GUELPH, ON, Nov. 1, 2014 /CNW/ - The Nurse Practitioners (NPs) and Registered Nurse (RN) caring for patients at the Guelph Community Health Centre (CHC) are asking the community to support them and the valuable services they provide to their patients.
Guelph CHC nurses, members of the Ontario Nurses' Association (ONA), provide primary health care to some of Guelph's most vulnerable residents. They are holding an information picket about their important role today, from 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 noon in front of the Guelph Community Health Centre at 176 Wyndham Street North.
NPs diagnose illnesses, order laboratory tests, prescribe medications, and treat their patients, supported by the RN. NP and RN care is beneficial to patients and cost effective.
"Our nurses have proven their value," said ONA President Linda Haslam-Stroud, RN. "Now it is vital that their employer recognizes their value and corrects inequities in the nurses' workloads and remuneration."
NPs at the Guelph CHC provide health care at all stages of their patients' lives, from infancy through to end of life. These are valued health care providers that patients trust and rely on. The nurses also focus on illness prevention and wellness, saving our health care system millions of dollars.
Despite wage increases given to Guelph CHC management and physicians, the nurses have received little in the way of wage increases and face a contract offer of zero per cent for the next three-and-a-half years. Guelph CHC NPs are currently paid at least $5 to $10 an hour less than their colleagues elsewhere in the health care sector, and the RN is also paid less than others in the area, despite a government increase in funding to all CHCs.
The NPs have increasingly taken on the responsibility for providing services that used to be provided in hospitals. As the government decreases funding to hospitals, services are moving to the community and our nurses are now providing this care. They need the community's support now.
ONA is the union representing 60,000 nurse practitioners, registered nurses and allied health professionals, as well as more than 14,000 nursing student affiliates providing care in hospitals, long-term care facilities, public health, the community, clinics and industry.
Image with caption: "ONA sign: "Fairness for Nurse Practitioners." Nurse Practitioners at Guelph Community Health Centre held an information picket on Saturday as they negotiate with their employer to correct inequities in their workloads and remuneration (CNW Group/Ontario Nurses' Association)". Image available at: http://photos.newswire.ca/images/download/20141101_C7003_PHOTO_EN_7400.jpg
SOURCE: Ontario Nurses' Association
Ontario Nurses' Association: Ken Marciniec, [email protected]; cell: 416-803-6066; 416-964-1979 ext.2306, Peter Birt, [email protected], Visit us at: www.ona.org; Facebook.com/OntarioNurses; Twitter.com/OntarioNurses
The Ontario Nurses’ Association (ONA) is the union representing more than 68,000 registered nurses and health-care professionals, as well as 18,000 nursing student affiliates, providing care in hospitals, long-term care facilities, public health, the community, clinics and...
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