Ontario is facing a shortage of skilled healthcare workers, like many other regions around the world. There are no quick fixes.

Queensway Carleton Hospital has implemented a 7-point plan to stabilize the hospital workforce, rebuild the team and create a positive work experience for everyone.

SCOPE OF PRACTICE: Looking at how individuals do their work to maximize their skills and job satisfaction.
SHARED CARE MODEL: Looking at how a team works to make the best use of every member of the team.
BEST SCHEDULES: Building attractive shifts and schedules to retain and recruit staff.
BUILDING THE PIPELINE: Creating great learning environments for HSAs, externs and other students so we become their employer of choice.
RETENTION: Fostering a healthy, safe and positive work experience where people are proud to come into work.
GLOBAL EXPERTISE: Become the hospital-of-choice for internationally educated nurses, physicians and other healthcare professionals.
EDUCATION & GROWTH: Delivering training and education opportunities so staff can progress their careers while remaining at QCH, and move into specialized areas of interest.

Vacancy Rates

Queensway Carleton Hospital has one of the best vacancy rates in the region. Since April 2022, we have reduced our vacancy rate significantly to 7.7 per cent, from 15.2 per cent; and our clinical vacancy rate decreased to 8.7 per cent, from 20 per cent. Our workforce is also stabilizing with an overall turnover rate of 6.8 per cent.

Internationally Educated Nurses (IENs)

QCH was an early adopter of the Supervised Practice Experience Program (SPEP) for Internationally Educated Nurses – and have had great success with the program. Since launching in 2022, we’ve hosted 46 program candidates and have hired 31 IENs. IENs are incredibly valuable members of our team, and a key element in reducing our nursing vacancy rate by 35% since 2022.

Clinical Scholar Program

With funding from the Ministry of Health, QCH launched a new initiative to support clinical teams. Six experienced nurses became Clinical Scholars. Their role was to mentor newly graduated nurses, internationally educated nurses, and nurses looking to upskill. Through the program, Clinical Scholars supported and empowered nurses with the necessary resources and expertise to deliver an exceptional care experience.

Clinical Externs

Clinical externs are students who provide support to our bedside teams across various hospital departments. They gain valuable mentorship from our staff. QCH currently employs 75 externs, contributing to a talent pipeline aligned with QCH's True North Strategy. 19,392 hours have been contributed by externs in this fiscal year alone.

New, Accelerated Anaesthesia Assistant Program

QCH, in collaboration with Mohawk College, has developed a new program in an effort to address the shortage of qualified Anaesthesia Assistants (AAs) in hospitals across the region. As of April 2024, the region has 15 new AA candidates who have completed the 28- week program, three of which will work at Queensway Carleton Hospital.

Best Schedules

In the past year, our focus on staff retention and recruitment has led to significant improvements in shift scheduling and workforce optimization.

So far, we've incorporated new and innovative scheduling options in 12 departments, including ICU and ED, to ensure staffing stability in support of both patient care and staff work-life harmony.

Supporting these efforts, we've developed 16 new Standard Operating Procedures for Staffing and Scheduling, covering essential aspects such as daily scheduling changes, timekeeping, position planning, and workload management.

These initiatives underscore our commitment to fostering a dynamic and responsive workplace environment while ensuring optimal resource allocation for exceptional patient care.

Changes in health care: The workforce