Quality Professional Practice Environment (QPPE)
In Newfoundland and Labrador much effort has been made to improve the quality of our workplaces and health of the workforce. For example, the Quality Professional Practice Environments (QPPE) project is a joint initiative of the Association of Registered Nurses of Newfoundland and Labrador (ARNNL) and the College of Licensed Practical Nurses of Newfoundland and Labrador (CLPNNL). The program was developed in response to nurses’ concerns about their ability to provide quality client care in challenging practice environments. It is designed to assist nurses and their employers to create and maintain quality workplaces using an action research framework that empowers nurses to develop practical solutions to their unit’s unique challenges.
To date, the program has been successfully implemented in twelve sites, including an interdisciplinary primary health care site, with more than 300 nurses (RN/LPN) participating across the province. Two new sites are scheduled to start the program in 2009. Feedback on the program has been very positive with the majority of participants reporting improvement in quality of work life measures, particularly in the areas of perceived power to influence change in their workplace and involvement in ongoing professional practice activities. Nurses say the program has “been a wonderful opportunity to empower us as nurses,” and “has really helped me understand how the unit is managed and how decisions are made.” Nurses also feel they “have some control back in [their] work life,” and are “excited that we are taking charge of our future.”
For more information contact:
JoAnna Bennett
QPPE Program Consultant
E-mail: jbennett@arnnl.ca
Phone: 709-753-6019
