Table 1.

Domains influencing optimisation of HCNs and their definitions

Domains influencing optimisation	Definitions
1. Continuity of care and consistency of care provider	Continuity of care is “how one patient experiences care over time as coherent and linked”(Reid, McKendry, Haggerty, & Foundation, 2002). Consistency of care provider is an enabler of care continuity and refers to “…the patient's experience of a 'continuous caring relationship' with an identified healthcare professional” (Gulliford, Naithani, & Morgan, 2006) (p. 248)
2. Staffing mix and staffing levels	Staff mix is the combination of different categories of healthcare personnel employed for the provision of direct client care in the context of a nursing care delivery model (McGillis Hall et al., 2011), while staffing level refers to the number of patients per nurse and the skill mix of the staff (Royal College of Nursing, 2012)
3. Professional development to maximise nurses’ continuing competency	Professional development activities can support nurses in maintaining and continuously enhancing the knowledge, skills, attitude and judgment required to meet client needs in an evolving healthcare system (adapted from the Canadian Nurses Association [Canadian Nurses Association, 2016])
4. Quality practice environments	Quality practice environments (QPEs) maximise the health and well‐being of nurses, quality patient outcomes and organisational and system performance. Features of QPEs include benefits and compensation, job insecurity, management issues, recruitment and retention issues, safety issues, restructuring and managed competition, work‐related stress, and satisfaction (Based on RNAO's definition of a healthy work environment and six Healthy Work Environment Best Practice Guidelines (Registered Nurses' Association of Ontario, No Date)]
5. Intra‐ & Inter‐professional and Inter‐sectoral collaboration	Inter‐professional collaboration involves a variety of healthcare professionals working together to deliver quality care within and across settings, while intra‐professional collaboration involves multiple members of the same profession working collaboratively to deliver quality care within and across settings (College of Nurses of Ontario, 2014)
6. Enhancing scope of practice	Enhancing scope of practice involves implementing evidence‐based nursing roles that maximise both current scope of practice utilisation, and legislative/regulatory enhancements that expand the scope of nursing practice, to most effectively utilise the evolving knowledge, skills and competencies of the nurse to produce optimal patient/client outcomes (adapted from Primary Solutions for Primary Care [Registered Nurses' Association of Ontario, 2012b])
7. Appropriate use of technology	Appropriate use of technology includes the application of organised knowledge and skills through devices, tools, medicines, vaccines, “procedures and systems developed to solve a health problem and improve quality of lives” (from WHO's Definition of Health Technology [World Health Organization, 2016])