Hospital-based emergency nursing in rural settings

Area of Science:

• Emergency Nursing
• Rural Health Services Research

Background:

• The Institute of Medicine (IOM) identified critical needs for improving emergency health services in 2006.
• Research on emergency care best practices has grown, yet rural disparities remain understudied.
• Existing emergency nursing research predominantly focuses on urban settings.

Purpose of the Study:

• To review and synthesize nursing research contributions to the rural emergency services literature.
• To identify gaps and limitations in current research concerning rural emergency care.
• To propose an agenda for future research in rural emergency nursing.

Main Methods:

• Literature review and synthesis of existing nursing research.
• Analysis of research topics, consistency, and methodological rigor.
• Identification of environmental differences impacting rural emergency services.

Main Results:

• Rural emergency services research exhibits a 'shotgun effect' with diverse, uncoordinated topics.
• Studies often use small samples and lack methodological rigor.
• Geographical disparities in health services are evident but under-researched in rural emergency contexts.

Conclusions:

• Current emergency nursing research is insufficient for addressing the unique needs of rural populations.
• There is a critical need for methodologically sound research focused on rural emergency care.
• Future research should prioritize topics relevant to the rural environment to improve emergency services.