Nursing student cares for migrant workers during COVID-19
Nursing student Kaitlyn McCarthy didn’t know what to expect when COVID-19 hit, but she did know that she needed to help. "Either I roll with it or it's going to roll over me," the co-chair of Windsor’s Hotel Dieu Grace Hospital Youth Advisory Committee says. “I ...decided that I’m going to move with it and that’s where my future will take me.” McCarthy began working as a summer student with the migrant worker COVID-19 assessment team at Erie Shores Healthcare, also in Windsor. She says the experience, checking in migrant workers for assessment, was one of the best things to ever happen to her. "I've been able to learn more about my community and I've been able to learn how, in the future...when I become a registered nurse...I'll be able to help my patients," she says. "It's humbling and it's exciting and it's a new way to learn for me." Despite a language barrier, McCarthy was able to provide support to a worker who was fearful about dying after one of his colleagues passed away from the virus. She says that being on the front-line of COIVD-19 isn’t easy. “You have to put your whole heart into this.” (CBC.ca, Aug. 22)
Nurses call on federal government to reinstate chief nursing officer
A letter from RNAO to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was made public on Aug. 27, and was picked up by iPolitics and Canada’s National Observer. In the letter, RNAO formally asks the federal government to reinstate the role of national chief nursing officer, which was removed when Stephen Harper was prime minister. “Canada would be a healthier country if nurses and nursing had a role in our federal government,” says RNAO President Morgan Hoffarth, who co-penned the letter with CEO Dr. Doris Grinspun. Nurses play a vital role in our health-care system and they should also play a role in developing health policies, the letter notes. The letter also outlines other important health issues, including staffing issues that led to “preventable” deaths in long-term care during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. Homelessness and the ongoing opioid crisis were also addressed. “Homelessness is the product of decades of public policy choices by all orders of government,” RNAO notes in the letter. “We implore you (Trudeau) to make different choices.” In the article published by iPolitics, Grinspun proposes that "the start of a new parliamentary session, combined with the World Health Organization designating 2020 the Year of the Nurse, presents a timely opportunity for an announcement." (Aug. 28 and 31)
Credit Valley staff members keep music alive in hospital
Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, many volunteer programs at Credit Valley Hospital in Mississauga had to be cancelled. One of these was the Music of Healing and Hope Program, which allows volunteer musicians to take turns playing for those gathered in the hospital’s lobby. Several front-line staff members decided to keep the music going by stepping up to the piano to volunteer their time during lunch breaks or even on their days off. Dian Ramnarine, an operating room RN, is one of the program’s volunteers. She says that people really missed the music. “It was so quiet. You noticed the difference with the absence of music. Now you have people commenting how wonderful it is to have the music back.” When the program was running with outside volunteers, there were 50 musicians who offered their time. Ramnarine is one of four staff members taking over during the pandemic, and says: “It’s been a genuine privilege and honour for me to do it...under the circumstances.” (CTV News, Sept. 29)
Historic B.C. Supreme Court decision safeguards universal health care
On Sept. 10, almost four years to the day a controversial court case – launched by physician Brian Day – started in the Supreme Court of British Columbia, a judge dismissed the constitutional challenge that Day and other supporters of for-profit health care argued violated the constitutional rights of patients. Day, founder of a private surgical facility in Vancouver said sections of the BC Medicare Protection Act prevented him from helping patients willing to pay for surgical procedures in the private system if wait times were longer in the public system. He wanted to strike down three provisions in the act: a ban on extra billing; the prohibition on selling private insurance for medically necessary care; and a prohibition on doctors working simultaneously in the public and private systems.
This case started in 2009, but didn’t get to the B.C. Supreme Court until 2016. RNAO issued a statement in 2016, noting it was “an attack on our country's health system, pure and simple. Brian Day believes…that the system exists for him and others to profit from it. Nurses are proud to work in a system that believes universal and equitable access to care is a human right. The path to improving our health system is not through compromising its core values, but instead through increasing universal access. Like all two-tier systems, Day's ideas benefit only a small elite, while substantially diminishing health outcomes for the rest of us.”
In his September ruling, Justice John Steeves rejected the argument that the rights of patients and physicians were violated by limits on access to privately paid surgical services, citing the act is focused on medically necessary services, not the ability to pay for such services.
RNAO applauds the historic September ruling (available in full HERE) for its support of universal health care as “part of our national identity,” CEO Doris Grinspun said.
Letter to the editor
RNAO board member Julie Rubel writes a letter to the Waterloo Region Record (Aug 9) about how long-term care residents should be allowed to visit with their loved ones.
It shouldn’t be this difficult to visit a loved one in a long-term care (LTC) home. But this is what Ontario families are experiencing as government protocols are interpreted differently by nursing home operators. It means some can visit up close while others visit metres apart, unable to hold their loved one’s hand.
