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PubMed · 9840882

Evolutionary principles can guide nursing's future development.

L N Gottlieb·B Gottlieb
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Abstract

Health care reform has resulted in a unique opportunity for nursing to develop and expand its role in future health care environments. We discuss why we think nursing's time has come, as well as the forces in present health care environments that threaten nursing's progress. We have used modern evolutionary principles to elucidate seven key conditions required for nursing to survive and flourish in the new health care environments. These conditions include the need for nurses to: be relevant; be accountable; be visible; be innovators; have a global impact; retain their uniqueness, while functioning in multidisciplinary settings; and be exceptionally competent, while striving for excellence.

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CanadaForecastingHumansNursingNursing TheoryJournal ArticleReview

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BibTeXRIS

L N Gottlieb, B Gottlieb. 1998. Evolutionary principles can guide nursing's future development.. https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1365-2648.1998.00730.x

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Investing in Canada's nursing workforce: a comprehensive review to inform policy innovations and directions.

BACKGROUND: Health systems worldwide face persistent health workers challenges including nursing shortages, workforce strain, and inequities. In Canada, these challenges have prompted renewed national and provincial reforms to strengthen recruitment, retention, leadership, and sustainability. This paper compares nursing workforce policy directions across Canada, and international jurisdictions to inform policy and planning. METHODS: A cross-country comparative analysis of policies building on a comprehensive national funded review that included an umbrella review of 69 systematic reviews, a comparative policy review of nursing workforce strategies in five jurisdictions, and validation through national horizon-scanning and policy dialogues (n >100). Evidence was analyzed across system, organizational, and individual levels. RESULTS: At the system level, international jurisdictions demonstrate comprehensive, legislated approaches integrating data, governance, and multi-year funding have advanced key nursing strategies. In Canada, the advances show the importance of strategies to have national and provincial/territorial alignment emphasizing leadership, flexibility, and inclusion as key levers. Organizational and individual-level reforms such as mentorship, leadership development, and wellness initiatives are expanding but remain variably evaluated. Experts identified national workforce data strategies and policy integration with embedded evaluation as key enablers to inform scalability and sustainability of implemented strategies. CONCLUSIONS: Canada's nursing workforce reforms are advancing toward coordinated, equity-driven, and evidence-informed strategies. Continued investment in evaluation, leadership, and national integrated data systems along with integrating nursing workforce planning within broader intersectoral planning will consolidate these gains and position Canada as an international leader in sustainable nursing workforce policy.

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