Strategic Plan (renewed in 2012) Creating Our Future

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Strategic Plan 2008-2016

(renewed in 2012)

Creating Our Future

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Introduction

Established in 1920 as one of Canada’s first university nursing programs, the Arthur Labatt Family School of Nursing is steeped in tradition and remains a leader in its discipline.

Our School began with Canada's first certificate course in public health nursing in 1920, followed a short time later by the first baccalaureate program in nursing, in conjunction with London hospitals. The rapid growth of our nursing programs paralleled society's attention to the improvement of socioeconomic conditions and health services. Western was the first university to appoint a Dean of a Faculty of Nursing in 1947, and the launched the first Master of Science in Nursing program in 1959. Through the years, the School has led the development of innovative baccalaureate, master's, and doctoral programs in clinical nursing and research, including a Nursing Research Unit that supports researchers who now hold more than $36 million of external funding, and engages in collaborative research projects around the globe.

In 2008, the School received a very generous endowment from Mr. Arthur Labatt and his family and the School was renamed in his honor as the Arthur Labatt Family School of Nursing.

Today, the School is distinguished for many aspects: the quality of faculty, students, and staff; leadership and scholarship through ongoing research under an organizing framework of empowerment in client, student, and health care delivery settings. Faculty and students look optimistically to the future, and the School's continued place of prominence in nursing education.

The refreshed strategic plan, Creating Our Future, describes our vision for the School, including key strategic directions, goals, milestones and priorities for the next 36 months.

Setting the Stage

The environment in which the School operates is constantly changing. To be successful in the long term, the School needs to be aware of and proactively respond to developing trends across Canada and Ontario, and within our university and our community.

National Developments

Health Canada has articulated priorities for health care that point to the increasing importance of prevention and health promotion to ensure that Canadians receive high quality and affordable health care. These priorities lead to an intensified focus on research, which is entirely consistent with the School's priorities.

Health Canada believes that prevention and health promotion can hold health care costs down and improve quality of life in the long term. To this end, the Department is committed to meeting the challenges of tomorrow by

supporting research and fostering partnerships with researchers across the country and the world. We also work collaboratively with the provinces and territories to test ways in which the Canadian health care system can be improved and ensure its sustainability for the future.

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Similarly, the Canadian Nurses Association (CNA) recognizes the wave of changes influenced by global and regional dynamics that will drive the need for knowledge, expertise and capacity of nurses to find solutions to health care challenges. The CNA, like Health Canada, recognizes the increasing importance of health promotion and promoting community-based care1.

Provincial Priorities

The role of nurses is changing in Ontario. Recent policy initiatives have increased the scope of nursing practice, and both registered nurses and advance practice nurses are taking on increasingly important roles in primary health care.

At the same time, the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care (MOHTLC) has articulated a provincial action plan for Ontario that has identified community-based care and services as a preferred option for many patients who are currently in hospital. Community-based service was the only health care sector that was allocated an increase in funding in the 2012 budget. The resulting changes in how nurses practice (e.g., from hospital- to community-based services and from acute care to health promotion and chronic disease management) create an opportunity for nursing to have a greater impact on the social determinants of health.

The continued focus at the provincial level and in the Local Health Integration Networks (which fund both hospitals and many community-based services including Community Care Access Centres) and primary health care reform (including the development of family health teams and Nurse Practitioner-led Clinics) has created new opportunities for interdisciplinary education and practice for today’s nurses. There have also been investments and innovative pilot projects to use technologies to improve access to care and patient outcomes.

Our Community

The City of London, in its Council Strategic Plan 2011-2014, articulated several priorities related to improving the health and well-being of its local population. These priorities also emphasize the need to focus on prevention and public awareness, to improve accessibility and affordability of services and support individuals at all stages of life.

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The Next Decade: CNA's vision for Nursing and Health

Council Strategic Plan 2011-2014 (Health Priorities)  Increase the health and well-being of all citizens  Ensure affordability and accessibility in all areas

 Provide effective and integrated community based social and housing supports

 Support individuals at all stages of life, from newborns to the elderly, and from newcomers to the established

 Implement comprehensive public education programs  Promote public awareness through prevention programs

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The University Environment

The number of nurses graduating from entry-to-practice programs continues to increase. In Ontario in 2011, 3,703 nurses graduated, an increase of 3.7% from 20102. At the same time, interest in post-graduate nursing education has also increased. From 2006-07 to 2010-11, enrolment in Ontario increased:

 From 695 to 749 in 2010-11 in nursing master’s programs,  From 324 to 423 in nurse practitioner programs, and  From 139 to 178 in doctoral programs.

