Canada

This study investigates the influence of demographic characteristics, provincial policies, organizational changes and emerging practice challenges on the rural–urban segments of the Canadian nursing workforce in order to describe the nature of nursing work from the perspective of rural nurse executives and frontline nurses. [adapted from introduction]

This report presents five-year workforce trends across Canada, across regulated nursing professions and across a variety of demographic, education, mobility and employment characteristics, in order to inform health human resource planning. [from executive summary]

The Pharmacist Database is a primary source of data on the size of the pharmacist workforce in Canada and contains information that is key to effective human resource planning in the health care sector. This report contains information on the supply, demographics, geographic distribution, education and employment of pharmacists in Canada. [adapted from introduction]

Health human resource (HHR) strategies for Canadian rehabilitation professionals are lagging behind other professional groups such as physicians and nurses. The objectives of this study were: 1) to identify recruitment and retention strategies of rehabilitation professionals including occupational therapists, physical therapists and speech language pathologists from the literature; and 2) to investigate both the importance and feasibility of the identified strategies using expert panels amongst HHR and education experts. [from abstract]

This report utilizes statistical information derived from a central data source for resource planning regarding the supply, distribution and migration of physicians in Canada. [from introduction]

This OECD report examines the role played by immigrant health workers in the Canadian health workforce, as well as the interactions between migration policies and education and health workforce management policies. [adapted from introduction]

Shortages and maldistibution of physicians in northern Ontario, Canada, have been a longstanding issue. This study seeks to document, in a chronological manner, the introduction of programs intended to help solve the problem by the provincial government over a 35-year period and to examine several aspects of policy implementation, using these programmes as a case study. [from abstract]

This report looks at how the landscape of human resources for health (HRH) has evolved and current key challenges. It looks at the complexities of HRH planning and management in the current environment and how various jurisdictions are finding innovative ways to collect and use HHR information. It also talk abouts education and training, workplace environment, distribution and migration, and provides updated data and information on supply-side trends for health professions. [adapted from author]


There is also a reference guide that provides aggregate, supply-based trend information.

Research has identified that skilled nurses working in rural and remote locations are crucial for the provision of maternity care to rural parturient women. This study considered the experiences of rural nurses and their contributions to maternity care in rural and remote settings and in the small towns where women might be referred for care surrounding childbirth. [from introduction]

Although there is an emerging understanding of the stressors faced by rural physicians, little is known about the experience of care providers offering maternity care in low-resourced environments. This article considers the experience of rural maternity care providers from the perspective of the social risks they perceive are incurred by practicing in a low-resource environment. [from abstract]

This environmental scan of pharmacy technicians is intended to develop an accurate summary of knowledge, issues and activities relating to the roles and responsibilities, curriculum and accreditation, and certification of pharmacy technicians in Canada, from a national, provincial, territorial and international perspective. [from summary]

Modernizing the way health care professionals are educated and engaged in their vital work requires a collaborative and coordinated approach among many players. The Health Council convened the summit on health human resources to focus on practical, short-term solutions. This report attempts to capture the lively discussion and encouraging examples of innovation brought forward at that forum, organized into four theme areas: education and training, scopes of practice, workplace practices and planning. [adapted from author]

The Canadian health care system is one of the places where push comes to pull in terms of attracting health care professionals from sub-Saharan Africa. The authors call this the perverse subsidy: the costs of training these professionals are paid for by poorer people in poorer countries. The pull to Canada is equally a push from Africa. Reflections on a pilot study on a labour mobility issue that is equally a question of conscience. [from author]

The health and well-being of the health workforce and the quality of the healthcare work environment has a profound impact on the effectiveness and efficiency of healthcare services. This resource identifies priority actions that are known to improve the workplace and that can be implemented quickly and efficiently. The actions focus on both system wide and organizational performance improvement on specific areas relating to quality work life. [from executive summary]

This article discusses the development of a decision framework to assist policymakers in choosing and designing effective incentive systems. The researchers identified several models that have proven to be effective in changing or enabling a health provider’s performance.

