December 2003 ONP Update

Office of nursing policy Health Canada

Major Funding For Nursing Initiatives

Meeting with national nursing stakeholders in Toronto on December 10, 2003, the Honourable Anne McLellan, Minister of Health, announced over $2 million in funding for projects aimed at strengthening Canadian nursing.

The money will fund initiatives that will contribute to better management of nursing recruitment and retention, promote improvements in the education of nursing students and the continuing education of practising nurses, develop nursing leadership, implement workplace health indicators, examine the reasons students drop out of nursing schools, disseminate nursing best practice guidelines, and create and test a human resources planning framework to establish and predict the nursing needs of Canadians. Most of the initiatives are in response to the recommendations of the Canadian Nursing Advisory Committee (CNAC, 2002). The projects are:

1. A Progress Report on Implementing the Final Report of the Canadian Nursing Advisory Committee (CNAC). Canadian Policy Research Networks Inc.
2. A Proposal to Support the Strategic Plan to Implement the Canadian Nursing Advisory Committee (CNAC) Recommendations. Canadian Nurses Association
3. Examining the Causes of Attrition From Schools of Nursing in Canada. Dr. Dorothy Pringle (University of Toronto)
4. Further Development of Work Life Indicators in Canada. Canadian Council on Health Services Accreditation
5. Needs-based Health Human Resource (HHR) Planning: The Relationship between Population Health and Nursing Service. Gail Tomblin Murphy (Dalhousie University) and Dr. Linda O'Brien-Pallas (University of Toronto)
6. Nursing Best Practice Guidelines. Registered Nurses Association of Ontario (RNAO)

Minister McLellan made the funding announcements during a roundtable discussion with national nursing organizations. The discussion focussed on the CNAC recommendations and the recommendations of the Advisory Committee on SARS and Public Health chaired by Dr. David Naylor. The ONP is excited about this important funding opportunity and congratulates the six project teams that will carry out the work.

Moving Forward

The ONP is proud to announce publication of Moving Forward: Progress Report 1999-2003.

This report highlights the achievements of the ONP since its inception in 1999, and suggests future policy directions.

Copies of the report will be mailed to all our national, provincial and territorial stakeholder colleagues in the coming weeks, and will be posted on our web site early in the New Year. Individuals who wish to receive a hard copy of the report are welcome to contact us directly.