When the Sid W. Richardson Foundation provided grant money for the development of the Rural Health Outreach Program (RHOP) in 1975, Myrna Pickard, EdD, RN, dean of the University of Texas Arlington School of Nursing, used her considerable influence to pull together a group of colleagues who understood the urgent need for continuing education for nurses in rural areas of Texas.

By the time the initial grant ran out, the program was so successful the state legislature appropriated funds and continues to provide financial support to this day. Thirty-four years after its inception, RHOP is a vigorous program providing high-quality, low-cost educational services in 155 counties. The state Office of Rural Community Affairs (ORCA) covers the majority of expenses for CE programs delivered in counties with a population of 50,000 or less, and the remaining program costs are covered by modest participant fees, exhibitor fees, and donations of time and services from speakers and consultants.

"It's a wonderful program with a worthwhile mission of providing a much-needed service for nurses in rural areas of Texas," said Sylvia Alonzo Rawlings, RHOP director.

Turnkey Program

Most of RHOP's top-notch educational programs offer contact hours through the UT Arlington Center for Continuing Education, a provider certified by the Texas Nurses Association. Host facilities appreciate the turnkey approach that brings RHOP speakers to their doors.

"It's as simple as a phone call; the facility can contact our office and I'll go out to visit to get a feel for their educational philosophy and discuss their needs," Rawlings said. "We share the list of topics available through RHOP and they can say, 'I'd like to have this and this and this.' One of the nurses I shared the list with said it was like a Christmas list!"

Knowing nurse educators and leaders at rural health facilities often wear many hats in their everyday professional lives, Rawlings does her best to keep things as simple as possible.

"We arrange for the speaker; prepare educational packets, evaluations, and certificates; and send everything in an organized fashion," she said. "The host facility is asked to provide someone to help with registration at the door, provide some light refreshments and set up a room. The programs are usually open to nurses in surrounding counties, so sometimes it's necessary to obtain a bigger meeting room in another facility such as a community center."

Student Contributions

RHOP offers a rich learning environment for both undergraduate and graduate nursing students who want to learn more about rural health, and serves as a learning laboratory for those who are honing their skills in course development.

"We took one of our students to a national [rural health] conference to give her an experience of what that specialty would be like for her," Rawlings said. "Another student needed to create a program for one of her nursing courses, and she came to me very excited her RHOP work-study program helped her learn to develop goals, content and objectives. We also had a graduate student conduct a project to develop a program on geriatric diabetes that was so outstanding one of our faculty members continued to present it as an RHOP program for some time."

"Everyone has challenges in their work, but our program is now streamlined enough that it almost takes care of itself," Rawlings concluded. "We've carried on the mandate, mission and quality Dean Pickard established back in 1975. However, the growth in the program reflects the continuing support of our current dean, Elizabeth Poster, [PhD, RN, FAAN]. If a rural facility would like our assistance to educate its nurses, we're ready to provide them with the best possible programs."

Sandy Keefe is a frequent contributor to ADVANCE.