The Rural Community Care Gerontologic Nurse Entrepreneur: ROLE DEVELOPMENT STRATEGIES

This article is the fourth in a series of articles focusing on the independent nurses role. Other articles in this series appeared in April 2005 (Vol. 31, No. 4, pp. 5-11), July 2005 (Vol. 31, No. 7, pp. 18-25), and August 2005 (Vol. 31, No.8, pp. 12-17). This series showcases the nurse's diverse responsibilities outside the hospital or long-term care facility. ABSTRACT Rural elderly individuals are an underserved population with limited access to health care. There is an increasing need for independent community care nurses to provide assistance to homebased elderly individuals with chronic illnesses to prevent unnecessary medical and placement decisions and, thus, allow them to maintain independence and quality of life. This article describes the rural setting and why community care nurses are needed, and explores strategies for implementing the role of the independent nurse entrepreneur in caring for community-based elderly individuals in rural settings.