Analysis of the Positive Trend in the Canadian Nursing Workforce

This essay examines a positive trend in Canadian nursing: the increasing number of nurse practitioners. It explores the trend's description, application, and benefits, including enhanced outpatient care, preventive health, and increased nurse informatics. The paper discusses the trend's impact on the nursing profession, emphasizing improved access to medical treatment and reduced costs, especially in rural areas. The essay highlights the significance of cultural competency, increasing awareness among the general population, and the role of nurse practitioners in addressing healthcare challenges. The discussion includes statistics from the Canadian Institute of Health Information and references various studies to support the arguments, offering a comprehensive overview of the positive developments within the Canadian nursing landscape and the implications for healthcare policy and practice.

Running head: CANADIAN NURSING TREND 1
A Positive Canadian Nursing Trend
Name of the Student:
Name of the University:
Author note:

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Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................3
Thesis Statement..............................................................................................................................3
Description of the trend...................................................................................................................3
Application of the trend...............................................................................................................5
Benefits of the trend.....................................................................................................................6
Impact of the positive trend on the nursing profession................................................................8
Conclusion.....................................................................................................................................10
References......................................................................................................................................11

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Introduction
The requirement of skilled, professional, well-educated and well-trained nurses are
always increasing that will assist the doctors in improving the health condition of an individual
and make effective clinical decisions that would be beneficial for every individual within the
country. The nursing profession has always evolved in Canada due to the response of different
internal and external developments within the healthcare system and the demand is increasing at
meteoric pace (Shatto, Meyer & Delicath, 2016, pp. 97-103). Nurses play a major role in
maintaining an effective balance in the physical health and mental stability of the patient as they
guide and educate the patient and assist them in thriving the different health-related challenges
(Laschinger, & Fida, 2015, pp. 276-283). Recently, there have been a positive trend in nursing
observed in Canada of increasing nursing workforce employed in hospitals to improve the
quality of care provided to the patients and help in achieving a better health outcome (Price &
Reichert, 2017, pp. 17). As per the statistics that have been released in the year 2018 by the
Canadian Institute of Health Information (CIHI), 5697 nursing practitioners have been provided
with an active license to work in Canada (Canadian Institute of Health Information, 2019). This
discussion paper will be discussing a variety of views on the positive trend within the profession
of nursing. The number of nursing practitioners has increased drastically in the healthcare
organizations which will be discussed in the paper.
Thesis Statement
A positive trend in Canadian nursing – increased number of nurse practitioners

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Description of the trend
Healthcare is an important sector with the recruitment of extremely qualified individuals
who care profoundly about the future of the healthcare system (Sinclair et al., 2018, e019701).
This involves mainly doctors and nurses, as well as occupational therapists and specialists. These
individuals are essential in delivering healthcare amenity to the population of the patient
effectively and efficiently.
Between the year 2017 and 2018, a growth rate of 8.02% in the workforce has been
observed. The increasing population in the country have been increasing by the year for which
the percentage of the nurses that are employed to provide services should also be increasing. The
overall rate of growth of the nursing professionals is around 1% which follows the rate of growth
in the population. For understanding the growth rate in the recruitment of the nurses in an
organization, the age group and the gender of the individuals are critically assessed (Rodrígues-
Martín, Stolt, Katajisto & Suhonen, 2016, pp. 250-259). The number of male nurses that have
been a part of the nursing population is 37,636 which accounted for 9.5% (Creamer & Austin,
2017, pp. e231-e236). The regulated nurses in the profession have seen an increase of 32%
between the years 2017 and 2018. This has increased the level of interest in students who want to
take up nursing as a career choice. Nursing has been portrayed as a positive career choice as it
offers care to ill people (Van Iersel, Latour, De Vor, Kirschner & op Reimer, 2016, pp. 1-19).
The nurses have the opportunity to provide the best quality of care to the patient to ensure
maximum satisfaction of the patient and the relatives they have been accompanied with
(Laschinger & Fida, 2015, pp. 276-283). The total number of nurse practitioner has drastically
increased and almost doubled in the past five years, which exhibited a jump of 25% in the total
recruitment of nurse practitioners. In 2006, the total number of nurse practitioners working was

