Southlake investing $2 million in its nurses

In response to nursing vacancies becoming increasingly harder to fill as the number of available positions across the province far exceeds the amount of available people, Southlake Regional Health Centre announced Friday its commitment to invest $2 million into recruiting and retaining a strong nursing workforce.

"If we are to be successful as a centre of health care excellence, we need a reliable and talented workforce," commented Dan Carriere, president and CEO of the Newmarket facility. "This investment reaffirms our commitment to the nursing profession and our desire to keep the great nurses we currently have and to hire new nurses that are committed to being the best within their chosen profession."

Despite a current nursing workforce of more than 1,000, Southlake requires 161 nurses to fill current vacancies. The situation is expected to be further exasperated with the opening of the Regional Cancer Centre in early 2009.

According to Annette Jones, chief nursing officer at Southlake, a detailed strategic nursing plan was recently developed in order to keep pace with existing and future growth.

"During the past several months, we have spent time analyzing our needs and speaking with front-line nurses to develop a plan that is focused on making Southlake a great place to be a nurse," she remarked. "The investment of $2 million will ensure we move beyond the discussion phase to implementing changes that will make a significant difference."

The strategic nursing plan identifies eight key themes that are centered on making Southlake better for its nurses. Initiatives include reducing nurse-to-patient ratios, increased education opportunities to foster individual success, retaining and valuing employees through recognition and reward programs, and customized scheduling to meet unit and personal needs. A large commitment will also be made to attracting new nursing graduates to Southlake through the New Graduate Program with the provincial government, which ensures that every new nursing graduate who wishes to work full time will have the opportunity.