Nurse case managers in rural hospitals.

Many rural hospitals are struggling to survive the capitated care environment by implementing nursing case management. However, little is known about what rural nurse case managers (NCMs) do to achieve outcomes or what their qualifications should be. This national survey of NCMs (N = 302) in rural hospitals suggests that individual advocacy, teaching, and clinical practice play key roles in the practice of rural NCMs and that the education and experience of NCMs does affect their practice.