Aims: This study aimed to understand how the personal and professional resilience of Registered Practical Nurses working in long‐term care (LTC) homes in Ontario were impacted during the Coronavirus 2019 pandemic.Background: Registered Practical Nurses are primary regulated healthcare providers that have worked in Ontario LTC homes during the COVID‐19 pandemic. As frontline workers, they have experienced increased stress secondary to lockdowns, changing Ministry of Health recommendations, social isolation and limited resources. LTC homes experienced almost a third of all COVID‐19‐related deaths in Ontario. Understanding registered practical nurses' (RPNs) resilience in this context is vital in developing the programs and supports necessary to help nurses become and stay resilient in LTC and across a range of settings.Methods: Purposive sampling was used to recruit 40 Registered Practical Nurses working in LTC homes across Ontario for interviews. Charmaz's Grounded theory guided in‐depth one‐on‐one interviews and analyses completed between April to September 2021.Results: Registered Practical Nurse participants represented 15 (37.5%) private, and 25 (62.5%) public LTC homes across Ontario Local Health Integration Networks. Findings informed two distinct perspectives on resilience, one where nurses were able to maintain resilience and another where they were not. Sustaining and fraying resilience, presented as bimodal processes, was observed in four themes: ‘Dynamic Role of the Nurse’, ‘Preserving Self’, ‘Banding Together’ and ‘Sense of Leadership Support’.Conclusion: Resilience was largely drawn from themselves as individuals. Resources to support self‐care and work‐life balance are needed. Additionally, workplace supports to build capacity for team‐based care practices, collegial support in problem‐solving and opportunities for ‘connecting’ with LTC nursing colleagues would be beneficial. Our findings suggest a role for professional development resources in the workplace that could help rebuild this workforce and support RPNs in providing quality care for older adults living in LTC.Patient or Public Contribution: Our research team included two members of the Registered Practical Nurses Association of Ontario, and these team members contributed to the discussion and design of the study methodology, recruitment, analysis and interpretation. Further, RPNs working in long‐term care during the COVID‐19 pandemic were the participants in this study and, therefore, contributed to the data. They did not contribute to data analysis or interpretation.

The aim of this scoping review is to summarize and critically evaluate research focused on nursing bridging education programs internationally. Specifically, this review addresses bridging from a: (1) Personal Support Worker (or similar) to a Registered Practical Nurse (or similar); and (2) Registered Practical Nurse (or similar) to a Registered Nurse. Nursing bridging education programs support learners to move from one level of educational preparation or practice to another. These programs can therefore increase nursing workforce capacity. Global healthcare systems have faced nursing shortages for decades. Moreover, the presently insufficient nursing workforce is confronting an ever-increasing volume of needed healthcare that is rising with the global ageing demographic shift. The Joanna Briggs Institute methods for scoping reviews, combined with Arksey and O'Malley's (2005) guidelines, were used with the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses Extension for Scoping Reviews (PRISMA-ScR). MEDLINE (Ovid), CINAHL, EMBASE and SCOPUS databases were searched. Articles published in English that included Personal Support Workers, Registered Practical Nurses, Registered Nurses and/or nurses in similar categories who were studied through the process of a nursing bridging education program were included in the review. The study search was limited to papers published after 2005 (i.e., the beginning of nurse workload "overload" according to the Canadian Nurses Association). Braun and Clarke's (2006) thematic analysis was used in a content analysis of the included studies. A total of 15 articles published between 2005 and 2022 were included. Four themes were generated: (1) participating in bridging education programs fuels both professional and personal development; (2) nursing bridging education programs enhance diversity in the nursing workforce; (3) student nurses do not anticipate the challenges associated with participating in a bridging program; and (4) mentor-mentee connection promotes academic learning and successful completion of nursing bridging education programs. Despite experiencing challenges, participation in/completion of nursing bridging education programs leads to successful role transitioning and self-reported fulfillment of personal and professional aspirations. This review revealed the need for bridging programs to accommodate the unique needs of student nurses. Incorporation of support services, mentorship and faculty familiarity with varying nursing educational backgrounds facilitates role transitions by reducing the perceived challenges of bridging and promoting connection to foster learning. Nursing bridging education programs allow greater numbers of nurses to be trained to build workforce capacity and enable care for the world's rapidly ageing population.

This study investigated whether Fitbit devices can reduce sedentary behavior among employees in the workplace. Participants were asked to wear Fitbits during 8-hour work shifts, 5 days per week, for 8 weeks. They were instructed to stand at least once every 30 minutes throughout the workday. The goal of the study was to determine whether standing once every 30 minutes was a feasible strategy for reducing sedentary workplace behavior. On average, participants completed 36 of 40 workdays using Fitbits. The number of times participants stood during an 8-hour workday averaged 12 stands per day (maximum 16 stands per day). These results indicate that Fitbit technology is effective for recording and tracking interruptions in sitting time; however, to reduce sitting behavior, alternate approaches are required to motivate larger numbers of workers to participate.

Aim: Registered Practical Nurses (RPNs) are frontline healthcare providers in Ontario long‐term care (LTC) homes. Throughout COVID‐19, RPNs working in LTC homes experienced prolonged lockdowns, challenging working conditions, and inadequate resource allocation. This study aimed to describe the personal and professional resilience of RPNs working in LTC during the COVID‐19 pandemic.Design: An open cross‐sectional online survey containing the Connor–Davidson Resilience Scale, Resilience at Work Scale®, and Resilience at Work Team Scale®.Methods: The survey was distributed by the RPN Association of Ontario (WeRPN) to approximately 5000 registered members working in Ontario LTC homes.Results: A total of 434 respondents participated in the survey (completion rate = 88.0%). Study respondents scored low on measures of resilience and reported extreme levels of job (54.5%) and personal (37.8%) stress. Resources to support self‐care and work‐life balance, build capacity for team‐based care practice(s) are needed.