Professional Practice

Nurses are an essential part of the health care system and are integral to providing safe and quality patient care.

Over the years, with increased workloads, shortage of staff, higher patient acuity, threat of workplace violence and a lack of resources the nursing profession has becoming more challenging.

We know that our members are dedicated to ensuring that the highest standards of care at all times and we are committed to supporting our members in their workplaces to help achieve this goal.

We have developed tools and processes to assist members in resolving practice concerns.

Workload Staffing Report Forms

Developed by the Manitoba Nurses Union and employers as a result of the 1991 contract negotiations, WSRs are a tool used to document workload and staffing concerns that nurses believe may jeopardize patient well-being.

Over the past decade, these reports have been used by nurses across the province to advocate for improved patient safety through meticulous and continuous documentation of unsafe situations. WSRs are unique in that they give nurses the opportunity to make recommendations on how to improve the situation, while, from a legal perspective, provides documentation that the nurse has drawn management’s attention to an unsafe, or potentially unsafe, situation.  

Nurses should never be afraid to file WSRs and they should be completed every time an unsafe situation, or the potential for an unsafe situation, related to workload and/or staffing occurs.

The WSR process

1. Discuss and try to resolve the concern utilizing established lines of communication and discussion with the designated out of scope manager.
2. Only one WSR form is completed per situation.  The form may be signed by one nurse or many nurses.  Not all nurses involved have to sign the form.
3. Complete the voucher on the back of the form.
4. Once the form is completed-detach the vouchers.
   1. Keep one copy
   2. Send one to the local/worksite president
   3. Send one to the Nursing Administration Office.
5. The completed form is given to the supervisor that the nurse spoke with previously.
6. The supervisor completes a response and sends copies to the worksite president and the nursing administrator.
7. The worksite president provides the author with copies of the response form and sends the WSR and response to MNU.