The nursing shortage crisis in Québec's McGill University affiliated teaching hospitals: strategies that can work

A frequently recurring theme expressed in both the professional health literature and other multimedia sources is the current nursing shortage crisis. This shortage is an ever present reality that is of serious concern and that will continue to escalate unless innovative and creative strategies are implemented. This article will specifically address one hospital's approach to the nursing shortage crisis in Québec's McGill University affiliated teaching hospitals. The pivotal issues of retention, recruitment and attraction of nursing as a profession are examined. Recommendations for dealing with these issues include: 1) restructuring nursing salaries, 2) redefining the types of nursing personnel resources, 3) flexibility in work schedule, 4) recognition, 5) providing an accurate public image of nursing, and 6) recruitment of males and mature persons. This article provides nursing administrators in the hospital, community, and educational settings with potential strategies that they can explore and apply in their own settings.