The nursing workforce is in crisis. The BC government’s commitment to health workforce strategy highlights that a systemic approach supporting nurses with international education (IENs) living in British Columbia returning to the workforce needs to be updated and strengthened. The proposed activities are based on this need and call for a learning system approach to workforce planning, including building capacity for IEN networking, education, recruitment, and retention. Applying learning systems principles to co-create a nimble northern post-secondary-health authority partnership will require effective teamwork to develop a research agenda on IEN access to education to support workforce sustainability. To use evidence to guide IEN programming in northern BC, we intend to invite provincial partners and stakeholders and facilitate a face-to-face meeting, followed by four online group meetings. Participatory techniques will be used in these sessions to explore the practicality of original and creative solutions for IEN nurse assessment, education, and employment in the north. Finally, we will focus on determining ways to improve IEN systems in practice, research, and policy across BC.
Award Partner: BC Nurses' Union
STARS — STARting off Right: Best Supports for New Graduate Nurses
Reflecting the global nursing workforce shortage, the province of British Columbia is facing a nursing staffing crisis: in addition to high numbers of experienced nurses choosing to retire, many new graduate nurses are leaving the profession within a few years of graduation (British Columbia Nurses Union, 2022). To address this crisis, we will host a co-design workshop that will bring together research users and researchers focused on better supporting new graduate nurses as they transition to clinical practice. During the workshop, we will share best practice research, innovative solutions, co-design scaling solutions, prioritize research gaps, and determine how best to share information. Specifically, the workshop will include examination on support for groups of nurses with high barriers when transitioning to practice, including Indigenous, Black, and internationally educated nurses. Our intended outcomes centre on co-designing a research agenda with priority areas for future research and co-design best practice KT products. Finally, we will increase the capacity of knowledge translation for researchers and research users through co-development and exposure to consultant design experts in visual knowledge translation.
Embedded Knowledge Mobilization: Strengthening Oncology Nurses’ Capacity for Effective Advanced Care Planning Conversations
Advance care planning (ACP) is a process that supports patients to reflect on their personal values and preferences towards care, and share these preferences with their healthcare team. ACP supports patient- and family-centered care, ensuring the care a patient receives aligns with their goals and preferences. Recent research conducted at BC Cancer aimed to learn how to better support oncology nurses in conducting ACP across the cancer journey. Study findings provide important insight into (1) local barriers and facilitators for oncology nurses to conduct ACP and (2) changes needed to support nursing-led ACP at BC Cancer.
To translate these findings into clinical practice, we will assemble direct care nurses, nursing leaders, patient and family partners, and relevant knowledge users to inform a nursing practice change that enhances oncology nurses’ ability to conduct ACP. Our approach will involve key activities, including the establishment of a provincial ACP working group to oversee all activities, engagement sessions with direct care nurses to identify barriers and facilitators to the proposed practice change, and targeted implementation strategies such as educational sessions to promote awareness and build ACP proficiency.