We know the effects that shutting down LTC homes for months has had on residents. Intended to protect residents, restrictions were indeed depriving them of the love only families can give. Even now, some decline as they are denied the assistance loved ones provide with personal care activities like eating, toileting and exercising.
The looming second wave dictates we rethink how residents are reunited with their loved ones. We need a uniform approach that all nursing home operators are required to follow. Residents should have the right to identify up to three essential family care partners with no restrictions on how often or how long visits last, even during an outbreak. Personal protective equipment should be readily available and communication between families and homes must be regular and clear.
Nursing homes are people’s homes. Residents have a right to see their family. Let’s get this right.
UPDATE: In September, the Ontario government updated the visitor policy for long-term care homes. Essential caregivers are now allowed to visit any time, even during an outbreak, subject to direction from the local public health unit. Each resident can have two caregivers. As of Oct. 7, only essential visitors are allowed to visit loved ones in long-term care homes in Ottawa, Peel Region, and Toronto. Nursing homes in York Region were added to the list Oct. 19.
RNAO encouraging Ontarians to #FightTheFlu
Flu season is upon us. And this year it coincides with the COVID-19 pandemic. There is currently no vaccine for COVID-19, but getting a flu shot will help people keep their immune systems healthy. RNAO encourages everyone, especially health providers, to get their flu shot to help protect against influenza. It is also important to continue practising the public health measures that have been in place for COVID-19, including washing your hands frequently, maintaining physical distancing and wearing a mask as this will help stop the spread of both COVID-19 and the seasonal flu. RNAO has created a flu season portal, to provide information on where to get the flu shot and how to keep yourself, your family and your patients healthy this flu season. The portal is updated with credible resources to provide you with the information you need. To learn more, visit RNAO.ca/covid19/fight-flu
COVID-19: RN urges kindness, patience during pandemic
Toronto RN Eram Chhogala works in trauma and resuscitation. She has been on the frontlines during COVID-19 and notes that self care is vital at this difficult time. Nurses are “burned out” and “going through a lot of stuff,” she reports. Stresses such as family members being laid off, or issues with relationships and marriages, are overwhelming to a lot of people. This is why she tells others to “…be kind to one another, because everyone is fighting their own battle.” (Toronto.com, June 2)
COVID-19: RNAO launches #Maskathon
Wearing a mask can help fight COVID-19 and prevent a second wave of the dangerous virus, says RNAO CEO Doris Grinspun. “Nurses, doctors and other health professionals have already spoken out about the importance of wearing masks in indoor public spaces, and show that wearing a mask – on top of practising safe physical distancing and good hand hygiene – makes a difference,” says Grinspun. To urge everyone – including children and youth – to wear a non-medical mask or face covering in indoor public spaces, busy areas and transit, RNAO officially launched #Maskathon on July 14. Health professionals and members of the public are posting pictures of themselves wearing a mask on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, using the hashtags #Maskathon and #TogetherWeCanDoIt. Those who do not have access to social media and would like to participate are invited to send a photo to [email protected]. For more information, visit RNAO.ca/covid19/maskathon (BlackburnNews.com, July 14)
COVID-19: Mother-daughter duo work together during crisis
Monina Pajatin and her daughter Mia are emergency department RNs at Mississauga’s Credit Valley Hospital. They are relying on one another to get through the global pandemic. “I take it day-by-day,” says 20-year veteran RN Monina, who trained as a nurse in the Philippines before coming to Canada. Mia is a recent nursing graduate from Humber College, and looks to her mom for support as she launches her career during a difficult time for Canadians. Monina says patient safety isn’t always easy in times of crisis. “Sometimes, it is challenging to provide comfort (to patients)...I try my best to provide them with the appropriate information and health teaching to maintain their safety in the hospital as well as the community.” Despite this, Monina says nursing as a career is very fulfilling, and having a “positive impact on somebody else’s life when they may be experiencing one of the most difficult times is what inspires me the most.” (Mississauga News, May 31)
Palliative care during COVID-19
As an RN at Hospice Niagara, Mahoganie Hines is working on the frontlines during the pandemic to help those in her care have a good death, which includes efforts to ensure loved ones have a chance to say goodbye. This year, due to COVID-19, the number of people who can see their loved ones at the hospice is limited, and only designated visitors are allowed in the facility, one at a time. Hines says she and her colleagues have been helping hospice residents connect with their loved ones through videos, phone calls and window visits. “The family members that maybe aren’t their designated visitor, they can come visit at the window,” says Hines. “We’ll push the bed over to the window, so that way they can see them and that way they can hear them.” Hines has also been prioritizing comfort, including taking more time while giving residents showers and baths, and bringing them outside. “Even if they can’t get up, we can take them outside in their bed, so they can see the sunshine or smell the rain,” she says. (CTV News, May 31)
