A committee of MPPs is getting advice on what should be included in the next provincial budget. RNAO CEO Doris Grinspun and the association’s senior economist Kim Jarvi presented RNAO’s policy priorities during a Jan. 29 meeting of the Standing Committee on Finance and Economic Affairs.

The association’s submission included 21 recommendations focused on improving access to nursing and health care, strengthening the health system, boosting living standards, protecting the environment, and creating a fairer tax system. 

In nursing and health care, RNAO urges that hospitals be provided with dedicated funding to immediately post and fill 10,000 RN positions that are vacant. And to ensure the right nurse is in the right place – given patients’ complex care needs – there are recommendations mandating that all new hires in acute care and cancer care hospitals be RNs; and that all first home care assessments be conducted by RNs.

RNAO’s submission also emphasizes the importance of ensuring health providers work to their full scope of practice, including measures that authorize RNs to order diagnostic tests for common ailments (such as sore throats and urinary tract infections) and prescribe medications. It also suggests the removal of barriers that prevent NPs from practising to their full scope, such as point-of-care testing. 

In her presentation, Grinspun told the government’s finance committee that the health system must be strengthened by modernizing the archaic funding models that hobble the long-term care sector and penalize nursing homes when they improve resident outcomes.   

RNAO says all nursing home residents would be better served by homes adopting best practices that address care around issues such as falls prevention, wound care, and the use of restraints.    

As it related to Indigenous peoples, RNAO calls on the Ontario government to support Indigenous peoples’ right to self-determination. Grinspun also spoke about the need to expand access to consumption and treatment services to all communities in need. 

When it comes to the environment, RNAO says the government must recognize that climate change is already affecting the health of people in the province. It wants the government to develop a climate change plan that would reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The province must also work with its federal and municipal counterparts to ensure transit expansion as well as measures to encourage cycling and walking.   

RNAO says that the revenue to pay for its recommendations can be found if the government adopts a more progressive tax system and requires polluters to pay for the full cost of the pollution they create, including carbon emissions. 

This year’s budget is expected in early spring. For a summary of RNAO’s recommendations, visit RNAO.ca/policy/submissions.