To highlight the current state of nursing in Ontario and the unrelenting resilience of nurses, RNAO marked Nursing Week 2022 (May 9 – 15) with the theme “Nursing Through Crisis.” Throughout the week chapters, regions without chapters, interest groups and the home office, hosted a variety of engaging virtual events to showcase and celebrate how nurses shine during the best and most challenging of times in order to care for others. All of the events are profiles on RNAO’s Nursing Week portal.

From nursing students to early, mid and late career nurses in varying roles across health sectors, RNAO’s events aimed to engage and inform.

The week began with a session about politics as a career choice in nursing, featuring some of the RN and NP candidates running in the June 2022 election. RNAO’s Kingston chapter also hosted an all-candidates debate on May 12, allowing candidates a chance to share how their parties will tackle issues including the nursing crisis, homelessness and nurses’ and nursing students’ mental health. “Ontario is going through a nursing crisis. We entered the pandemic with a shortfall of 22,000 RNs. The stress and burnout of COVID-19 has resulted in a shortage of RNs in all sectors,” said Debra Lefebvre, RNAO Region 9 board representative. To learn more about the event, read the local coverage in The Kingston Whig Standard.

A special Nursing Week edition of RNAO’s monthly COVID-19 Webinar Series came next, with a focus on post-pandemic initiatives. Many guest speakers throughout the week led inspiring discussions about careers in nursing and how to apply research into nursing practice. Events tailored to jobseekers were also offered through an RNCareers.ca presentation and one-to-one resume review sessions.

To mark Florence Nightingale’s birthday and to recognize nurses’ contributions to health care during the pandemic, RNAO, the Registered Practical Nurses Association of Ontario and Ontario Nurses’ Association held the third annual Nursing Now Ontario Awards ceremony. NP Guangxia Meng, RN Marisa Bannavong and RPN Becki Lee were this year’s inspiring recipients.

In an effort to highlight its projects and initiatives to mobilize change where it’s needed in the profession, RNAO hosted a media conference to release its Nursing Through Crisis: A Comparative Perspective report, as well as the nurses’ health and wellbeing In Focus theme web page.

With hundreds of participants, RNAO’s Nursing Week events provided a forum for many rich discussions related to the current state of the profession, nurses’ health and necessary steps to improve health for all.

In an official Nursing Week message authored by then RNAO president (now immediate past president) Morgan Hoffarth and CEO Dr. Doris Grinspun, the message was clear: “You have carried Ontarians through this crisis. Together, we have carried one another. It is this strong commitment that gives us hope for brighter days to come.”