Nearly one in four Texans lives in a rural community. They face barriers to health care that urban residents may not, such as distance to services, shortages of providers, and limited funding. On top of that, the Texas Center for Nursing Workforce Studies projects the state will face a shortage of nurses through 2030. Enter UTA.
Made possible by $4 million in state funding, UTA’s new Center for Rural Health and Nursing aims to develop and foster a model for providing nursing education to rural residents aiming to become registered nurses or nurse practitioners while keeping them in their home communities.
“Thanks to generous funding by the state of Texas, we will be able to form sustainable partnerships with rural communities that improve the quality of life for underserved populations in those areas,” says Elizabeth Merwin, dean of the College of Nursing and Health Innovation.
In its first year, the center will develop partnerships in rural communities to zero in on specific nursing education needs. Once the needs have been identified, the center will provide training to support the communities’ current health care providers and educate the next generation.
“We want to make sure students who are in rural high schools and community colleges have paths into our programs,” says Aspen Drude, the center’s manager. “We hope that our continuing education programs will meet the needs of current nurses and increase opportunities for rural residents, while meeting the workforce needs of the rural community.”
