Award Partner: BC Cancer Foundation

From policy to practice: Provincial outreach to optimize the Clinical Nurse Specialist workforce in British Columbia

Nurses spend the most time with patients and caregivers. More than other professions, nurses have been negatively affected by the health human resource crisis. In BC, there is an urgent need to retain and recruit nursing talent and expertise.

We now have new knowledge about what is needed to strengthen the impact of Clinical Nurse Specialists (CNSs), advanced practice nurses with graduate education and specialized clinical expertise. CNSs are nursing leaders who use their clinical knowledge and leadership to improve both patient outcomes and how healthcare operates overall. The role of CNSs in BC is underdeveloped and significantly underutilized. This is why we recently completed a BC-based study with nurses and leaders to create policy recommendations and action plans to help strengthen and better support the CNS role across BC.

The goal of this project is to extend the reach of this important evidence. We will (1) create a “BC CNS Workforce Toolkit” that includes the new consensus policy recommendations, and (2) hold a series of implementation workshops with high impact stakeholder. We also aim to increase the knowledge translation skills of BC nurses to help address the challenges of the healthcare staffing crisis.

Advancing Equitable Cancer Care: A Innovative Approach to Transformative Action in BC

In BC, some groups face unfair barriers in receiving adequate cancer care due to factors like racism, stigma, discrimination, poverty, mental health and substance use challenges, and/or disabilities. Over the next five years, my research aims to tackle these disparities. First, we will team up with people who know these issues firsthand to form a community-engaged research team. Together we will identify what research is most needed and lead innovative studies to address cancer-related inequities. Our primary focus involves developing a new approach to caring for cancer patients. We will create an equity model of care based on principles of equity-oriented healthcare, integrating trauma-informed care, cultural sensitivity, and strategies for addressing substance use health. Additionally, we will gather patient feedback to continually improve care quality. These new approaches will be piloted in specific cancer clinics to assess their effectiveness. Success means more equitable and improved cancer care for the diverse communities we serve in BC.