Needs Help with Rural Capstone Ideas

[tsquire1]

Hello everyone,

I am a senior nursing student currently in my community rotation, or also known as my rural rotation. I have been placed in a very rural, far distance town from where I live. I am placed in the county Health Department where the daily patient census averages about 4 in an 8 hour period. I am having trouble thinking of a capstone presentation idea. I am to present to a group of people in the county with a topic from Healthy People 2020. All the topics I am passionate about would not be accepted in this community, due to "southern traditions". The best ideas I can come up with are sexual health and std/pregnancy prevention in the school system; the only high school here or immunizations. I would like to do face to face patient education, but I don't think this would be effective since our patient population that visits is so low. I would so very thankful for any ideas from anyone, and especially if anyone has been in this type of situation.

Thank you all so much!

[mt3]

First you need to find out what specific problems the community is facing. Is it access to healthcare, high rate of diabetes, high rate of heart attacks, high rate of STDs in the schools...? Once you have the specific problem that needs to be addressed then you can come up with a plan and educate the community on how to meet their needs. Asking the health department or the high school nurse for information about the biggest problems seen would be a good way to start. It will look good on the capstone if you incorporate rates of the certain disease in the community, what they are lacking, and a plan to decrease the incidence.

Hope this helps!

[HouTx, BSN, MSN, EdD]

I LOVE working with rural colleagues... have done a lot of work with them in the past. I am absolutely in awe of RNs who can successfully function as THE RN at a rural hospital. This is not an uncommon situation. They are the ED, Charge, House Sup, OB, nurse -- in addition to dispatching ambulances and managing transfers. They know how to run a full code to resuscitate a neighbor/friend with an UE avulsion (from farming accident) while simultaneously handling his medi-vac to the more sophisticated "trauma center". All the while maintaining a positive attitude when the 'big city' nurses treat them like ignorant bumpkins. WHEW!

I would suggest focusing on a topic or issue that is a daily and 'real time' issue rather than a generalized public health topic. Why not look into something like: what are the major job satisfiers for rural nurses; how do rural nurses actually become competent in so many different areas? how long does this take?; what is the nature of the relationship between rural nurses and their community first responders? Do they support one another in continuing education/competency? Do the volunteer responders work in the hospital to gain experience?; How do rural nurses feel about the fact that most of their patients are also their friends/acquaintences? How do they maintain objectivity under these circumstances?

With the right topic, you would be able to get some great information via interviews and the result would be very engaging.

[jesskidding, LPN]

How about oral health/hygiene? I grew up in the rural mountains of NC and that is HUGE issue there.

Also, there is also nutrition and weight issues in many rural areas. Especially in the South.

I think family planning would also be a good topic.

Oral health is a biggie to me. To many people ignore mouth problems or don't take care of their mouths properly. Lots of people in the South who live in rural areas just don't have access or the money to get good oral care.

Good luck!

[Jenni811, RN]

Private message will be coming your way ;-)

[Esme12, ASN, BSN, RN]

I think bullying......it's a huge problem amongst everyone but especially in our schools.

http://www.stopbullying.gov/