Strong management and communication: Nursing retention toolkit
On this page
- Goal statement
- Initiative – Nursing management competencies: Enhance or create management training programs for nurse-managers to develop key manager competencies
- Initiative – Supporting nursing leaders: Providing nursing leaders with more supporting tools and opportunities
- Initiative – Nurse engagement and listening: Create mechanisms for nurses across all levels and roles to share experiences and feedback
Goal statement
Promote cultures of transparent leadership and mutual respect between management and point-of-care nurses.
Initiative – Nursing management competencies: Enhance or create management training programs for nurse-managers to develop key manager competencies.
Intended outcome
- Increased team engagement.
- Increased accountability.
- Safe, supportive work environment.
Description
This initiative is focused on enhancing and creating management hiring processes, and management training programs to ensure that managers in nursing environments are well-equipped with key nurse management competencies. Advancing this initiative will support organizations in developing and supporting managers in nursing environments, ultimately enabling nurses to be attracted to and stay in management positions.
This involves:
- Utilizing a core competency framework: A standardized competency framework that outlines essential leadership and managerial skills should be leveraged and customized to the organization or unit. Organizations can reference this framework to define manager roles and expectations and to develop additional processes or tools described below. This can provide a clear roadmap for leadership and managerial development and help ensure consistency and alignment across manager roles. Understanding quality indicators, finances, and ability to engage with staff, from various roles within the unit, should be included among core competencies.
- Delivering structured onboarding program: Design a structured onboarding program that aligns with the competency framework to increase awareness of expected skills and knowledge of managers in nursing environments from the outset. It is important for nurses to have built in time for training and learning (which can include mentorship and job shadowing) and tailor the onboarding program to the health care setting.
- Delivering robust training programs: Develop training programs for managers in nursing environments, drawing inspiration from validated, established models in other regions or jurisdictions. These programs could include formal courses, workshops, and online resources that address management principles, leadership. Special consideration should be given to developing programs or modules for non-nurses who take on managerial roles in nursing environments.
- Supporting managers in nursing environments to practise clinically where permitted: Providing opportunities for managers in nursing environments to practise clinically within their organization can help strengthen relationships and patient care. In union environments, organizations may need to hire Nurse Mangers into multiple roles (i.e., managerial and clinical).
- Communicating clear expectations in hiring process: Develop comprehensive job descriptions that include defined competencies for management roles, encompassing both nursing expertise and managerial skills. This can support alignment of candidate qualifications with role requirements for effective recruitment.
- Job requirements should define what universal or standardized competencies are necessary for a manager and have some commonality between organizations. There needs to be clear definitions for what management roles entail.
- In addition to tenure, skills, experience and ability must be factored into manager hiring
- Where possible, leaders in nursing environments should be nurses. All leaders should understand and embody nursing values and understand the practice. Leaders who do not have a nursing background may benefit from support from Advanced Practice Nurses or other nursing professionals.
Target nursing population
All leaders and managers in nursing environments.
Stakeholder involvement and role of nurses
- Responsible: Nurses should be enrolled in HR courses if they wish to become a manager.
- Accountable: Management and leadership.
- Consulted: Private education organizations working with health institutions, and education institutions to help with early learning in managerial skills.
- Informed: Point-of-care nurses interested in building nursing competencies.
Reference resources and examples (See appendix for links)
- AONL Nurse Leader Core Competencies: The AONL has developed a framework of leadership skills associated with effective nursing leadership.
- Canadian College of Health Leaders Organizational Leadership Development and Individual Leadership Development Resources: These resources can be referenced for the enhancement of creation of organization-specific programs.
- McGill's Strength Based Nursing and Health Care Program: This innovative online program has 6 days of training and 6 months of mentorship to strengthen leadership skills.
Initiative – Supporting nursing leaders: Providing nursing leaders with more supporting tools and opportunities.
Intended outcome
- Increased retention; nurses' connection to their manager is often the crux for why they stay.
- Increased job satisfaction for managers and the nurses they lead.
- More interest from managers in pursuing leadership roles.
- Stability in the management team.
- Improvement in psychological health and safety.
- Increased accountability for the organization.
Description
This initiative focuses on providing nursing leaders with more tools and opportunities that will support nursing leaders in their role such as:
- Self-care training: For nurse leaders to identify boundaries for themselves and self-care techniques, that can be accomplished while not stretching beyond the formal role.
- Tools and programs to increase awareness of mental health challenges: For leaders and staff, depending on setting and role, including psychological safety leadership training for both nursing leaders and support staff.
- Tools that are consistently implemented to collect feedback on the work environment: To provide nurse leaders with insight into the team and how they function.
- Appropriate performance management: Performance management tools and systems (e.g., 360-degree feedback, goal setting and progress tracking, formal performance appraisals) to support clear communication of expectations, unbiased assessment, and equitable treatment, and to foster trust and accountability between nursing leaders and nurses.
- Formalized check-ins and performance development opportunities (e.g., regular development discussions, regular goal check-in, management certifications, leadership workshops, professional conferences) to empower nursing leaders to engage in open dialogue about development, and to cultivate a culture of collaboration, continued learning and growth.