The approach to nursing education is also changing with the increasing use of flexible delivery (FD):  Across Canada, more than half of nursing programs, including nurse practitioner and master’s

program) use some form of FD, and one-quarter of doctoral programs use some FD options.  During the past five years, the number of fast-track entry-to-practice programs in Ontario has

increased from 12 in 2006/07 to 22 in 2010/11.

As enrolment increases, particularly in the post-graduate fields, educational institutions will need more faculty at all levels. With potential retirements (e.g., 18% of faculty are 60 years of age or older, 39% are 55 or older), and current shortages (an estimated 76 full-time vacancies across Canada and plans to hire 215 full-time faculty in 2012), all nursing programs will need to compete for high caliber faculty. Nursing programs can also expect to encounter shortages of qualified part-time professional practice instructors to facilitate student learning in various settings.

Western University

Western University has adopted an aspirational goal to be among the top five research-intensive universities in Canada and to develop a much stronger international presence. Western's four key strategic priorities are:

 Raising its international profile,

 Enhancing the quality of undergraduate and graduate programs,

 Expanding its educational reach in the region and around the world, and  Enhancing support for faculty and staff.

As part of Western University, the School needs to reflect the University's priorities in its own strategic plan.

A Refreshed Vision for the School

The School developed its strategic plan four years ago to cover the period 2008-2013. In preparation for the development of the next strategic plan, and to recognize many significant developments in the

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The statistics in this section are taken from Registered Nurses Education in Canada Statistics 2010-2011.

Registered Nurse Workforce, Canadian Production: Potential New Supply. November 2012. Published by Canadian Nurses Association and Canadian Association of Schools of Nursing. Note that the statistics are based on responses to a survey and may not reflect the full population.

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nursing education environment, the School undertook a process “Envisioning 2020” to refresh its strategic plan through a series of consultations on what nursing might look like in 10 years and how the School could best prepare to deliver on that vision.

The Envisioning 2020 process encompassed a series of focus groups with faculty and students, leading to a retreat with key stakeholders to determine how this new information could be integrated into the strategic plan. The findings of the Envisioning 2020 process complemented the School’s existing priorities, while refining many of the specific strategies.

Although the overall direction and priorities of the strategic plan did not change, nursing leadership and faculty felt that it needed an inclusionary process to build ownership of the refreshed strategic plan across all parties - faculty, staff, students, and other stakeholders. Accordingly, stakeholders were invited to a one-day retreat with two objectives:

• Refresh the School's strategic plan to encompass the Envisioning 2020 work • Identify three or four "refreshed" priorities and associated goals.

A list of retreat participants (2020 Envisioning and Strategic Plan) is provided in Appendix A.

Our Vision and Mission

Based on the input from the Envisioning 2020 exercise and discussions during the retreat, the vision and mission were revised slightly, as shown below.

Vision

The Arthur Labatt Family School of Nursing will continue to be a recognized leader in innovative health professional education,

research, practice, and policy.

Mission

The Arthur Labatt Family School of Nursing will educate nurses who are reflective practitioners and provide recognized leadership in

nursing theory, research, practice, inter-professional health teaching and learning, and policy advancements. This mission will be achieved by developing and disseminating knowledge related to nursing education, health services delivery,

and nursing practice which include the promotion of health and healing, and equitable and innovative health care delivery in local

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Strategic Directions

The stakeholders came to consensus on three strategic directions to guide the School's work for the next 36 months. Collectively, these strategic directions, and their associated goals and priorities, reflect the need to educate nurses to make a difference in research, education, and practice, including

contributions to research and health policy, and to ensure that the School continues to attract excellent students, faculty, and staff needed to achieve its goals.

Strategic Direction 1: Generate, use and exchange knowledge that makes a difference

and supports transformation in research, education and practice

The importance of generating, using, and sharing knowledge is reflected in Western University's goal to be one of the top research intensive universities in Canada, and the School's own recognition of the importance of research as a foundational requirement to drive change in practice and policy.

