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Special Report on Nursing Human Resources

The Pulse of Renewal: A Focus on Nursing Human Resources

www.nursingleaderhip.net/renewal/

Report Overview

The Pulse of Renewal: A Focus on Nursing Human Resources is a report of work commissioned by Health Canada's Office of Nursing Policy and is focused on strategies for augmenting and enhancing nursing human resources. The research covers a diverse spectrum including: progress on implementing the 51 recommendations of the 2002 Canadian Nursing Advisory Committee; attrition from schools of nursing; the quality of nurses'work life; nursing utilization and human resource planning in hospitals; dissemination of best practice guidelines; and issues related to educational preparation, leadership and workforce objectives.

The Pulse of Renewal: Commissioned Reports
I Progress to Date

The Office of Nursing Policy at Health Canada was interested in learning what actions had been taken across the country to implement the 2002 Canadian Nursing Advisory Committee recommendations. It engaged the Canadian Policy Research Networks (CPRN) in late 2003 to undertake this study. The study reviews the activities of nursing stakeholder organizations and describes trends in how implementation has progressed. Based on this work, barriers to implementation and supports required to complete it were identified.

II In the Beginning: Attrition from Schools of Nursing

This report sets the tone early by saying attrition is a fact of life in educational programs. But we are in a period of nursing shortage and it is important to retain as high a proportion as possible of students who select nursing as their profession. This study explores the reasons students leave RN, RPN and LPN programs prior to graduation and identifies potential interventions to reduce attrition from all three types of programs.

III Work Life: A Dimension of Quality and Accreditation Standards

In 2001, the Canadian Council on Health Services Accreditation (CCHSA) incorporated work life as a key dimension of quality in its standards and accreditation program. After having tested this quality element and its standards for several years, several advisory groups convened to advise CCHSA on future directions about work life.

IV Utilization: Implications for Nursing Human Resource Planning in Hospitals

This work, undertaken by Gail Tomblin Murphy and Linda O'Brien- Pallas, estimates the association between the number of hospital days and patient outcomes in acute care hospitals in Canada.

V Best Practice Guidelines: Dissemination and Uptake across Canada

With Health Canada support, the Registered Nurses Association of Ontario (RNAO) broadened its dissemination and uptake of the nursing best practice guidelines (NBPG) to all provinces and territories in Canada.

VI Educational Preparation, Leadership and Workforce Objectives

A collaboration led by the Canadian Nurses Association, and including the Academy of Canadian Executive Nurses, the Canadian Association of Schools of Nursing, the Canadian Federation of Nurses Unions, the Canadian Healthcare Association, the Canadian Practical Nurses Association and the Registered Psychiatric Nurses of Canada, sets a strategic framework in support of implementing the CNAC recommendations in the following 11 reports.
  1. Educational Preparation Objective A: Student Selection Processes
  2. Educational Preparation Objective B: Student Attrition
  3. Educational Preparation Objectives C & D: Clinical Placements
  4. Educational Preparation Objective E: Nurse Educator Careers
  5. Leadership Objective A: CNA Preceptorship and Mentoring Project
  6. Leadership Objective B: The Economic Value of Nursing:A Conceptual Framework and Identification of an Analytical Strategy
  7. Leadership Objective Objectives C & D: Competencies Required of Nurse Managers
  8. Workforce Management Objective A: Assess Use, Compliance and Efficacy of Nursing Workload Measurement Tools
  9. Workforce Management Objective B: Equipment Needs of Canadian Nurses: Report of a Survey of Senior Nurse Executives
  10. Management Objective C: Phased Retirement (Enablers and Barriers) and Other Programs for the Retention of Older Healthcare Workers
  11. Management Objective D: Evaluation Framework to Determine the Impact of Staff Mix Decision-Making

Published as a special report by the Canadian Journal of Nursing Leadership with the kind support of the Office of Nursing Policy, Health Canada. May 2005 Available at www.nursingleadership.net/renewal/.