Introduction



About this Report



Ensuring The Care Will Be There: A Report on Recruitment and Retention
in Ontario addresses key issues for Ontario nurses and the public. This
Recruitment and Retention Report is a response to an imminent and
severe nursing shortage across Canada. Over the past two decades, the
nursing profession has been buffeted by sharp changes in employment
opportunities. Sudden drops in employment, driven by cuts in funding,
drove people away from nursing and turned into dangerous shortages in
supply. To avoid problems throughout the health-care system, the
emerging nursing shortage must be immediately attended to. We must act
now!



This report owes its existence to provincial government recognition
that an adequate supply of motivated and qualified nurses is
fundamental to the health and well-being of Ontarians. In September
1998, the Honourable Elizabeth Witmer, Ontario’s Minister of Health and
Long-Term Care, responded to the nursing profession’s call for action
on the pending shortage and other nursing resource issues by
establishing the Nursing Task Force. The Task Force “was directed to
examine the level of access to quality nursing services and to identify
changes in nursing related to health-care reform. The Task Force was
also asked to assess how these changes may affect both health-care
professionals and health-care consumers.”



The January 1999 Report of the Nursing Task Force – Good Nursing, Good
Health: An Investment for the 21 st Century (Queen’s Printer for
Ontario), contained eight recommendations regarding nursing in Ontario.
The government of Ontario accepted and committed to implement all the
recommendations in March 1999. Recommendation 4 focussed on encouraging
women and men to choose nursing as a career and on the retention and
recruitment of registered nurses and registered practical nurses.

Nursing Task Force Recommendation 4:



Continuity and quality of care is highly dependent on the retention of
experienced and knowledgeable nurses and requires not only a sufficient
number of permanent positions for RNs and RPNs but also a working
environment that offers flexibility and professional satisfaction. It
is therefore recommended that employers of nurses mount pilot projects
to test alternative models of nursing care (e.g. flexible hours,
environments that enable nurses to develop clinical skills, etc.) and
that these models be evaluated to assess the impact on client outcomes
and the working environment for nurses…



To heighten awareness of a career in nursing and to encourage young
women and men to choose a career in nursing, it is recommended that the
professional nursing associations, with the support of the Ministry of
Health and Long-Term Care, mount a comprehensive marketing and communications plan. The
Report on Recruitment and Retention is a reflection of the strong
consensus within the nursing profession on the urgent action required
to address the causes of inadequate nursing resources. The nursing
community has had an extraordinary level of involvement in this project
(see Appendices 3 and 4). Nurses across all sectors and regions of the
province are united in their resolve to take immediate action.