Rural Healthcare Workforce Shortage Solutions With Online Education

Rural communities have less access to postsecondary education meaning physicians and nurse practitioners must travel elsewhere to get training before returning (or often not returning) to their hometowns with a diploma and enhanced skills in medicine.

There were shortages in nursing, primary care providers, and almost every facet of healthcare before the COVID-19 pandemic started and that gap has only widened in the past 2 years. The impact is most critical in rural communities where the shortage of access to healthcare remains the highest.

Rural communities have less access to postsecondary education meaning physicians and nurse practitioners must travel elsewhere to get training before returning (or often not returning) to their hometowns with a diploma and enhanced skills in medicine.

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One solution to this problem is to broaden access to programs that train primary care providers through online learning. Spalding University has done just that, by adding in a new online program for Master of Science in Nursing – Family Nurse Practitioner. This program was announced in December 2021 and will start its first students in August 2022.

Student nurses of this program can work full-time while also completing the curriculum to advance their skills and knowledge. These students are aided in finding local clinical placements and also get to attend campus residences in Louisville, Kentucky over the 3-year program.

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Spalding University is an accredited, nationally-ranked nursing program that is the oldest in the Commonwealth of Kentucky where students can benefit from strong faculty and a mission of service and compassion. Additional access to quality programs like this is a major tool to combat the shortage in primary care health services.

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