Peggy Colbourne

Allowing nursing students greater autonomy in the health-care system may be one way to alleviate nursing shortages in the province's health care system.

In partnership with Newfoundland and Labrador (NL) Health Services - Western Zone, nurse educators at Western Regional School of Nursing are investigating the experiences of nursing students and health-care providers following a pilot project that introduced nurse collegian III positions to the nursing landscape.

Nursing faculty members, Ashley Sutton, Peggy Colbourne and Peggy Hancock, along with Jada Harvieux of NL Health Services, are asking students involved in the pilot, as well as supervising RNs, managers, clinical educators and care facilitators, to share their experiences of the Nurse Collegian III Pilot Program.

Peggy Hancock

Nursing students who have successfully completed the third year - including clinical preceptorship - of a bachelor of science in nursing (BScN) program from an approved school of nursing and who work under the supervision of an RN are qualified to take on the nurse collegian III position.

"In addition to learning about the experiences of students and health-care professionals in the pilot, we aim to provide useful suggestions for future offerings of the program," said Nurse Educator Ashley Sutton.

It's no secret that Newfoundland and Labrador has been experiencing nursing shortages since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. According to the NL Registered Nurses' Union, 90% of RNs and nurse practitioners have experienced burnout due to demanding working conditions, and 85% believe staff shortages have reached an unsafe level.

"Health-care organizations worldwide are struggling with a shortage of skilled health-care providers," said Nurse Educator Peggy Hancock. "The shortage of health-care providers is also being experienced in Newfoundland and Labrador, where it has been estimated that there is a shortage of more than 600 registered nurses with a further 900 nurses who are eligible for retirement in the next two years."

Jada Harvieux

Enter the Nurse Collegian III pilot program. Nurse Collegian IIIs have been employed in the central zone for the past decade, with a small pilot introduced in the eastern zones in 2022. The western zone rolled out its own pilot in spring 2023 that was largely modeled after the pilot in the eastern zone. Researchers are now looking into the success of the pilot program to and seeking opportunities for improvement and enhancement.

Historically, BScN students are an underutilized group. Nursing students have traditionally had opportunity for paid employment in health care, but their role has been in line with that of personal care attendants. The pilot program aims to expand their roles and competency levels within the healthcare setting.

The nurse collegian IIIs worked as members of the health-care team and were held accountable to provide competent, safe and ethical practice to individuals, families and groups through detailed supervision guidelines from an assigned registered nurse.

Ashley Sutton

The researchers' methodology involves focus groups - in-person and remote - to elicit qualitative data from three separate groups: nurse collegian IIIs, supervising RNs, and leadership (managers, clinical educators and care facilitators).

"It's our hope that this study provides insight into whether this position met and provided direction for future employment and professional development opportunities," said Ms. Sutton. "And, of course, we hope this provides direction in the support of recruitment and retention of RNs in the province."

In November, researchers will conclude the focus group portion of the study; analysis has already begun on data collected so far.

Seed funding for this study was provided through a Western Regional School of Nursing grant.