The clinical externship program for nursing students was developed and implemented during the COVID-19 pandemic at a multi-site healthcare organization. The program aimed to address the critical shortage of health human resources by hiring qualifying undergraduate nursing and diploma program practical nursing students as unregulated care providers to meet staffing needs. The program incorporated a structured orientation, providing a mix of e-learning modules, in-person learning and shifts with an assigned preceptor. The program also included guidelines to define roles and responsibilities, ens ..read more

Leigh Chapman was appointed as Canada's chief nursing officer in August 2022. One of her main priorities was to engage with nurses from across Canada. She heard from nurses about the complexity and the multi-faceted nature of health workforce challenges requiring innovative, comprehensive mitigation strategies. Information garnered from her engagement prompted the development of the “Nursing Retention Toolkit: Improving the Working Lives of Nurses in Canada” (Government of Canada 2024), which provides a framework that can be utilized by employers and organizations to enhanc ..read more

Introduction Established in 1908, the Canadian Nurses Association (CNA) has evolved through and survived many times of triumph and tumult over the decades (CNA 2024a). But few times have found CNA in a tougher position than it is in today as we juggle the need to provide strong and effective advocacy, stewardship of the profession, a wide range of member services and a constant effort to attract voluntary members. Sustaining CNA as the national and global voice of professional nursing in Canada needs decisive support from the nurses of Canada. In this commentary, the current and past chief exe ..read more

Although culturally appropriate care is vital to quality of care, many barriers exist to implementing culturally appropriate care in practice. Nurse leaders are in a position where they can act toward addressing some of the barriers and engage nursing staff in strategies to promote the implementation of culturally appropriate care practices on a unit. This article is an opinion piece wherein the authors illustrate leadership strategies that advocate for and nurture a practice where nursing staff are supported to apply their culturally appropriate skills in practice ..read more

A research fellowship geared toward registered practical nurses was designed to support the nurse's knowledge development in practice-based research. In this paper, we describe a six-month fellowship experience, which comprised research education, application and mentorship. Through the implementation of the research fellowship, we identified six components necessary for success, which include program infrastructure, application of training and leadership development. The research fellowship framework can support nurse leaders in the professional development of their nursing staff through buil ..read more

Emerging from a pandemic only to enter a nursing shortage has placed a strain on the health human resources of the healthcare system. Little attention has been given to nurse practitioners' (NPs’) burnout, resilience and job satisfaction. In this quantitative cross-sectional study using the Maslach Burnout Inventory, Misener NP Job Satisfaction Scale and the Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale, an alarming level (80.9%) of NPs reported high to moderate levels of burnout (emotional exhaustion), on average, minimal job satisfaction and high levels of resilience. Hospital leaders play a ma ..read more

A Commentary on Strengths-Based Nursing and Healthcare (SBNH) and SBNH Leadership ..read more

The nursing context in pediatric rehabilitation is that of caring for children with disabilities and complex developmental differences and health conditions in an ever-changing and demanding environment. Rehabilitation nurses aim to continuously advance nursing leadership, practice, education and research to meet service needs. Strengths-Based Nursing and Healthcare (SBNH) is a philosophy and value-driven approach that aligns with and enables the advancement of strengths-based rehabilitation nursing and family-centred care. This paper describes the leadership approach undertaken to implement S ..read more

There is growing recognition of the critical role nursing leadership plays in healthcare. Integrating strengths-based approaches into nursing education enables positive learning settings and empowers nurses as leaders who foster healing and well-being for patients and their families. This paper describes an effort to integrate Strengths-Based Nursing and Healthcare (SBNH) and Strengths-Based Nursing and Healthcare Leadership (SBNH-L) into the development, implementation and evaluation of a postgraduate pediatric nursing program in Ghana. In the evaluation of the program in Ghana, three themes ..read more

Introducing a “Made-for-Healthcare” Leadership Approach: Strengths-Based Nursing and Healthcare Leadership ..read more