This document reports on the findings of three projects in Canada that link population health needs to health human resource planning, to illustrate the value and challenges in using health human resource data to inform policy decisions on nursing productivity and to generate evidence based retention policies to guide nursing workforce sustainability. [adapted from summary]

The goal of this study was to develop and test a way to establish, monitor, and predict the need for nursing services by using the health needs of the population. This study explored the relationship between the health needs of Ontarians, their use of community and hospital nursing services, and variations in outcomes. The findings suggest that decisions about the deployment of nursing resources are associated with differences in outcomes. [adapted from author]

These yearly summary reports provide information on nurse wages and the comparitive buying power of these wages in select countries in North America, Western Europe and Japan. The data are results from a survey of 10 National Nurses’ Associations. [from introduction]

A healthcare system that supports effective teamwork can improve the quality of patient care, enhance patient safety, and reduce workload issues that cause burnout among healthcare professionals. To support the movement to make teamwork a reality, this report was commissioned to outline the characteristics of an effective team, how to measure its effectiveness, what interventions have been successful in implementing and sustaining teamwork in healthcare, lessons from other settings and countries, and the barriers to implementation in Canada. [adapted from executive summary]

This report summarizes studies that examined the geographical distribution or mobility of a wide variety of health care providers in Canada. [adapted from introduction]

This study proposes potential options for creating a pan-Canadian HHR planning mechanism or mechanisms to better serve the process of coordinated HHR planning across jurisdictions and among multiple professions. The second goal is to assess the current level of support among both government actors at the federal, provincial and territorial levels and stakeholder organizations for creating a pan-Canadian HHR planning. The study examines the current HHR planning infrastructure in the country, recent international developments in HHR planning and the attitudes of key informants in governmental and non-governmental communities.

The question guiding the paper is: “What are the key ingredients of a high-quality work environment in Canada’s health care sector and how can this goal be achieved?” Synthesizing insights from a variety of research streams, the paper identifies many ingredients needed to create a high-quality workplace. We take a multidisciplinary and holistic approach, which complements other research initiatives on health human resources. [from abstract]

The purpose and objectives of this study are to examine the extent to which the manager’s span of control influences nurse, patient, and unit outcomes; and investigate which particular leadership style contributes to optimum nurse, patient, and unit outcomes under differing spans of control. [author’s description]

This document is an environmental policy scan of activity in three areas related to physicians, nurses and pharmacists: education and training initiatives; recruitment and retention and work place initiatives; and capacity to do national health human resource planning. [adapted from introduction]

Traditional approaches to health human resource planning emphasize the effects of demographic change on the needs for health human resources. Planning requirements are largely based on the size and demographic mix of the population applied to simple population-provider or population-utilization ratios. We develop an extended analytical framework based on the production of heal care services and the multiple determinants of health human resource requirements. [from abstract]

The objective of this article is to synthesize information about nurse migration in and out of Canada and analyze its role as a policy lever to address the Canadian nursing shortage. [from abstract]

Significant numbers of African-trained health workers migrate every year to developed countries including Canada. They leave severely crippled health systems in a region where life expectancy is only 50 years of age, 16 per cent of children die before their fifth birthday and the HIV/AIDS crisis continues to burgeon. The population of Sub-Saharan Africa totals over 660 million, with a ratio of fewer than 13 physicians per 100,000. [from introduction]

This report presents the findings of the Ministry of Health and Long Term Care (MOHLTC) directed research on the topic of nurse-physician relationships, and includes recommendations arising from the in depth literature review conducted and which are directed toward the Research Unit and Nursing Secretariat, at the MOHLTC.

Policy makers and hospital administrators are seeking evidence to support nursing staffing decisions that includes both the volume and mix of nurses required to provide efficient and effective care. The principal objective of this study was to examine the interrelationships between variables thought to influence patient, nurse, and system outcomes. The results provide quality, evidence-based standards for adjusted ranges of nursing productivity/utilization and for staffing levels for patients receiving cardiac and cardiovascular nursing care. [from executive summary]

This paper begins by clarifying the terms shortage and underserviced. Provincial and federal programs for underserviced areas in Ontario are then described and considered in terms of their relevance to nursing. A discussion of the issues associated with policies addressing shortage and underserviced areas follows. The paper concludes with recommendations for change. The importance of making funding decisions based on a clear understanding of relevant concepts and models is emphasized. [introduction]