Improving the working lives of nurses across Canada

MISSISSAUGA, ON, March 4, 2024 /CNW/ – As Canada’s largest group of regulated health professionals with more than 450,000 members, nurses are critical to Canada’s health care system. However, nurses are currently facing increased workloads, high rates of burnout, stress, anxiety and depression, and, in some cases, abuse.

To help support and retain members of the nursing workforce, today, the Honourable Mark Holland, Canada’s Minister of Health joined Dr. Leigh Chapman, Canada’s Chief Nursing Officer at Trillium Health Partners, Credit Valley Hospital, to announce the release of the Nursing Retention Toolkit: Improving the Working Lives of Nurses in Canada to help improve the working lives of nurses. The toolkit will be shared widely throughout Canada’s health care system- including with nurses, nursing employers, and health authorities across the country.

As a resource created by nurses and for nurses, the toolkit is the result of a collaborative effort with the nursing community which shares the federal government’s commitment to improve nursing retention in Canada. The toolkit focuses on eight core themes with corresponding initiatives that nursing employers can implement to help improve retention. The eight core themes are: flexible and balanced ways of working; organizational mental health and wellness supports; professional development and mentorship; reduced administrative burden; strong management and communication; clinical governance and infrastructure; inspired leadership; and safe staffing practices.

Drawing on evidence-based practices, the lived and living experiences of point-of-care nurses, and insights from nursing professionals at all career stages, including nursing students, the toolkit provides an opportunity for employers and health authorities to work together to develop standardized programs across health care organizations and systems in Canada. This will support identifying existing initiatives that can be scaled up and spread to different organizations and jurisdictions to share best practices and support retention across Canada.

Health workers are the backbone of the health care system, and the Government of Canada is working with provinces and territories and other key partners to address health workforce challenges. Budget 2023 outlined the government’s plan to invest close to $200 billion to improve health care for Canadians, which includes support to the health workforce through retention, recruitment, and planning.

The Government of Canada will continue to work with provinces, territories and health partners to identify solutions to longstanding health workforce challenges so that nurses and other health workers across Canada can continue their critical work of keeping Canadians healthy and safe.

“Nurses play a vital role in our health care system. We need to work together to make sure that nurses in Canada’s healthcare system are supported and get more health workers into the system, faster. The Nursing Retention Toolkit will provide employers and health administrators across the country with tools to build stronger health care systems and help nurses get the supports they need.”

The Honourable Mark Holland
Canada’s Minister of Health

“Nurses are the backbone of our health care system, yet too many in Canada are struggling with their mental health, experiencing burnout, distress and feeling overworked, and unappreciated, causing them to leave their jobs. This toolkit provides nursing leadership and health system administrators with an opportunity to contribute first-hand to making changes in our health care system, including improving mental health and wellness supports for nurses so they can stay mentally, emotionally and spiritually healthy, and so that they can keep caring for us.”

Dr. Leigh Chapman 
Canada’s Chief Nursing Officer

“Nurses are there for us to provide the care we need, when we need it most, from the operating room to recovery, in healthcare centres and in our homes. They are both the front line and backbone of our healthcare system, and we cannot thank them enough. That’s why the Government of Canada partnered with our nursing community to build this toolkit, which will help provide a better support structure at every stage of their career.”

Iqra Khalid
Member of Parliament for Mississauga—Erin Mills

“Nurses are the heartbeat of health care, providing an essential and critical service to the patients and communities they serve. Retention and burnout are some of the most pressing issues facing our industry today and we were honoured to have been involved in the development of the toolkit. To invest in nurses, ensuring that they are supported physically and emotionally in reaching their full potential, is to invest in the well-being of our communities for generations to come.”

Terri Irwin
Chief Nursing Executive, Trillium Health Partners

This announcement is part of the Government of Canada’s larger and ongoing efforts to support the health workforce, including:

A federal, provincial and territorial statement on supporting Canada’s health workforce which outlines collaborative actions underway to address challenges facing Canada’s health workforce including working together to address retention issues, undertaking a study of the education and training supply and demand for key health professions, reducing the time it takes for internationally educated health professionals to join our health workforce, increasing the sharing and standardization of health workforce data, and more.An announcement of a 50% increase to the maximum amount of forgivable Canada Student Loans for eligible family physicians, family medicine residents, nurses and nurse practitioners working in under-served rural and remote communities. This change will help approximately 3,000 doctors and nurses in the first year of implementation, reaching up to 8,000 per year by 2032–2033.An investment of up to $86 million to 15 organizations across Canada to increase capacity for foreign credential recognition of approximately 6,600 internationally educated health professionals. This investment will support highly educated and skilled immigrants receive proper recognition for their international credentials.An investment of $3.5 million over 5 years to the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada (RCPSC) to develop a National Plan for Health Workforce Well-Being to help improve health workforce retention.Initiatives to help internationally educated health professionals put their skills to work in Canada more quickly, including $1.49 million to the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada to expand and expedite the specialist Practice Eligibility Route (PER) for International Medical Graduates, and $500,000 to the Medical Council of Canada to better understand the barriers to existing programs.A plan, outlined in Budget 2023, to invest close to $200 billion over 10 years to improve health care for Canadians, which is helping to address health workforce shortages and to modernize the health care system through digital tools and health data.The first-ever launch of category-based selection for Canada’s flagship economic immigration management system, Express Entry. Category-based selection allows Canada to issue invitations to apply to prospective permanent residents with specific work experience, including in health care.An investment of $2.4 million in the Canadian Association of Schools of Nursing (CASN) to support the implementation and evaluation of a National Nurse Residency Program which aims to support newly graduated registered nurses (RNs) by helping them effectively manage the transition from classroom to workplace through competency-based workshops and mentorship.

Nursing Retention ToolkitGovernment of Canada and Chief Nursing Officer hosted the Nursing Retention Forum to address health workforce challengesFederal, provincial and territorial statement on supporting Canada’s health workforceBudget 2023: Investing in Public Health Care and Affordable Dental careGovernment of Canada announces Chief Nursing Officer for CanadaHealth Workforce

SOURCE Health Canada (HC)