Knowledge Exchange

Archived Featured Champions

Mélanie Lavoie-Tremblay

When it comes to making a lasting shift in pan-Canadian workplace culture, there’s often strength in numbers.

This is a philosophy that quality worklife (QWL) champion Mélanie Lavoie-Tremblay takes to heart by teaming up with other national QWL advocates to advance the issue and through her ground-breaking research into the role QWL plays in patient care as well as retention and recruitment of nurses.

Among the many QWL hats she wears, Lavoie-Tremblay is an Assistant Professor at McGill’s School of Nursing, and she undertakes research for a trio of organizations: the Research Centre at Fernand Séguin Hopital Louis-H Lafontaine; the McGill University Health Centre’s Research Institute; and the Douglas Institute Research Centre.

And if that wasn’t enough for this dedicated QWL champion, she also represents McGill at the ‘FERASI’ Centre (Training and Expertise in Nursing Administration Research).

In addition to QWL, Lavoie-Tremblay’s research is complemented by an interest in retention of nurses, orientation programs for new nurses, organization of care and work, the nursing workforce, program evaluation, knowledge transfer, and participatory action research.

Currently she’s conducting research on participatory intervention to improve organization of care and work for care providers, patients, and the related healthcare organization.

Through her research, Lavoie-Tremblay has been able to confirm that improving QWL to make workplaces healthier for care providers is a winning retention strategy and critical to the long-term survival of our healthcare system.

“As a researcher within McGill’s School of Nursing, it’s important to train the new generation of healthcare providers and researchers on QWL initiatives and change management so they can promote it in their own way,” says Lavoie-Tremblay.

“For example, the research that I have done on the new generation of nurses highlights the importance to offer a meaningful work and supportive environment,” she explains.

“Without the efforts of an organization to improve its QWL and support nurses, this generation may not feel valued and move to another organization that will support them or switch to another more fulfilling career.”

“Everyone has a unique contribution to improve QWL,” furthers Lavoie-Tremblay. “In fact, QWL is not an organizational ‘choice’, but it must be an organizational priority. Ongoing investment and initiatives are needed at the organizational, provincial and national levels to foster knowledge transfer on QWL and inspire action.”

To help influence this change, Lavoie-Tremblay was pleased to accept the Quality Worklife Quality Collaborative’s (QWQHC) invitation to participate as its Deputy Chair. “It is a unique opportunity to collaborate at the national level with key experts and several major national health organizations involved in QWL,” she says.

“My participation in the QWQHC allows me to exchange critical information about QWL with other passionate colleagues from across Canada and to be inspired by different initiatives going on across the country,” notes Lavoie-Tremblay.

“The work of the Collaborative has been very useful for several decision-makers that I work with in terms of developing a QWL Action Plan in their organizations and improve their QWL network.”

Next up for this ‘QWL superhero’ and her colleagues is the completion of PRO-ACTIVE, an evaluative research program designed to improve QWL for staff members and provide better care for patients.

Now in its third and final stage, the PRO-ACTIVE project is a partnership between the Quebec Department of Health & Social Services, the HR branch of the Quebec Association of Health & Social Service Centres, provincial health facility managers, and investigators from five Quebec universities to provide support to managers undertaking organizational transformation.

Fortunately for Canadian healthcare professionals from coast to coast, Lavoie-Tremblay’s reputation for devoting all her energy and passion into advancing QWL predicts this project will not be her last.

Never one to seek the limelight, Lavoie-Tremblay brushes off praise for her efforts in favour of the benefits of teamwork: “Together we can be a strong voice and move forward the agenda of QWL in our organizations,” she stresses.

For more information on Mélanie Lavoie-Tremblay’s groundbreaking research in the field of nursing administration, please visit http://www.mcgill.ca/nursing/about/faculty/lavoie-tremblay/.