Canada’s Health Minister Mark Holland has announced a new nursing retention toolkit designed to aid health care leaders in supporting their nursing colleagues. The toolkit was developed in consultation with stakeholders including Ashley Kim, Senior Manager of CMHA Ontario’s Your Health Space program and Sherry Red Manuel, a former Trainer with Your Health Space.
As a nurse, Ashley drew from her own experiences while also highlighting CMHA Ontario’s ongoing contributions to nursing retention efforts in Ontario. Since launching in May 2022, Your Health Space has delivered free workplace mental health training to over 40,000 participants in Ontario, many of which are nursing staff and leaders.
Long-standing systemic issues have caused many nurses across Canada to exit the workforce, while the demand for access to health care is outpacing the supply of nurses. In recognition of this acute shortage, Health Canada’s Nursing Retention Toolkit: Improving the Lives of Nurses in Canada aims to support retention efforts. Created by nurses, for nurses, the resource:
- Provides health care leaders with a retention framework that includes examples of initiatives to support retention efforts
- Compiles practical retention strategies from across the country to foster knowledge transfer of best practices between provinces and territories
- Is applicable to staff in various stages of their nursing career
- Is applicable to nursing staff working in different types of health care and geographic settings
CMHA Ontario applauds Health Canada for developing this important resource. Download the toolkit on the Government of Canada website.
