Union leaders discussing health-care and COVID-19 priorities with Ontario nurses

The Registered Nurses' Association of Ontario's (RNAO) President Morgan Hoffarth and CEO Dr. Doris Grinspun have started meeting virtually with registered nurses (RN), nurse practitioners (NP) and nursing students from different regions across Ontario.

The talks are scheduled from Nov. 10 to 18 as part of the association's sixth-annual Fall Tour.

“Every year, the Fall Tour gives us an opportunity to hear from nurses and their experiences working in the health system. As COVID-19 cases continue to rise, it's important to learn from them and see where we can do better to meet the health needs of Ontarians and keep nurses safe,” said Hoffarth.

“This year also marks the Year of the Nurse and is a time to celebrate the successes of our profession including the tireless work nurses are doing during this pandemic and the release of our groundbreaking report ECCO 3.0, a call to the provincial government and the health system partners to strengthen community care and anchor the health system in primary care.”

According to the union, adopting the ECCO model means:

1. Universal reach
2. Upstream approach to care
3. Inter-professional primary care teams
4. Comprehensive care coordination
5. Enhanced community care across the continuum
6. Long-term care as home
7. Evidence-based practice
8. Optimized digital health
9. Full scope of practice

Previous calls

In July, RNAO released its Nursing Home Basic Care Guarantee to ensure residents living in nursing homes can count on consistent, safe and quality care. The guarantee calls for a staffing formula that provides no less than four hours of direct nursing and personal care per resident, per day and a proper skill mix by allocating a minimum of 0.8 hours (48 minutes) of RN care per resident, per day, 1 hour (60 minutes) of RPN care and 2.2 hours of PSW care (132 minutes). It also calls for one NP for every 120 residents and a nurse to focus on infection prevention and control, quality improvement and staff orientation, training and professional development.

Recently, Ontario increased the hours of direct care for each long-term care resident to an average of four hours per day.

RNAO also released its five-step process where the association calls on the government to ensure residents and their families are able to still see each other even when COVID-19 outbreaks occur in nursing homes.

“Seventy-nine thousand of the province's frailest seniors call Ontario's 626 long-term care (LTC) facilities home and trust them to meet their physical, social, spiritual cognitive needs on a daily basis. Yet, more than 2,000 residents in LTC homes have died from COVID-19 this year, leaving loved ones and staff in anguish,” said Grinspun. “Nurses are looking to the provincial and federal government to act now on our recommendations and implement national standards using as a foundation RNAO's Nursing Home Basic Care Guarantee.”

In June, RNAO released a report that compiled 35 reports about the troubles in the province’s long-term care system, and the recommendations that different groups have made since 1999.

“The work that nurses do touches the lives of so many people. Our members know the broad range of factors that foster good health and that is why we are eager to hear about their moments of inspiration and the challenges they face,” says Hoffarth.

Details of RNAO's Fall Tour:

• Durham Region, Kawartha Lakes, Bay of Quinte and surrounding regions – Nov. 10 at 6 p.m. ET 
• Wellington – Nov. 12 at 6 p.m. ET 
• Algoma, Sudbury, Nipissing and surrounding regions – Nov. 13 at 1 p.m. ET 
• Windsor, Chatham and Peel – Nov. 16 at 7 p.m. ET 
• Hamilton – Nov. 17 at 6 p.m. ET 
• Waterloo – Nov. 17 at 6 p.m. ET 
• Kingston – Nov. 18 at 6 p.m. ET