$5.53 million to help strengthen Canada's nursing workforce

Canadian Health Minister Ujjal Dosanjh has announced federal funding of $5.53 million to help strengthen Canada's nursing workforce paying tribute to the critical role nurses play in Canada's health care system. Minister Dosanjh made this announcement in a speech to the Nursing Leadership Conference.

"I have criss-crossed this country many times and have seen the direct impact nurses have on the lives of Canadians - whether promoting healthy living or providing palliative care," Minister Dosanjh said in a speech to the Nursing Leadership Conference of the Canadian Nurses Association (CNA). "You would be hard pressed to find a Canadian family that has not been touched by the quality of your care."

Calling nurses "the backbone of our health system," the Minister announced a series of initiatives to improve working conditions and increase recruitment and retention of nurses as part of the Government's broad strategy to renew the health care workforce.

Health Canada has contributed $3.98 million to the Canadian Nurses Association to develop a bilingual online portal that will provide timely information on everything from public health alerts to continuing education opportunities. The Minister said the portal will serve nurses across the country, but will be especially valuable to nurses working in rural and isolated locations, including the North and Aboriginal communities. The portal will be launched at the Canadian Nurses Association Biennial Conference in June 2006 in Saskatchewan.

"The portal means that nurses in all parts of Canada, from the inner city to the farthest flung coastal community, can quickly find the information they need to do their jobs or find support for themselves to better cope with the challenges of their working environments," said Minister Dosanjh. "The portal will create a forum for all nurses across Canada to mentor each other and share best practices."

The Minister said he recognized that nursing shortages, unreasonable workloads and illness and injury are taking a toll on the health and morale of Canada's nurses. He announced federal funding for six projects to address such problems:

• $650,000 over two years to the Canadian Nurses Association (CNA) to improve health human resources planning and recruitment and retention;
• an additional $200,000 to the CNA to work with the international community on health human resources for the HIV/AIDS global pandemic;
• $300,000 over three years to the Victorian Order of Nurses to strengthen current workplace practices that lead to a healthy work environment in home and community settings, which will increase the organization's ability to recruit and retain qualified health providers;
• $200,000 over two years to the Canadian Association of Schools of Nursing to study how to improve nursing clinical placement opportunities;
• $100,000 to the Canadian Federation of Nurses Unions to identify innovative workplace practices and successful collective agreements that encourage the retention of older nurses and the integration of new graduates;
• $100,000 to the Nursing Health Services Research Institute of the University of Toronto to support Canadian involvement in an international study of nursing turnover.

"These investments in Canada's nurses send a clear signal that we want you to be healthy and we want your work environments to be healthy," said Minister Dosanjh. "As Canada's Health Minister, I know that nurses are critical to the future of our health care system. I also know I could not find more committed or caring partners in our national efforts to improve health care for Canadians."