From the trunk of a Volkswagen beetle: a mobile nursing clinic in Appalachia.

Access to health care has been a factor for patients living in isolated mountain regions. The Frontier Nursing service was a pioneer in reaching those patients living in the most remote regions of Appalachia. Geography, demographics, and culture present obstacles for rural residents and health care providers. This article identifies and describes the roles nurses and nurse practitioners played in caring for Appalachian families through a roving Health Wagon in the 1980s and 1990s in Southwest Virginia. Family nurse practitioner Sister Bernadette Kenny was instrumental in bringing care on wheels to rural residents living in the Appalachian mountainous region of southwest Virginia.