Planning considerations include:
- Financial support and protected time: Organizations should provide financial support, where possible, and ensure protected time for the implementation of tools and programs, and communication between nurses and their leaders.
- Supporting all leaders in nursing environments: While not all positions may include the word "leader" or "manager" in the title, it is important to support all staff who have a leadership or managerial role.
Target nursing population
All leaders and managers in nursing environments.
Stakeholder involvement and role of nurses
- Responsible and accountable: Organizations have responsibility and accountability to provide support to their managers, nurses to provide 360 feedback on needs and expectations.
- Consulted and informed: Nurse managers, and those who manage on weekends.
Reference resources and examples (See appendix for links)
- Healthcare Excellence Canada Innovation Challenge: This outcomes-based challenge aims to improve workforce retention and support, which includes expert coaching supports, evidence-informed tools, and support for team tracking.
- SickKids Performance Management Tools and Systems for Nurses: Tools and systems provided by SickKids for nursing managers are closely tied to regulatory requirements and leading practice research.
- Canadian Mental Health Association's Your Health Space: CMHA provides a free workplace mental health service for Ontario's health care organizations that has helped to implement standards for psychological safety and mental health. Training for both nursing leaders and support staff on psychological safety are available.
- IWK Nova Scotia's 90 Second Nurse: This program was developed as a retention initiative to provide psychological support for nurses and help promote well-being and resiliency. A brief weekly health letter designed for nurses is delivered by email and is based on best scientific evidence to support and improve the well-being of various stakeholder groups including nurses.
- Schwartz Rounds on Caring for the Caregiver: Schwartz Rounds are held to discuss the emotional impact of patient care on care providers, including nurses, creating a space for group reflection.
Initiative – Nurse engagement and listening: Create mechanisms for nurses across all levels and roles to share experiences and feedback.
Intended outcome
- Open lines of communication.
- Increased engagement.
- Increased sense of belonging and feeling heard.
Description
This initiative is focused on ensuring nurses' voices are heard, and feedback is integrated to improve their working lives. To do this at the organizational level:
- Safe spaces: Create a safe space within organizations for nurses to share experiences and feedback, and assure nurses that shared experiences and feedback will not be attributed to individuals. Impartial or third-party organizations with reputable facilitators or moderators can facilitate challenging conversations and create safety for staff and leaders to voice their true opinions.
- Open lines of communication: Build an open line of communication between managers and point-of-care workers and between each other (e.g., one-on-one meetings, regular team huddles and staff meetings, open-door policies, anonymous surveys), paired with a systematic approach to providing feedback to support all those involved.
- Celebratory feedback systems: Celebratory feedback systems (e.g., shoutouts) can be implemented to promote exceptional behaviours of colleagues and should be both timely and widely visible.
- Accessibility: Listening opportunities need to be made available for both day and night shifts.
- Communication: Innovative ways are needed to communicate with point-of-care staff, as many current communication methods (emails, forums, etc.) do not reach the target audience.
- Accountability: After receiving feedback, organizations should communicate the results and follow up on specific action items informed by the feedback (e.g., collected through focus groups, anonymous surveys, comment cards, etc.). The feedback needs to be acted upon in a timely manner.
- Monitoring and evaluation: To ensure feedback is implemented and effective, indicators and accountabilities should be defined, measured, and visualized (e.g., through a dashboard). Monitoring and evaluation is critical for long-term implementation; nurse engagement and listening should be an ongoing initiative and not limited to times of crisis.
Planning considerations include:
- Confidentiality: Develop feedback mechanism that assures nurses that shared experiences and feedback will not be attributed to individuals.
- Gather insights from diverse representation of roles (i.e., different nursing workplaces, units, shifts, backgrounds).
- Training on active listening and conflict resolution: Consider training opportunities for active listening and conflict resolution for all levels of management to ensure leaders are trained in responding to difficult feedback.
- Dedicated time and resources: Consider how to formalize nurse engagement and utilize new or existing roles to ensure sufficient time and resources are dedicated to nurse engagement.
- Team and individual needs: Both team and individual needs should be strengthened through nurse engagement and listening.
Target nursing population
All (Student, New Grad, Mid-Career, Late-Career, Managers and Faculty, etc.)
Stakeholder involvement and role of nurses
- Responsible: Ministries of Health, for creation of benchmarks and common approaches, union group engagements.
- Accountable: Communication teams, point-of-care nurses (to be involved in communication plans).
- Consulted and Informed: Interprofessional health teams.
Reference resources and examples (See appendix for links)
- Casey-Fink Surveys: A self-report instrument created to measure new nurses' perceptions of issues with role transition experienced at entry into practice and through the first year of professional practice.
- Canadian Mental Health Association's Your Health Space: CMHA provides a free workplace mental health service for Ontario's health care organizations that includes facilitation of challenging conversations around mental health.
- Accreditation Canada's Simulated Survey: A simulated survey is provided by Accreditation Canada to help providers meet global standards, and surveys can be leveraged to gather nurse sentiment.
- College of Nurses of Ontario (CNO) Conflict Prevention and Management Practice Guideline: This practice guideline includes information on the key factors, prevention, and management of conflict with colleagues and in the workplace.
Page details
- Date modified: