To mark RNAO’s fifth-annual Fall Tour, President Angela Cooper Brathwaite and CEO Doris Grinspun meet face-to-face with members across the province.

During the Fall of 2019, RNAO’s president and CEO visited seven different communities to meet with RNs, NPs and nursing students from various chapters, regions and interest groups. Angela Cooper Brathwaite toured Sault Ste. Marie, Mississauga and Barrie, while Doris Grinspun checked in with members in Guelph, Windsor and Toronto (where Regions 6 and 7 hosted Toronto events). The visits offered members an opportunity to share their thoughts and concerns about nursing and health issues affecting their communities. 

For her second tour stop, Grinspun met with members at the University of Windsor. Discussions during her visit focused on the opioid crisis in that region, and the need for local police officers to carry naloxone. The issue made news locally, and Grinspun spoke with the Windsor Star when she was there: “We are waiting for the police here to carry naloxone – not only carry it, but use it,” she said, adding the city must also move forward with a supervised consumption site. 

In December, RNAO issued an action alert calling on the government to prioritize legislation that would require all police and special constables be trained in the use of naloxone. The legislation was tabled last spring by MPP and RN Natalia Kusendova. To date, the action alert has received support from more than 1,000 members, and another action alert is pending on the same issue.

In Sault Ste. Marie in October, Cooper Brathwaite toured ARCH Hospice, Algoma Public Helath, Superior Family Health Team, and F.J. Davey Home (read more about these visits HERE). She talked with members about a number of important issues, including the need to ensure funding for hospice care, support for public health, advancements in the nurse practitioner role, and funding for long-term care.  
With the federal election on the horizon during her visit (it was Oct 21), she reminded local media (SooToday.com) that: “Nurses are looking to the federal government to…invest in services that will put Canadians first.”