Rural Nursing Theory

According to the Online Journal of Rural Nursing and Healthcare, healthcare perspectives vary greatly between urban and rural environments because the ethics of rural individuals place work demands ahead of healthcare needs. Furthermore, rural individuals will only engage in preventive healthcare that does not interfere or deter from the work schedule. Therefore, rural nursing theory tries to compensate for these factors.

Perception of Health

• Rural Nursing theory suggests that rural individuals believe they if they can continue a full day of work regardless of how they feel or what their body is telling them that they are healthy. In addition, even when in bad health a rural individual only seeks medical attention once their health has been severally compromised.

Growth and Development

• The growth and development of young men in rural areas is a main concern of rural nursing theory. For example, the Online Journal of Rural Nursing and Healthcare suggests that young boys begin work at an earlier age than their urban counterparts. It is suggests that the nurse in rural areas be aware that the chronological age of a young man may be several years older than in should be due to the hardships of working on a farm.

Time and Distance

• Time and distance are major factors in rural healthcare. It is suggested that if a rural individual must travel distances of 50 or more miles that a rural individual will try and medicate themselves or try home cures before traveling to the hospital as it may cost them money or time in their work day or place them behind schedule on farming methods. Self-treatment methods are also recorded as stating that rural individuals will save money on unnecessary treatment through self-medication.

Communication

• Communication is vital in all aspects of nursing but is believed to be even more important in rural nursing. The nurse is advised to speak and use layman's terms whenever possible because medical terminology may be too obscure or ambiguous to rural clients. Furthermore, rural nursing theory suggests that rural clients may not have the same education levels as urban clientele.

Interaction

• The belief in rural nursing theory is that by observing these conventions that a nurse will be successful with her client base. This will allow the nurse to more effectively treat rural clients and possibly help the rural client realize the need of preventive healthcare measures and reduce the amount of self-treatment among the community.