges: Efforts to train rural nurses face the difficulties found
in cities and suburbs, and more. (2010, September). Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Retrieved
from: http://www.rwjf.org/en/library/articles-and-news/2010/09/rural-nursing-facing-uniqueworkforce-challenges.html