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approximately 1,129 that had almost doubled to 2.486 in 2010 (Buchan, Twigg, Dussault,
Duffield & Stone, 2015, pp. 162-170). The nurse practitioners are therefore considered as the
crucial part of delivering effective care to the patient and providing best medical assistance and
because of this lucrative offer, nursing graduates from other countries have been immigrating to
Canada for better job sustainability.
Application of the trend
Nursing pay depends on various components, including whether an association is
unionized. Numerous medical clinic attendants, for instance, are paid by the pay lattice consulted
by the Hospital Central Collective Agreement. Around 50,000 medical attendants are secured
under this understanding. Non-unionized emergency clinics and different parts more often than
not consult with individual workers or with gatherings of representatives. As a rule, paces of RN
pay depend on years of administration scales and begin at $21.75 every hour coming to as high
as $40 every hour.
In intense consideration, new alumni are paid $30.17 hourly for yearly payment of
$58,831.50. The full-time RN base rate range keeps running from first-year pay of $28.08 60
minutes ($53,040 every year) to 25-year pay of $40 60 minutes ($78,000 per year), as indicated
by the Ontario Nurses' Association. Extra time pay is commonly one and a half times the hourly
rate. Government of Canada have attempted in enhancing the recruitment procedure to assist in
tackling the continuous deficit issue, create an awareness of the desire of nurses to terminate
from their profession, and boost the recruitment of registered nurses in rural areas (Nowrouzi et
al., 2016, pp. 51–58). Rural healthcare environment seems to face the recruitment challenge as
studied by Nowrouzi et al., (2016) and therefore it is recommended by the government to explore

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possible relationships between work areas and minimum outcomes of nurses (Mooring, 2016, pp.
204-208).
Quebec is home to quickly growing social insurance administrations. This incorporates
the development of two enormous emergency clinic buildings in Montreal, which are finished in
2015 and 2016. The region has taken measures to guarantee that it keeps on developing its
medical caretaker populace (Taylor & Foster, 2015, pp. 153-172). The QSW program, which is
the fundamental wellspring of financial movement to Quebec, as of late improved its focuses
framework such that favours attendants (Gross, 2017, pp. 99-119). Nursing experts may now
gain 16 towards their general QSW point prerequisite, up from 12 points previously. This speaks
to the most noteworthy conceivable measure of focuses that can be granted for any zone of
preparing/field of study. This expansion in focuses is critical. Quebec, as a rule, puts a high
accentuation on French-language abilities for people hoping to move. Be that as it may, many
nursing candidates won't really need to learn French so as to get enough indicates move under
the QSW program, on account of the measure of focuses they will get for their expert foundation.
Medical attendants in Quebec can get normal pay going somewhere in the range of $50,000 and
$60,000 per year. Because of nursing deficiencies all through the territory, there are numerous
chances to acquire significantly more than this. One article from April 2013 depicted a medical
caretaker acquiring an amazing $315,000 through extra time work and advantages.
Benefits of the trend
The positive trend in the nursing profession is beneficial and useful for the patient and the
healthcare organizations that will guide in the development of the nursing career and also help
the nursing practitioners to overcome the challenges that they can face or might encounter during

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their complete clinical practice. The five major advantages of the positive nursing trend are as
follows (Fleiszer, Semenic, Ritchie, Richer & Denis, 2016, pp. 204-218):
 Enhanced outpatient care- The effective care and support to the outpatient is in
demands because of the numerous factors such as utilising effective technologies,
reducing the pressure and treating the patient to eliminate the risk of any hospital-
acquired infection. There has been a gradual increase in the growth (25%) of the
enhanced outpatient care as compared to inpatient care services (Canadian Institute of
Health Information, 2019). Financial constraints and other health associated illness are
responsible for increasing the risk of adverse events, hence, in such conditions the patient
requires detail and extensive care from the nurse practitioners, who will aim to enhance
the outpatient care and support and facilitate the complete treatment procedure (Chesak et
al., 2015, pp. 38-44).
 Preventive health- The primary role of increasing the total number of nurse practitioners
is to prevent the poor health condition of the patient by identifying their health issue and
practising the best preventive strategy that can be used to solve the health issue of the
patient. With time, large numbers of patients are turning into savvier regarding
maintaining a healthy diet, tracking their activity levels and modifying the wellness
approaches that will help them to stay fit and healthy (Risling, 2017, pp. 89-92). Hence,
in order to assist different people with their health concern, a large number of nurse
practitioners are required who will help the patient to manage with their chronic illness
and educate them to improve their overall health condition.
 Increase in nurse informatics- As the technology is increasing and modernizing; the
requirement of skilled and proficient nurse practitioners is also increasing to cope up with

