Commentary: The Nursing Workforce: Who Will Be Left to Answer the Call?

Abstract

Nursing leaders play a critical role in responding to health human resource challenges. Innovative approaches are needed to retain and support the nursing workforce; recruitment alone is unlikely to address the gap. Actions to robustly support the onboarding of new graduate nurses, ongoing professional development opportunities and creative scheduling arrangements are all required to retain nurses. Shifting to a widened definition of the "health team" and a move from the traditionally siloed scope of practice models will require a transformational shift in thinking, and nursing leaders must lead that change. Health human resource planning must also occur in lockstep with population health planning.