Cambridge hospital aims to boost recruitment and retention

For National Nursing Week, CTV Kitchener is going inside Waterloo region hospitals to hear from nurses themselves. In part one of our three-part Commitment to Care series, we visit Cambridge Memorial Hospital to see how they’re recruiting and retaining nursing staff.

Step inside Cambridge Memorial Hospital (CMH) and you’ll see nurses hard at work – but maybe not as many nurses as they’d like.

“We are at a place in time when we are more worried about staffing than we are about the spread of COVID-19,” says chief nursing executive Stephanie Pearsall.

Pearsall says the last few years have led to early retirements and burnout – and that means bringing on new nurses.

“We have a really novice work force that is coming in – a lot of young nurses coming in,” Pearsall says. “And how do we support them?”

Mentorship is one way.

“We are at a place in time when we are more worried about staffing than we are about the spread of COVID-19,” says Cambridge Memorial Hospital chief nursing executive Stephanie Pearsall.

In a new move this year, the hospital has introduced a program which pairs new nurses with experienced veterans.

“We know that many of our new nurses graduated nursing school during the pandemic, so their experiences, introductions into the nursing world, are much different than anything we've seen before, which does pose some challenges for them,” says Melissa Pragnell, clinical preceptor and nurse.

“This program really does help with retention of staff because it doesn't make them feel like they're alone on the floor.”

The program is not just helpful with retaining new staff – experienced nurses are benefitting as well.

“I love it when a new nurse is challenged by something and she's able to master the skill or is able to be influential with a patient and their family,” says Vera Heldmann, a nurse at CMH for 32 years. “That joy of how it brings to light their passion -- ignites my passion.”

Vera Heldmann has been a nurse at Cambridge Memorial Hospital for 32 years. (Spencer Turcotte/CTV Kitchener)

Heldmann says the hospital offers an appealing work-life balance, including flexible scheduling.

Nursing is also changing with the times. Staff are creating better practice for gender-affirming care, right down to patient wristbands.

“We want to be able to affirm our patients' genders and identities by using their preferred name, their preferred pronouns and their gender,” says Holly Byrne, manager of professional practice.

There are also plans in the works to change the names of certain programs and procedures. For example, the hospital wants to switch the Women and Children’s Program to Family and Children’s Program. When it comes to breast reconstruction surgeries, the terminology will be changed to chest reconstruction.

The goal is that it will create a more inclusive environment for both patients and staff members.

Part two of the Commitment to Care series will air Thursday on CTV News Kitchener at Six.