On March 23, the Ontario government released its budget. In its response, RNAO says the budget falls short of what is needed to solve the nursing crisis and address the health system’s current challenges. Although RNAO welcomes the $15 million pledged to keep 100 mid-to-late career nurses working in the system and a $22-million allocation to support newly-graduated nurses working in hospitals, the association says that far greater investments in the profession are needed. RNAO president Dr. Claudette Holloway says that Ontarians and nurses are being left behind in this budget. “We want to see that nurses are able to earn a fair wage. They have long been under the oppression of Bill 124.” (580 CFRA, March 25)

 Co-chairs of RNAO’s Black Nurses Leading Change (BNLC) Interest Group, Daria Adèle Juüdi-Hope and Dania Versailles, wrote in a recent Hospital News op-ed published to commemorate Black History Month that “Black nurses have a message: We are tired of waiting on the sidelines for change.” The BNLC Interest Group continues the work of the Black Nurses Task Force, which issued 19 recommendations in a report aimed at dismantling anti-Black racism and discrimination in health-care organizations and nursing education programs. In continuing that work they comment “… we also need to deal head on with the root causes of systemic racism. This requires holding all staff in health organizations accountable for addressing racial discrimination and developing strategies to combat it. We also need to develop and enforce transparent policies on anti-racism such as zero tolerance for staff, nursing leaders, patients and families.” RNAO agrees and will continue to provide safe spaces for collaboration and advocate to fight anti-Black racism and discrimination in all its forms. (Hospital News, March 2)

On March 2, RNAO released its newest report, Nursing Career Pathways, at a media conference held at Queen’s Park. The report examines the nursing profession and provides ways the government should support nursing careers and fix Ontario’s nursing crisis. It also highlights the barriers to retaining and recruiting nurses in Ontario – inadequate and inequitable compensation and unsafe and unhealthy workloads – and identifies opportunities for short-term and longer-term improvements. “There is such huge potential and so much we can do better. Nurses have not felt respected – not in the way we should, given our central role in the system,” said RNAO President Dr. Claudette Holloway. In order to ensure the health and wellbeing of Ontarians, the provincial government must dedicate more attention to nursing, as well as providing more funding and supports. (CityNews, March 2)

The Ontario government introduced draft legislation on Feb. 21 which, if passed, allows for some surgeries and other procedures to be performed at investor-driven for-profit clinics. The government previously shared its plan to reduce wait times by using these clinics on Jan. 16. The proposed legislation says there will be “guardrails” to protect patients and the public health system. However, RNAO CEO Dr. Doris Grinspun said that she is concerned for public safety, as these clinics are responsible first to their investors, then to patients. “What will happen is that those who are able to pay the extras will get more care and those who cannot will have more wait times as physicians move from hospitals to the for-profit clinics,” Grinspun explained. If you haven’t already, sign and share RNAO’s Action Alert: Stop the move to for-profit health care, premier! (CP24, Feb. 21)

Niagara Health is participating in a College of Nurses of Ontario (CNO) program that gives IENs the chance to work via supervised partnerships. The Supervised Practice Experience Partnership (SPEP), which began in 2022, is now in place at several Ontario hospitals including Niagara Health. The program requires participants to complete a minimum of 140 hours of supervised practice and demonstrate they can meet a series of standards during their time under supervision. The SPEP program allows IENs who have successfully completed the program to then register through the CNO. Niagara Health then hires these IENs. “It was a really exciting opportunity where we could partner with people who've had such diverse and wonderful experiences internationally and help them learn a little bit more about our Canadian health-care system,” said RNAO member Janice Feather, director of professional practice and education at Niagara Health and the program administrator. (Niagara Falls Review, Feb. 9)

On Feb. 23, a bilateral agreement between the federal government and Ontario was announced, which includes $73.97 billion in federal funding over 10 years. This amount  includes $8.4 billion in new funding for shared priorities and a one-time top-up of $776 million to address urgent health needs. In early February, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau had met with the provincial and territorial premiers to discuss an increase in health funding and had also announced that the federal government would sign bilateral agreements with each province and territory to focus on their individual health needs. The federal government announced its funding offer of $46.2 billion in new money, including a five per cent increase to the Canada Health Transfer for the next five years, which the provinces and territories accepted on Feb. 13. RNAO President Dr. Claudette Holloway said that the Ontario health-care system has a lot of needs and that this money should be used to address priorities such as primary care, mental health, RN retention and recruitment and long-term care. “It’s a good start but we want to know that money is consistently going to be there. As needs go up, funding needs to go up along with that.” (CBC News, Feb. 9)

A proposed clinic in Peterborough is currently waiting for provincial approval. RNAO member Shayna McLauchlan, who took part in the application process for the Ashburn Family Health clinic in Peterborough, says the clinic is committed to their patients and also to the community as a whole. “We just need a green light on this funding so we can go ahead and start providing community members with the care that they deserve.” Once funding is secured, the clinic can begin to hire staff and could begin accepting new patients in as soon as four months.*

*The application for an NP-led clinic in Peterborough is one of two that RNAO is actively advocating for, and being considered by the Ministry of Health. The other is in Orillia – see below. (Peterborough Examiner, Feb. 3)

A proposed primary care clinic in Orillia that RNAO has been advocating for continues to wait for the province to approve the funding needed to open its doors. Local nurse practitioners had hoped some of the Ontario government monies set aside for primary-care teams, would go toward opening a nurse practitioner-led clinic to provide services to the thousands in the city without a primary-care provider. However, there has been no word from minister Sylvia Jones on when – or whether – the clinic will be funded. RNAO member Janet Greaves, who took part in the application for the clinic last year, says that she and her team are ready to support their fellow Orillians. “We’re here now, we’re ready… Primary care is the foundation to a healthy community.” Once funding is secured, the clinic can begin to hire staff and could begin accepting patients within months. (Simcoe.com, March 16)

Congratulations to Southlake Regional Health Centre. Their designation as a BPSO has once again been renewed by RNAO. The organization began pursuing the designation in 2015 and was first designated in 2018. The organization was re-designated in 2020 and late 2022. The BPSO program works with health-care organizations to implement evidence-based practice guidelines (BPG) to improve patient outcomes. Southlake has implemented 13 of RNAO’s BPGs on a variety of topics including: person and family-centred care; caring for older adults with delirium, dementia and depression; ostomy care; and breastfeeding. “Our BPSO designation is a testament to the leadership and dedication of Southlake’s team, as well as our commitment to patient quality and safety,” said Elizabeth Ferguson, vice-president of clinical transformation and patient experience and chief nursing executive at Southlake. (NewmarketToday, Feb. 2)

On Jan. 31, the federal government released national LTC standards – a move RNAO had long advocated for. RNAO is “disappointed the federal government failed to make these standards mandatory, leaving in place patchwork approaches across and within provinces and territories.” The standards also don’t specifically outline the necessary staffing and skill-mix levels needed in LTC homes – a key part of ensuring quality care for all residents. RNAO has previously highlighted the importance of ensuring LTC residents receive adequate care through the Nursing Home Basic Care Guarantee, which highlights the need for four worked hours of direct nursing and personal care per day per resident. (Toronto Star, Jan. 31)