COVID-19

RNAO says that Premier Doug Ford should have addressed the challenges in the health system, including nursing shortages, in January 2022 by instituting added public health measures.

Before COVID-19, most people had a severely limited and incorrect perspective of the role nurses play in our health-care system. I too was misinformed before I entered nursing school five years ago. At that time, my view of nursing was shaped by the media and widespread belief that nurses were simply doctors’ assistants.

Ontario hospitals in Hamilton, Niagara, Brant, Haldimand and Norfolk counties are providing staff with pay if they need to self-isolate due to potential contact with a COVID-19 patient. This is a move that RNAO actively pushed for.

Staff are beginning to feel exhaustion as they continue to fight COVID-19 at Windsor Regional Hospital. Many COVID-19 patients in the ICU are on ventilators. The medical director of the ICU says that despite their best efforts, 40 per cent of these patients who need a ventilator in Windsor-Essex die.

St. Joseph’s Health System in Hamilton fired its CEO Dr. Tom Stewart after it was made public he had vacationed in the Dominican Republic despite government advisories to stay at home late last year. Stewart apologized for taking the trip.

RNAO CEO Dr. Doris Grinspun’s letter about the COVID-19 vaccine rollout appeared in the Toronto Sun (Feb. 12).