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the high demand of patient satisfaction and also increasing the practice of health
informatics within different healthcare organizations. Effective nurse informatics will
assist in implementing the evidence-based practice for enhancing patient care. The
improved patient care is done through effective collection of data, analysis of the
information, faster and easier collaboration among the healthcare professionals and
recognises the small and large scale patient tend that will, in turn, support the positive
trend in the nursing profession (Kaasalainen et al., 2016, pp. 156-167).
 Maintaining the cultural competency- The total number of local nurse practitioners in
Canada is less as compared to the other nurse practitioners belonging to different cultural
background. In the year 2008, 15.8% and 12.3% of culturally diverse nursing
professionals had graduated from universities in British Columbia and Ontario (Canadian
Nurses Association, 2010). A large number of nurse practitioners are required to maintain
the tradition, culture and belief of the patient and help the patient to feel comfortable and
happy while communicating and sharing their concern. Hence, the need of the nurse
practitioners is increasing day by day to maintain the cultural competency of the patient
and help the patient in recovering from their bad health condition (Bryant et al., 2016, pp.
201-209).
 Increasing awareness among the general population- In the developing world, the
patients are becoming more knowledgeable regarding the different health issues and tend
to solve their concern independently but they require assistance from the nurse who can
help them to guide their care plan and also motivate them to increase their awareness
regarding the chronic illness (Lobo, Ploeg, Fisher, Peachy & Akhtar-Danesh, 2017, pp.

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400-410). The nurse practitioner will, therefore, help such patient to take proper guidance
and support from them and reduce the risk of health issues.
Hence, the above-mentioned advantages are responsible for increasing and highlighting the
positive trend in the nursing profession in Canada.
Impact of the positive trend on the nursing profession
The policymakers present in the healthcare organization of Canada believe that nurse
practitioners have the capability to improve the access of the enhanced medical treatment and
reduce the complete cost of treating an individual as compared to the past few years. This trend
has led to the recruitment of a large number of nurse practitioners among Canada, particularly,
among the northern and rural regions of the country. This particular part of the country is facing
shortages among nurse practitioners, who can effectively educate and guide the patient suffering
from various chronic illness and help them to recover from their health condition (Ariste &
Béjaoui, 2015, pp. 48). Earlier the nurse practitioners were only working within the community
as community-based practice work but due to this trend and increased demand of the nurse
practitioners large number of nurses are getting recruited in the hospital and different healthcare
organization to provide long-term support and care to the patient. In the community work the
nurses were not receiving adequate payment and no job security or benefits were provided to
them that was responsible for large number of job dissatisfaction among the nurse practitioners,
but due to the positive impact of the trend the nurse practitioner is now receiving good payment
and are taking up the job with interest and safety as they are receiving better paycheques and
pension plan that result in better job security among the Canadian nurse practitioners (Ariste &
Béjaoui, 2018, pp. 1-23). Due to the positive trend the nurse practitioners are getting recruited

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among the hospital setting in a large number and are working mainly within the emergency
department (ED) and are primarily responsible to perform triage and tackle with the less severe
cases. The nurse practitioners gain relevant knowledge and ideas regarding the management of
the patient and educate them to quickly recover from chronic illness like diabetes and cardiac
rehabilitation (Cowley, Cooper & Goldberg, 2016). Hence, it can be understood that the positive
trend has impacted the nursing profession in Canada and aims to improve the quality of nurses
being recruited in the healthcare organization. It is being increasingly implemented by the
government of Canada to improve the quality of healthcare provided to patients.
Conclusion
In conclusion, it can be understood that this nursing trend in Canada is ever-growing. The
objective of the nurse’s profession is to perform without any discrimination. The nurse should
treat the patient irrespective of their gender, colour, and nationality. Patient satisfaction holds
great value in the healthcare system. It enables the system to check its flaws and work on it.
Emotional connection with the patients plays a huge role in this profession. The patient must
always trust the treatment that he or she is being offered. The physicians have sufficient
knowledge of the best treatment to treat a particular disease. Intensive care patients fall under a
specific area of treatment. The nursing professionals assigned for an intensive care unit must
acquire certain skills while undergoing their degree. They should deliver holistic and humane
care towards the critically-ill patient. The nurse’s actions are influenced when the workload
increases and the critical nature of the patient are sacrificed. The nurses who are beginning their
careers and are assigned to work in intensive care might be anxious or scared to deal with the
visual images of the suffering of patients. A holistic approach must be adopted by the nursing

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professionals to give optimum amount of patient care. Critical thinking of the nurse is important
incorrect assessment of the patient’s vital parameters. Acute care patients require constant
attention to their parameters for strict control.

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