Abstract

Healthy work environments (HWEs) are essential for the retention and recruitment of nurses and for health system sustainability. HWEs are defined as practice settings that maximize the health and well-being of nurses, quality patient outcomes and organizational and system performance. The Registered Nurses Association of Ontario (RNAO) (with funding from the Ontario Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care) and the Office of Nursing Policy (ONP), Health Canada, entered into a partnership to develop HWE Best Practice Guidelines (BPGs) for nurses. These BPGs are intended to provide healthcare organizations with evidence-based implementation strategies designed to achieve healthy workplaces where nurses thrive in their practice. This project is a result of needs identified in a number of recent Canadian nursing reports (Advisory Committee on Health Human Resources 2002; Council of Ontario University Programs in Nursing 2002; Canadian Nurses Association 2002; Bauman et al. 2001; Association of Colleges of Applied Arts and Technology of Ontario 2001; Registered Nurses Association of Ontario and Registered Practical Nurses Association of Ontario 2000; Report of the Nursing Task Force 1999). This paper discusses why we need healthy work environments for nurses. In a subsequent article, we will discuss how we have developed a comprehensive conceptual model for healthy work environments for nurses as the underpinnings of the HWE BPG project.