Marik Moen, PhD, MPH, RN, is an Assistant Professor, University of Maryland Baltimore School of Nursing, Baltimore, Maryland, USA

Nina Sublette, PhD, APRN-FNP, AACRN, SANE-P, is an Assistant Professor, University of Tennessee Health Sciences Center College of Nursing, Memphis, Tennessee, USA

Justin Alves, MSN, FNP-BC, ACRN, CARN, CNE, is a Clinical Nurse Educator with Boston Medical Center's Grayken Center for Addiction Training and Technical Assistance, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.

Crystal Martin Walker, PhD, DNP, FNP-C, is an Assistant Professor, University of Tennessee Health Sciences Center College of Nursing, Memphis, Tennessee, USA

*Corresponding author: Marik Moen, e-mail: [email protected]

1Note: We follow the U.S. Census Bureau definition of the Southern U.S. (17 states): Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia, Alabama, Kentucky, Mississippi, Tennessee, Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, and Texas (U.S. Census Bureau, 2021a). We define rural states by the definition of less than 57 persons per square mile per U.S. Code 34 USC § 12291(a)(27) (15 states) to include Alaska, Colorado, Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Maine, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oregan, South Dakota, Utah, Wyoming (Legal Information Institute, 2022; U.S. Census Bureau, 2021b).