Investing in Canada’s nursing workforce post-pandemic: A call to action
Gail Tomblin Murphy,
Tara Sampalli,
Lisa Bourque Bearskin,
Nancy Cashen,
Greta Cummings,
Annette Elliott Rose,
Josephine Etowa,
Doris Grinspun,
Esyllt W. Jones,
Mélanie Lavoie-Tremblay,
Kathleen MacMillan,
Cindy MacQuarrie,
Ruth Martin-Misener,
Judith Oulton,
Rosemary Ricciardelli,
Linda Silas,
Sally Thorne,
Michael Villeneuve
Affiliations
Gail Tomblin Murphy
VP Research, Innovation and Discovery and Chief Nurse Executive, Nova Scotia Health, Halifax, NS B3H 1V7, Canada
Tara Sampalli
Senior Scientific Director, Research, Innovation and Discovery, Nova Scotia Health, Halifax, NS B3S 1B8, Canada
Lisa Bourque Bearskin
Associate Professor, and Researcher, Thompson Rivers University, School of Nursing, Kamloops, BC V2C 0C8, Canada
Nancy Cashen
Interim Director, Nursing and Professional Practice, IWK Health, Halifax, NS B3K 6R8, Canada
Greta Cummings
College of Health Sciences, and Professor, Faculty of Nursing, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB T6G 1C9, Canada
Annette Elliott Rose
VP Clinical Care and Chief Nurse Executive, IWK Health, Halifax, NS B3K 6R8, Canada
Josephine Etowa
Professor at the University of Ottawa’s Faculty of Health Sciences, School of Nursing, Ottawa, ON K1H 8M5, Canada
Doris Grinspun
Chief Executive Officer of the Registered Nurses’ Association of Ontario, Toronto, ON M2P 2A9, Canada
Esyllt W. Jones
Professor of History, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, MB R3T 2M5, Canada
Mélanie Lavoie-Tremblay
Associate Professor and Vice-Dean research, innovation and entrepreneuriat, Faculty of Nursing, University of Montréal, Montréal, QC H3T 1A8, Canada
Kathleen MacMillan
Adjunct (retired) Dalhousie University, School of Nursing; Adjunct, University of Prince Edward Island, Faculty of Nursing, Charlottetown, PE C1A 4P3, Canada
Cindy MacQuarrie
Senior Director, Interprofessional Practice and Learning, IWK Health, Halifax, NS B3H 2Y9, Canada
Ruth Martin-Misener
Professor and the Director of the School of Nursing and Assistant Dean, Research, at the Faculty of Health, Dalhousie University, Halifax, NS B3H 4R2, Canada
Judith Oulton
Former Executive Director, Canadian Nurses Association, Ottawa, ON K1Z 7M4, Canada
Rosemary Ricciardelli
Professor, Sociology, Memorial University of Newfoundland, St. John’s, NL A1C 5S7, Canada
Linda Silas
President of Canadian Federation of Nurses Unions, Ottawa, ON K1V 8X7, Canada
Sally Thorne
Professor, School of Nursing and Associate Dean, Faculty of Applied Science, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC V6T 2B5, Canada
Michael Villeneuve
Chief Executive Officer, Canadian Nurses Association, Ottawa, ON K1Z 7M4, Canada.
Nurses represent the highest proportion of healthcare workers globally and have played a vital role during the COVID-19 pandemic. The pandemic has shed light on multiple vulnerabilities that have impacted the nursing workforce including critical levels of staffing shortages in Canada. A review sponsored by the Royal Society of Canada investigated the impact of the pandemic on the nursing workforce in Canada to inform planning and implementation of sustainable nursing workforce strategies. The review methods included a trend analysis of peer-reviewed articles, a jurisdictional scan of policies and strategies, analyses of published surveys and interviews of nurses in Canada, and a targeted case study from Nova Scotia and Saskatchewan. Findings from the review have identified longstanding and COVID-specific impacts, gaps, and opportunities to strengthen the nursing workforce. These findings were integrated with expert perspectives from national nursing leaders involved in guiding the review to arrive at recommendations and actions that are presented in this policy brief. The findings and recommendations from this policy brief are meant to inform a national and sustained focus on retention and recruitment efforts in Canada.
