Leads: Leah Lambert, Sandra Lauck Jagbir Kaur

This project is funded by the Canadian Institute of Health Research Catalyst Grant and is being conducted in collaboration with the University of British Columbia School of Nursing.


The purpose of this research is to develop clear, actionable, and evidence-based policy to shape nursing workforce transformation and practice-ready policy recommendations to establish a provincial CNS strategy for PHSA and implementation roadmap for BC Cancer. We will accomplish this through 3 phases.

Outputs from this research hold the potential to substantially impact policy, programs, and practices for CNSs at the provincial, national, and possibly international level.

The study team published the policy research brief titled “Informing policy to optimize the clinical nurse specialist workforce: Advancing the quadruple aim and health equity” in Policy Research for Health System Transformation in 2024.

The study team published the "Policy Recommendations for Optimizing the Clinical Nurse Specialist Workforce in British Columbia PDF" as part of the UBC Open Collections Library. 

Study Background & Rationale:

Canada’s nursing workforce is in crisis due to critical staff shortages and challenges surrounding recruitment and retention. Urgent national calls demand action to improve health system quality and capacity as we move forward from COVID-19. British Columbia (BC) is no exception to these challenges, and health service leaders aim to address these issues in innovative and informed ways. BC’s Provincial Health Services Authority (PHSA) has recently created an initiative to strengthen advanced practice nursing with the goal of developing a Clinical Nurse Specialist (CNS) strategy across the province’s specialized health services. CNSs are advanced practice nurses with graduate training and specialized expertise who lead clinical care, system changes, and advancement of nursing practice. As part of its strategic plan, PHSA is creating a novel CNS Program at BC Cancer, which entails the implementation and evaluation of new CNS roles across all 6 regional centres. This has led to a unique policy opportunity to collaboratively support evidence-informed system transformation in real time.

The 3 Phases:

 

We generated evidence on how to best support, retain, and evaluate CNSs through an environmental scan of current policy, a provincial CNS workforce survey, and key informant interviews.

 

We co-developed policy recommendations and actionable strategies that can guide a CNS workforce strategy for PHSA through a Policy Setting Workshop with key PHSA partners.

 

We will create a detailed roadmap for implementing, sustaining, and evaluating the CNS role across BC Cancer through a Policy Implementation Workshop with key BC Cancer partners.

 

Study Team

NameRoleAffiliation
Leah K. Lambert, RN, PhDNominated Principal Applicant & Co-Principal InvestigatorExecutive Director and Senior Scientist, Nursing and Allied Health Research and Knowledge Translation, BC Cancer
Clinical Assistant Professor, UBC School of Nursing
Sandra B. Lauck, RN, PhD, FAAN, FCAN, FESCCo-Principal InvestigatorSt. Paul’s Hospital Professorship in Cardiovascular Nursing
Clinician Scientist, Providence Health Care
Associate Professor, UBC School of Nursing
Natasha Prodan-Bhalla, NP(A), BSN, MN, DNPPrincipal Knowledge UserVice President, Quality, Safety, Clinical Informatics & Chief of Nursing and Allied Practice, Provincial Health
Services Authority
Kevin Hare, RN, BSN, MBAKnowledge UserSenior Executive Director, Provincial Operations, BC Cancer
Sherri Kensall, RN, MSN, CNeph(C), GNC(C)Knowledge UserCNS-C & CNSABC President
Clinical Nurse Specialist, Nephrology, Fraser HealthAssistant Professor School of Nursing University of British Columbia
Brittany Watson, RN, MSNKnowledge UserExecutive Director, Quality Practice Environments, Providence Health Care
Denise Bryant-Lukosius, RN, CON(C) PhD, FAAN, FCAN, FHKANMCo-InvestigatorProfessor and Alba DiCenso Chair in Advanced Practice Nursing
Co-Director, Canadian Centre for APN Research
School of Nursing, McMaster University
Clinician Scientist, Juravinski Hospital and Cancer Centre
Farinaz Havaei, RN, PhDCo-InvestigatorAssociate Professor, UBC School of Nursing
Maura MacPhee, RN, PhDCo-InvestigatorProfessor Emeritus, UBC School of Nursing
Scott M. Beck, RN, MSN, MPHCo-InvestigatorClinical Nurse Specialist, BC Cancer
Jagbir Kaur, RN, MN, PhD(c)Co-InvestigatorClinical Nurse Specialist, BC Cancer
Sally Thorne, RN, PhD, FAAN, FCAH, FCAN, CMCo-InvestigatorProfessor Emeritus, UBC School of Nursing
Charissa Chiu, RN, MScN, CHPCN(C), CON(C)BC Cancer Research PersonnelClinical Nurse Specialist, BC Cancer
Heather Kilgour, RN, MSNBC Cancer Research PersonnelClinical Nurse Specialist, BC Cancer
Alpamys Issanov, MD, MPH, PhD(c)BC Cancer Research PersonnelStatistician, BC Cancer

Learn More

If you are interested in participating in this work, or would like to learn more, please contact the research team at research.kt@bccancer.bc.ca.

Policy Recommendations for Optimizing the Clinical Nurse Specialist Workforce in British Columbia on UBC Circle

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