ONA Urges Women's College Hospital to Rescind RN Cuts in the Family Practice Health Centre
TORONTO, May 15, 2018 /CNW/ - The Ontario Nurses' Association (ONA) – the union representing registered nurses providing care for Women's College Hospital's Family Practice Health Centre patients – is urging the hospital to rescind its cuts to four registered nurses (RNs).
"Our registered nurses are deeply concerned that this wrong-headed move – that cuts in half the RN staff complement – will deeply impact the care their patients receive," said ONA President Vicki McKenna, RN. "ONA members are asking physicians, patients and the public to send a message to the hospital's Board Chair and CEO to rescind the cuts now."
"The health centre had an RN complement of seven full-time and four part-time RNs," said McKenna. "With the latest round of cuts, the team is down to just three full-time and four part-time RNs to provide support for the entire health centre. Our RNs are responsible for fundamental primary care, chronic disease management for their patients, and coordination of their care. They are the first health-care professionals their patients meet and they provide longitudinal therapeutic relationships from the cradle to the grave."
Patients and physicians alike praise the excellent care that the registered nurses have been providing. The RNs act as team nurses for each of four teams at the health centre, providing continuity of care, coordinating care for the primarily part-time physicians and residents, and providing direct patient care.
"This highly educated and highly skilled group of RNs has saved patients from having to make unnecessary visits to the emergency department and ensure each patient receives the right level of care. With their combined 70 years of experience, these nurses have built long term relationships of trust with their patients which is essential in primary care and this will be eradicated as a result of the decision," said McKenna. "We are asking the public, patients and their friends and families to send a message now (www.ona.org/wch) to rescind these RN cuts."
ONA is the union representing more than 65,000 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 industry.
Visit us at: www.ona.org; Facebook.com/OntarioNurses; www.Twitter.com/OntarioNurses
SOURCE Ontario Nurses Association
Sheree Bond: (416) 964-8833, ext. 2430; cell: (416) 986-8240; [email protected]; Melanie Levenson: (416) 964-8833, ext. 2369; [email protected]
Share this article