The School already has a strong research focus that has attracted significant external funds and some of Canada's top nurse researchers. The scope of research activities is broad and includes the following:

 The School's Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) Program in Nursing prepares nurse scientists to conduct research and to assume major roles in the development, evaluation, and dissemination of knowledge on topics of interest in nursing. Nurtured by close mentoring relationships with faculty advisors, students in the doctoral program engage early and continuously in research. PhD Researchers may choose to focus in one of three fields of study: Leadership in Nursing Education, Nursing Leadership in Health Services Delivery, and Nursing Leadership in Health Promotion and Healing.

 In 1993, the Faculty of Nursing established the Nursing Research Unit and created the position of Associate Director Nursing Research. Researchers in the School have attracted funding from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), Canadian Health Services Research

Foundation (CHSRF), Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) and private foundations. Programs of research in the Faculty address topics in the educational, nursing health services, health promotion, and clinical domains of nursing practice.

 The Echo Chair in Rural Women's Health Research positions Western as a Center of Excellence in Rural Women’s Health Research. The work of the current chair focusses on understanding health inequities of rural women who have experienced Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) and working to reduce such inequities through meaningful practice and policy change.

Strategic Directions (Priorities)

1. Generate, use, and exchange knowledge that makes a difference and supports transformation in research, education, and practice. 2. Create, implement, and evaluate innovative, context-relevant

curricula.

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 The Arthur Labatt Family Nursing Research Chair in Human Resource Optimization leads a broad research agenda examining issues related to planning and management of health human

resources central to developing an appropriately educated healthcare workforce whose capacity is developed and whose members are retained to provide high quality, safe health care in a variety of settings

The School has adopted three goals to support its strategic direction of generating, using and

exchanging knowledge that makes a difference and supports transformation in research, education, and practice:

1. Lead and influence decision-making and policy related to health and health professional education;

2. Build and sustain research capacity; and 3. Create and sustain a culture of mentorship.

The specific strategies that have been developed to support the achievement of the stated goals are shown in the table below.

Strategic Direction 1: Generate, use, and exchange knowledge that makes a difference and supports transformation in research, education and practice

Goal Strategies

1. Lead and influence decision-making and policy related to health and health professional education

1. Continue to foster relationships with policy-makers and practitioners and include them in the research process.

2. Offer workshops through NRU focused on Knowledge Transfer and Exchange (KTE) and policy analysis.

3. To encourage and support the use of social media and make key messages more accessible and engaging.

4. Encourage, support and highlight involvement in service (related to research, education, practice) including a strategic review of faculty involvement identifying gaps internally, locally, provincially, nationally, internationally.

2. Build and sustain research capacity

1. Create a vehicle for information sharing and mutual support related to seeking and obtaining research funding.

2. Broaden the focus of the Scholarship Forum session to include interactive sessions relating to leadership in research, service, education, and practice.

3. Create and sustain a culture of

mentorship

1. Continue to create opportunities for students and faculty to participate in mentorship programs for research, education, and practice.

2. Create more opportunities for collaboration in informal or social settings.

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Strategic Direction 2: Create, implement and evaluate innovative, context-relevant

curricula

An important part of preparing nurse leaders for their future roles in a changing health care system is to ensure that the curriculum focuses on the skills and knowledge they will need throughout their careers. It is important to develop and implement relevant curricula and to evaluate the curricula continuously to assess how well they are meeting program and student needs.

Strategic Direction 2: Create, implement, and evaluate innovative, context-relevant curricula

1. Develop integrated curricula

1. Integrate research and placement practica within the curriculum.

2. Embrace

Interprofessional education

1. Create an interprofessional environment

3. Redefine approach to professional practice

1. Explore approaches to professional practice in various contexts (e.g., simulation, teaching units, innovative relationships with professional partners, flexible scheduling/location/timing)

4. Maintain and enhance continual and consistent evaluation

1. Conduct summative and formative curriculum and program evaluation 2. Evaluate along the full continuum of learning (e.g., undergraduate,

graduate, and in practice)

3. Stay abreast of what other schools are doing

Strategic Direction 3: Attract, recruit and retain excellent students, faculty and staff

The ability to attract, recruit, and retain excellent students, faculty and staff is critical for all educational institutions. The School's reputation will be built on the caliber of educators and researchers it can attract and retain, and the quality of its graduates.

