Mackenzie Health in Richmond Hill offers simulation training for its staff through Sim2You, a mobile simulation unit that allows teams to learn in non-traditional ways. “Using the Sim2You roving cart, we’re not only ensuring that training is more accessible to our staff, we’re also enhancing how they can adapt some of the real-life situations they may encounter in their day-to-day work caring for patients,” said simulation program lead and RN Christina Scerbo. The mobile unit, which was introduced a little over a year ago, takes its cues from staff. In a recent exercise, a mannequin’s arm was sprinkled with powder before a nurse disinfected it to insert a central line. A blue light was then directed at the arm to identify spots that may have been missed and where there’s a risk of infection. These simulations allow staff to learn how to adapt to situations and how to work as a team. “Our simulation labs immerse health-care professionals in dynamic scenarios, fostering swift and coordinated actions,” said RN Deborah Lefave, one of the program’s educators. (Hospital News, March 27)

In September, RNAO sent a letter to the Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan (HOOPP), which represents nurses and other workers in the hospital and community   sectors, urging that it immediately stop any new investments in fossil fuels and divest all its holdings by 2025. This is a must to ensure pension investments focus on a just and sustainable future, not climate disruption. In the letter, RNAO CEO Dr. Doris Grinspun and President Dr. Claudette Holloway applauded HOOPP’s commitment to put $23 billion into accredited green investments by 2030, but said the fossil fuel shares it holds are at “at odds with RNAO members’ professional values and our commitment to serve the public as the first mandate of health professionals is ‘do no harm.’” In a radio interview (The Energy Mix, Nov. 20), Grinspun said that HOOPP is a “tragically literal example of investing in one’s own demise.” Earlier that same month, RNAO President Dr. Claudette Holloway and President-Elect Lhamo Dolkar attended the March to End Fossil Fuels in Toronto. RNAO continues to call on the provincial and federal governments to put forth a science-based plan to respond to the climate emergency. Sign RNAO’s Action Alert. 

On November 6, Health Minister Sylvia Jones announced that RNs will soon be able to independently prescribe certain medications, including medications for smoking cessation, anesthetics used topically for pain relief, and hormonal and intravaginal contraceptives. RNAO has called for RN prescribing in Ontario since 2012. Beginning in January 2024, RNs can take a course approved by the College of Nurses of Ontario (CNO), at select colleges and universities to expand their practice to include prescribing. RNAO is also urging that this training be integrated into the four-year nursing baccalaureate curriculum. RNAO President Dr. Claudette Holloway says this will provide Ontarians with accessible and timely health care. “I think our public can be fully relieved to know that they have educated professionals who will be delivering this care,” she says. (610 CKTB, Nov. 8). Read this Toronto Star op-ed from 2013 supporting RNAO's advocacy.

After 22 years of dedicated service, Heather McConnell, who first served as associate director (2007) and then director (2020) for RNAO’s IABPG Centre, retired in December 2023. Dr. Michelle Rey-Lloyd joined the association in early November as director, acknowledging that McConnell is “leaving tremendously large shoes to fill.” “I am very proud of the impact our collective work has had through the BPG program and the BPSO social movement,” McConnell says. “It has been a privilege to be part of this committed team, and I know that with Michelle’s leadership, the program will continue to thrive and explore new ways to enhance the uptake and sustainability of evidence in practice.” Rey-Lloyd, who holds a MSc and BScH from Queen’s University and earned her PhD from the University of Toronto, previously worked at RNAO as an associate director of evidence and guideline development from 2015 to 2017. She is making her return to the organization to lead a growing team at home office as well as an international network of organizations that are involved in the Best Practice Spotlight Organization® (BPSO®) program. “I’m excited to return to RNAO and continue to strengthen integration across the pillars of BPG development, implementation and evaluation,” Rey-Lloyd says. “RNAO has generated an abundance of knowledge and real-world evidence thanks to BPGs and the work of BPSOs. My goal is to further support the scale and spread of the program overall, and to build on RNAO’s contribution to the field of implementation science.” Before joining RNAO, Rey-Lloyd was the executive data officer and director of Centre for Data Intelligence and Innovation at Ontario’s Inspectorate of Policing. She has also held director roles at Cancer Care Ontario, Western University, Health Quality Ontario and leadership roles at other organizations including the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health.

RNAO NP members Hoda Mankal and Joanna Binch are ready to bring mental health and addiction care, as well as primary care, to Ottawa’s most vulnerable. They’re just waiting for funding approval from the province to open their NP-led clinic and get to work. There are currently only 25 NP-led clinics in the province, none of which are in Ottawa. NPs have the ability to provide many of the services that a family physician can, including writing prescriptions, ordering tests and interpreting lab results. RNAO has been urging the government to fund additional NP-led clinics because, without ready access to a primary care provider, many people rely on emergency departments or walk-in clinics, which are often unable to provide care continuity or prevent complications. “This is an urgent and complex problem that requires system collaboration and a team-based care approach,” Mankal and Binch say. Their proposal to the Ontario government notes their clinic would employ the equivalent of 12 full-time NPs, with 21 NPs already committed to working part-time. Their proposal is not the only one on the list for approval. RNAO is also advocating for NP-led clinic applications in Peterborough and Orillia, along with several others. (Ottawa Citizen, Oct. 23)

RNAO CEO Dr. Doris Grinspun received an honorary doctorate from Chile’s University of Valparaíso in a ceremony held on Oct. 13, 2023. A statement from the school highlighted Grinspun’s visionary leadership that inspires those around the world: “Her tireless work to raise the profile and influence of nurses in the health-care system has been instrumental in driving significant change and improving outcomes for patients.” For Grinspun, who was born in Chile, this recognition is especially meaningful. “The university’s recognition of my contributions is a tremendous honour. I have always been a firm believer that the people we serve must be top-of-mind when it comes to developing healthy public policy and best practices in education and care delivery,” she says. RNAO’s Best Practice Guidelines Program and its Best Practice Spotlight Organization® (BPSO®) social movement of science, founded by Grinspun, has already made an impact on health care in Chile as a network of universities have become BPSOs under the leadership of the Universidad de Chile and Dr. Amalia Silva, BPSO Host Academic. There has also been an expansion of BPSOs in service organizations across Chile - with 40 hospitals - led by Felipe Cortes Leddy, national director of nursing and Roberto Garcia at the ministry of health, which acts as “BPSO Host” for the entire public health system in Chile. In addition, several major private not-for-profit hospital chains, such as UC Christus and BUPA, have joined to achieve their BPSO designation.

On Nov. 11, RNAO President Dr. Claudette Holloway marked Remembrance Day at a service at East York Civic Centre Memorial Gardens, laying a wreath on behalf of the association and its 51,650 members. Jessica McGregor, a member of RNAO's Region 4 executive team, also laid a wreath on behalf of RNAO at a ceremony in Caledon East. 

Collingwood General and Marine Hospital held a career information night on Nov. 9 to encourage high school students to consider a career in health care. Students learned about a variety of jobs in nursing, physiotherapy, diagnostic imaging, respiratory therapy and nutrition (i.e. dietician). RNAO student member Arptia Roy talked with a local newspaper ahead of the event, sharing details of what drew her to nursing. A second-year nursing student in the Bachelor of Science Program at Georgian College, Roy said that she made the decision to go into nursing in high school when she witnessed the care given to her grandfather after he had a stroke. “I was there with him in the hospital and I saw the nurses caring for him and I thought to myself, ‘this is the best way to give back to the community.’” Are you a current undergraduate nursing student, but not an RNAO member? Learn more about the benefits of membership for students. (Simcoe.com, Nov. 9)