Retention of Canadian Advanced Practice Nurses: What Will It Take?

Area of Science:

• Health Services Research
• Nursing Workforce Studies
• Healthcare Policy

Background:

• Advanced practice nurses (APNs), encompassing clinical nurse specialists and nurse practitioners, are vital to Canada's healthcare system.
• APNs play a critical role in addressing patient and population health needs, particularly in underserved communities.
• A deficit in APNs can worsen access to care across primary, acute, long-term, and transitional care settings.

Purpose of the Study:

• To review the current state of advanced practice nurse (APN) human resources in Canada.
• To identify key barriers and facilitators impacting APN retention within the Canadian healthcare workforce.
• To provide evidence-based recommendations for enhancing APN retention strategies.

Main Methods:

• Literature review synthesizing existing research on advanced practice nurse (APN) human resources in Canada.
• Analysis of influential factors affecting the retention of APNs, including clinical nurse specialists and nurse practitioners.
• Synthesis of reported recommendations for improving APN workforce stability.

Main Results:

• The literature highlights significant challenges in retaining advanced practice nurses (APNs) across Canada.
• Identified barriers and facilitators significantly influence the stability of the APN workforce.
• Specific recommendations emerge from the literature to address retention issues.

Conclusions:

• The retention of advanced practice nurses (APNs) is a critical national health human resources issue in Canada.
• Addressing identified barriers and leveraging facilitators is essential for maintaining an adequate APN workforce.
• Implementing strategic recommendations is necessary to ensure the continued availability of APNs for patient care.