Strategic Direction 3: Attract, recruit, and retain excellent students, faculty, and staff

1. Attract, recruit and retain excellent students

1. Promote the School to potential students

2. Pilot alternative and complementary admission processes

3. Offer flexible program options for enhancing learning (e.g., on-line) 2. Attract, recruit and

retain excellent faculty

1. Maintain and enhance a research intensive environment

2. Accommodate a flexible workload and create flexible program delivery 3. Mentor non-tenure track and tenure track faculty into existing research

programs

4. Offer research start-up funds and competitive salaries 3. Attract, recruit and 1. Ensure sufficient staff to meet School operational needs

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retain excellent

staff 2. Provide supports for staff to reach their full potential, including _{mentoring opportunities} 4. Promote visibility of

the School in research,

education, practice, and policy

1. Develop a suite of approaches to reach our target audiences (e.g., state of the art website, brochures, presentations at schools and community events)

2. Develop innovative marketing plans (e.g., supporting faculty and students in the local press) for specific target audiences (e.g., policy makers, graduate students)

Moving Forward with Implementation

Many of the activities and programs that were initiated as part of the original 2008-2013 Strategic Plan are still relevant in the context of the refreshed strategic directions and goals. The refreshed strategy will require some refinement of these initiatives and perhaps some new initiatives, building on the work that is already in progress.

The School’s Leadership Team will continue to provide oversight for the implementation and be accountable for monitoring progress against the detailed implementation plan. The Leadership Team will work with existing committees to assign specific goals and deliverables within this existing structure wherever practical. There may also be opportunities for individuals or new task/working groups to be charged with some activities.

Each strategic goal or strategy (e.g., admissions, web-site development, communications, research activities) may be assigned to a task/working group, which will be asked to develop plans for the implementation and ongoing monitoring and evaluation of the initiative. These working groups will be asked to conduct data collection to support the implementation and evaluation as required.

Priorities for Next 36 Months

The School is intending to conduct a full strategic planning exercise in 2016; therefore, the focus of its implementation activities will be on following through with existing plans from the 2008-2013 strategic plan and developing a handful of additional initiatives to address the refreshed directions and goals. The School has a rigorous process in place to document the work plan, and the reporting and evaluation of progress against each of its strategies. This document will be updated to reflect the new goals and strategies on an ongoing basis. Where initiatives already exist to support the refreshed strategy (e.g., mentorship programs, curriculum development), the work plans will be reviewed and revised, if necessary, to better reflect current priorities.

The Leadership Team will ensure that the priorities which are well addressed in the current work plans are given adequate attention to ensure successful planning and implementation.

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Appendix A: 2020 Envisioning Participants Configuration of Faculty/Students Professional Practice Approaches Teaching/Learning Delivery Modes Configuration of

Programs Our Mission

Abe Oudshoorn Barbara Sinclair Carole Orchard Angela Law Ann Hoffer Camille Burnett Jessica Timbrell Judith Moore-Hepburn Carol McWilliam Eileen Denomy

Christy Tran Lorie Donelle Marilyn Evans Cheryl Forchuk Karen George Michel

David Reid Michele Hancock Pam Dietrich Denice Litzan Marilyn Ford-Gilboe

Karen Ferguson Sue Leach Stephanie Jones Jean Morrow Oona St-Amant

Lindsay Anderson Sue Ray Mickey Kerr

Mary Bawden Yolanda Babenko-Mould Nancy Patrick

Nancy Platt Thelma Riddell

Group facilitator is noted by bold, purple font

Strategic Envisioning Retreat Participants

Abe Oudshoorn Denice Litzan Kristin Heard Michelle Wagler Sandra McKay Angela Law Heather Laschinger Lisa DuCharme Mickey Kerr Scott Bradley Hunter Ann Hoffer Helene Berman Marcella Sholdice (Facilitator) Myriam Delgado Silvie Crawford

Barbara Sinclair Jessica Timbrell Marilyn Evans Nancy Patrick Sue Anthony

Bev Leipert Jim Weese Marilyn Ford-Gilboe Nancy Platt Sue Leach

Carol McWilliam Judith Moore-Hepburn Mary Bawden Oona St-Amant Thelma Riddell Carol Wong Karen Ferguson Mary-Anne Andrusyszyn Pam Dietrich Tiffany Trudgeon Carole Orchard Karen Katsademas Michele Hancock Pat Bethune-Davies Tony O'Regan Cathy Ward-Griffin Karen Michel Kristin Heard Richard Booth