For the second time in RNAO’s history, Nursing Week (May 10 – 16, 2021) was celebrated virtually amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. With the theme of Protecting Ontarians and Leading Change: Nurses and RNAO During COVID-19, the association hosted a variety of fun and informative virtual events to honour the profession and celebrate the anniversary of the birth of Florence Nightingale (May 12). Hundreds of members and non-members from across Ontario participated from the comfort of their own homes. Events included: Take Your MPP To Work LIVE, an annual political action event; career-focused webinars; a special edition of the monthly COVID-19 Webinar Series; the Nursing Now Ontario Awards; and a heart-to-heart open forum sharing session for nurses across the province. 

Although nurses continue to face unprecedented challenges, Nursing Week was a time to pause from everyday pressures and participate in invigorating events and show pride in the profession.
 

Take Your MPP To Work LIVE

Launched during Nursing Week and continuing through the spring and summer, Take Your MPP To Work LIVE, a political action event that began in 2000 and has been going strong for more than two decades, once again engaged federal members of parliament (MP) and provincial political leaders (MPP), including Premier Doug Ford, Leader of the NDP Andrea Horwath, Ontario Liberal Leader Steven Del Duca, Ontario Green Party Leader Mike Schreiner, federal NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh, Green Party of Canada Leader Annamie Paul, and Deputy Premier and Health Minister Christine Elliott. 

RNAO invited its board of directors, assembly of leaders, members, Best Practice Spotlight Organization Ontario Health Teams (BPSO OHT), Indigenous BPSOs and members of partner organizations to participate in the virtual meetings to discuss the current challenges and opportunities for nurses and other health-care providers in various sectors of the health system. To-date, 15 visits have taken place, with more in the planning stages. 

Political leaders were engaged and receptive during the discussions, as each session outlined different plans of action needed to improve Ontario’s and Canada’s health system, including the need for a Nursing Home Basic Care Guarantee, national standards for long-term care (LTC), pharmacare and the expansion of home and community care.

“Nurses, please get involved in politics. The more nurses that are in our political system, the better,” federal NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh tells RNAO’s board of directors and assembly of leaders.

To watch the meetings, check out RNAO’s YouTube playlist. A collection of photos can also be viewed online.