In 2007, France amended its general agreement between the national sickness fund and the private nurses unions to enhance their role and position as self employed nurses in health and social services. In particular, the agreement reinforces nurse’s role in clinical and technical care for dependent elderly, monitors the number of nurses throughout the country by managing the number of nurses, and rewarding them for following clinical guidelines when treating elderly with chronic conditions. Click here to read the full synopsis.

New Zealand is leading efforts to develop a health care worker “career framework” to clarify how people might advance through various career paths in the health care sector. New Zealand is in the early stages of developing the ambitious “career framework that could result in key workforce development, training, and planning for future years. Click here to read the full synopsis.

Canada surveyed almost 17,000 Canadian nurses and released the results in December 2006 which provided a baseline for working conditions for nurses throughout the country. This survey instrument will be key to assessing future improvements in quality of workplace experiences and the overall health and wellbeing of nurses. The survey was completed by the Health Canada, The Canadian Institute for Health Information and Statistics Canada. Click here to read the full synopsis.