Ethical Nursing Conflicts in Rural Health

According to the US Census Bureau, any community whose total population is under 50,000 is considered a rural area. Recent estimates indicate that nearly 25% of the total US population now resides in rural areas. At a time in those areas, there are no doctors and may be only one nurse, who might be overwhelmed. Methods: A literature review was conducted about nursing practice and ethical issues in the rural area, using both the CINAHL and PUBMED databases. An initial search yielded a total of 62 articles. Findings were then filtered to only include research articles written in English. Results: Survey results indicated that multiple barriers including professional isolation, lack of personal privacy, decreased access to educational advancement and limited resources all affect the quality of healthcare provided in rural communities. Rural health nurses determined that challenges such as limited resources and the lack of professional support created ethical challenges which interfered with patient care and negatively affected the well-being of patients. Conclusion: Nurses will benefit from the experience because they will feel the impact of their professional contributions to the health of patients, but will sometimes feel burdened by the constraints of scarce resources, lack of privacy and professional isolation. It will be important for nurses to learn how to navigate the healthcare needs of patients living in rural areas.