Research Aims
To inform decision making around the quality, effectiveness, equity and utilization of health care and health services in Ontario through research and with focus on nursing services.
To develop a joint mechanism for knowledge transfer between the MOHLTC and NHSRU to ensure recent and accurate evidence is used to guide evidence-based policy and management decision making.
NHSRU Research Program
Building and Sustaining the Nursing Workforce for Better Patient Outcomes
An effective workforce is a prerequisite to excellent patient care. The purpose of this program is to formulate evidence based on descriptive studies about how to best build and sustain the nursing workforce for better patient outcomes. This multi-site program will also assist the Ministry of Health and Long Term Care by supporting collaboration between researchers and decision makers and ensuring accurate and timely data are available to inform evidence-based decision making.
The focus of the program is nursing health human resources, specifically the identification and analysis of priority issues in this field and the creation and operation of interventions relevant to these issues.
Research activities are developed around three interrelated pillars:
- Nursing Workforce
- Nursing Environment
- Nursing Practice
An understanding of these pillars, along with social factors that influence nursing supply and workforce deployment, are instrumental in building and sustaining a quality nursing workforce.
Three Research Pillars
Pillar One – The Nursing Workforce
There is strong need for a stable nursing workforce and only though research evidence can we determine how to best utilize available resources. To build the nursing workforce and to plan for the right nursing mix that best contributes to better patient outcomes. NHSRU investigators work closely with the Ministry to determine where further investment in nursing research will generate the greatest returns.
Pillar Two – The Nursing Environment
It is imperative that workplaces in Ontario are designed to ensure optimal working environments for the delivery of quality care. The NHSRU research program has been developed with this in mind, and includes studies which focus on “quality work environments” and strategies for creating work environments that attract and retain nurses, reward evidence-based practice, and support nurses’ competence and ability to relate to patients, fellow nurses, and colleagues.
Pillar Three – Nursing Practice
In practice nurses need to be able to access information at times that decision making is crucial. NHSRU recognizes that nursing requires a commitment to lifelong learning to ensure continued competency and evidence-informed patient care. The current research program assists the Ministry in ensuring access to more effective and rewarding opportunities for workplace learning, via knowledge translation interventions and the efficient use of information technologies.
Working Objectives
Research under the NHSRU’s three pillars will be realized through a series of projects that target five priority objectives. The five research objectives include:
Improve Nurse Utilization
Identify employment patterns and trends within and across healthcare sectors in order to assess capacity and maximize nurse utilization. (Pillar 1)
Maximize Nursing Research Resources
Create primary databases based on appropriate variables and definitions that can generate accurate profiles of specialized workforces, to inform workforce planners. (Pillar 1)
Improve Health care Access and Quality of Care
Evaluate models of nurse utilization in various practice settings, such as primary health care for the purpose of improving access and quality of care for people with acute and chronic diseases. (Pillar 1, 2)
Build Partnerships
Determine relationships among quality work environments, leadership, and nurse and patient outcomes. (Pillar 2, 3)
Knowledge Transfer into Care
Identify how knowledge translation and information technologies can support evidence-based patient-centred care, improve clinical practice, and optimize quality of care. (Pillar 3)
Linkages
Teamwork
• Core team at McMaster University and the University of Toronto
• Affiliated academic institutions: Laurentian University, Queens University, University of Western Ontario, and University of Windsor
• Collaboration with Local Health Integrated Networks and health care institutions to conceptualize and conduct research projects, and knowledge exchange and translation.
Capacity Building
Capacity building is critical to create and maintain a core group of nursing researchers who have expertise in health human resources and health services. NHSRU has dedicated resources and an infrastructure to develop new researchers and support masters, doctoral, and post-doctoral students. By focusing on capacity building the future research community will be better prepared to continue to inform health service decision makers with up to date evidence-based information.
Knowledge Transfer
• Knowledge transfer officers will circulate communication to strengthen linkages between projects and across the program
• An environmental scan of stakeholders, including policy makers will also be undertaken to identify their needs for evidence generated through the research pillars and the appropriate dissemination vehicle
• A steering committee consisting of researchers and decision makers will guide the research process, with each site submitting progress reports
See all KT activities on our Knowledge Transfer page