A nurse working in a rural hospital explains to a friend in another location that one aspect of rural nursing that differs markedly from urban practice is that the rural nurse:

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In rural facilities, there may be no medical staff available during off times, and the nurse may be one of a very few number of employees present when a medical emergency strikes.The nurse must be able to intervene appropriately and manage the situation alone until other help arrives.This is markedly different than in metropolitan hospitals with onsite medical staff and larger nursing staffs.All nurses should use critical thinking skills on a daily basis.The rural nurse is probably more prone to knowing the patients personally, but this can happen anywhere.Although the rural nurse probably does see a great variety of patients, this can also be true of nurses working in general medical or surgical units or in tertiary care centers that have an influx of unusual referral cases.

A Nurse Working in a Rural Hospital Explains to a Friend