Forging a strong nursing future: insights from the Canadian context

Abstract

Canadian nurses, with their colleagues around the globe, are experiencing waves of change in their practice and work lives, and in expectations of how they will continue to make a difference for health and health care. We describe how Canadian nurses have been called to action to lead system wide changes in nursing practice, and to influence the wider public policy arenas for health. We aim to add to the growing international awareness of the status of nursing prompted by the Francis inquiry by offering our analysis of nursing practice and nursing leadership in Canada, in the context of the dominance of a managerial culture in health care systems. A review of prior commission reports, task forces and research reports sheds light on strategies needed to support nurses to address today’s challenges in nursing practice, including staff and skill mix determinations. We share our reflection on the current situation in Canadian nursing as a basis for learning about how our issues compare and contrast with others profiled in the journal. Our goal is to join with colleagues from Canada and other countries to forge a strong future – a future in which nursing’s voices are clearly heard in practice and policy decision-making, and where our knowledge and actions actualise societal health.