Inspiring Nurse Leaders: Optimizing the Working Lives of Nurses in Canada

Leigh Chapman was appointed as Canada's chief nursing officer in August 2022. One of her main priorities was to engage with nurses from across Canada. She heard from nurses about the complexity and the multi-faceted nature of health workforce challenges requiring innovative, comprehensive mitigation strategies. Information garnered from her engagement prompted the development of the "Nursing Retention Toolkit: Improving the Working Lives of Nurses in Canada" (Government of Canada 2024), which provides a framework that can be utilized by employers and organizations to enhance the working conditions of nurses. Canadian nurse leaders play a critical role in the implementation of the toolkit.