Nurses call for an end to the nursing crisis during RNAO Fall Tour

TORONTO, Sept. 9, 2022 /CNW/ - Nurses across the province are speaking out on how the staffing crisis is affecting the profession and people's health. They will be raising concerns and discussing solutions as part of an upcoming Fall Tour with the Registered Nurses' Association of Ontario (RNAO).

"The deepening nursing shortage is causing hardship in all sectors and settings across the province. And yet not enough is being done to alleviate the urgent issues threatening the health of Ontarians and of nurses themselves," says RNAO President Dr. Claudette Holloway. "For our eighth annual Fall Tour, we will be hearing members' experiences and thoughts on the nursing crisis."

Topics include ensuring competitive compensation for nurses through the repeal of Bill 124 and other steps, as well as addressing workloads, stress and burnout.

"This tour will be an opportunity to make sure nurses' voices and their lived experiences are brought forward to the government," says RNAO CEO Dr. Doris Grinspun. "We are seeing nurses leave traditional employment to go to private agencies or go across the border because they are frustrated by the working conditions in Ontario. We are also seeing nurses leave the profession altogether in unprecedented numbers. The time is now to thank nurses with concrete actions: competitive salaries and benefits, and workloads that allow them to deliver the excellent care that Ontarians need and deserve. We must invest in nursing so they can build their careers in the province."

Key to building nursing careers in Ontario, according to RNAO, is ensuring pathways for the more than 26,000 internationally educated nurses (IEN) eager to jump-start their nursing career by speeding up the processing of applications by Ontario's nursing regulatory body. Nurses already working in the health system also need new career paths so they remain engaged in the profession and here in Ontario where patients need their care. These issues – and solutions outlined by the association in its May 2022 report Nursing Through Crisis – will be front and centre during this year's event.

RNAO's CEO, president and immediate past-president will also be discussing successes and achievements in bringing nurses' voices, perspectives and experiences to the forefront over the past year as part of the tour. These will include the release of the Black Nurses Task Force report, which addresses systemic anti-Black racism and discrimination contributing to nurses' hardship and to the nursing crisis.

"Nurses have given it their all throughout this pandemic, caring for Ontarians at all stages of their lives. However, we have all reached a breaking point and nurses can no longer work under these conditions: selflessly giving to the point of exhaustion," says RNAO Immediate Past-President Morgan Hoffarth. "As the professional association representing more than 48,500 RNs, NPs and nursing students, we need to solve this nursing crisis for the sake of the nursing profession and the health of all Ontarians."

Join the conversation on social media by using the hashtag #FallTour.

Details of RNAO's Fall Tour:

• Waterloo Chapter – Sept. 12 at 6 p.m. ET – register online
• Lambton Chapter – Sept. 14 at 2 p.m. ET – register online
• International Nursing Interest Group – Sept. 19 at 6 p.m. ET – register online
• Brant Haldimand Norfolk, Chatham Kent Chapter, Community Health Nurses' Initiatives' Group and the Mental Health Nursing Interest Group – Sept. 21 at 6 p.m. ET – register online
• Palliative Care Nurses Interest Group – Sept. 22 at 6 p.m. ET – register online
• Algoma Chapter – Sept. 23 at 10 a.m. ET at Quattro Hotel & Conference Centre on 229 Great Northern Road in Sault Ste. Marie, Ont. – register online
• Region 6 (Toronto West) and the Ontario Nurses for the Environment Interest Group – Sept. 23 at 6 p.m. ET – register online

Members of the media are welcome to attend. You can follow up with the media contact at the information below or register online using the registration links provided above. 

The Registered Nurses' Association of Ontario (RNAO) is the professional association representing registered nurses, nurse practitioners and nursing students in Ontario. Since 1925, RNAO has advocated for healthy public policy, promoted excellence in nursing practice, increased nurses' contribution to shaping the health system, and influenced decisions that affect nurses and the public they serve. For more information about RNAO, visit RNAO.ca or follow us on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.

SOURCE Registered Nurses' Association of Ontario

Victoria Alarcon, Communications Officer/Writer, Registered Nurses' Association of Ontario (RNAO), 1-800-268-7199 ext. 211, 416-408-5610, [e-mail]