Media Release Nursing Researchers join forces to strategize for more full-time nursing jobs
HAMILTON, ON (February 4, 2010) – McMaster researchers have teamed up with four Local Health Integration Networks (LHINs) to design a toolkit for creating strategies to increase full- time positions for nurses.
The Nursing Health Services Research Unit (NHSRU) at McMaster University and Central West, Hamilton-Niagara-Haldimand-Brant, South East, and South West LHINs have created a made-in-LHIN solution, identifying local needs toward 70 per cent full-time nurse employment. Health Human Resource Series Number 18. Strategies to Advance 70% Full-Time Nurse Employment Toolkit, can be found at www.nhsru.com.
This NHSRU/LHIN partnership was formed to address the Ontario Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care’s (MOHLTC) priority theme of a 70 per cent full-time commitment to nurse employment (RN, RPN and NP) in the province of Ontario.
“This toolkit was created by and for organizations working toward the MOHLTC’s 70 per cent full-time commitment for all nurses. It is a hands-on guide to improving and stabilizing the current state of the nursing workforce in the province of Ontario,” says Andrea Baumann, lead author and Scientific Director to the NHSRU.
These following strategies are identified as successful tools for increasing full-time nursing positions: innovative scheduling, cross-training, collaborating across sectors, creating full-time positions from available hours, creating specialty lines across sites, using RPNs to full scope of practice, participating in government initiatives, building relationships with academic partners.
A Made-in-LHIN Solution: Identifying Local Needs in 70% Full Time Nurse Employment, report describes the results of the research study conducted by the NHSRU that examined nurse employment across the four LHINs. It provides evidence of the fluctuating stability of nursing employment over the last two decades and identifies a series of strategies to achieve 70% full- time nurse employment.
Baumann says over the past two decades, the dramatic effects of a casualized nursing workforce have resulted in a greater commitment by the Ontario government to increase full- time employment for all nurses. “The strategies identified in this toolkit provide practical solutions to challenges facing organizations in increasing full-time employment for nurses.”
Following the publication of the report, the LHINs and the NHSRU McMaster site hosted a workshop for the participating LHINs, entitled: 70% Full-time Nursing LHIN Engagement Initiative Workshop. Participants were asked to share their experiences in using the different strategies based on enablers and barriers to implementation. This toolkit reflects the results of these discussions and presents the eight strategies in a format that can be used to assist organizations in increasing full-time employment of their nurses.
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www.nhsru.com for the most up to date nursing research.
For more information, contact:
Theresa Noonan
Nursing Health Services Research Unit
McMaster University
905-525-9140 ext. 22698
www.nhsru.com
noonant@mcmaster.ca
or
Laurie Kennedy
Nursing Health Services Research Unit
McMaster University
905-525-9140 ext. 22206
www.nhsru.com
kennedyl@mcmaster.ca