Developing a nurse-led reproductive health mobile health unit in rural Illinois: Opportunity to promote faculty practice and student training

Mobile health units (MHUs) in the United States have grown to over 3,000 nationwide, increasing health care access and equity to underserved communities. Although MHUs have demonstrated improved patient outcomes, there is a lack of literature on partnering with nursing colleges and their faculty. This report will share how a college of nursing and their office of faculty practice and partnerships in a large midwestern state university implemented a nurse-led MHU to deliver reproductive health care to rural communities in central Illinois, incorporating advanced practice registered nurses (APRNs) faculty and graduate nursing students. Point-of-care screening for sexually transmitted infections (STIs) was the focus due to Centers of Disease Control and Prevention reports of more than 2.5 million cases of chlamydia, gonorrhea, and syphilis threatening the health of women and babies. Central Illinois was the selected region due to high rates of poverty, teen pregnancy, crime, and incidence of STIs. With few reported MHUs in this region, there was a health care desert for reproductive care. This partnership between a college of nursing and their APRN faculty, graduate nursing students, and underserved patients offered a mutually beneficial opportunity for improved health equity and access to reproductive care.