RNAO’s ongoing media profile: The October 2023 report
This month, RNAO was featured in media stories related to an Ottawa clinic charging patients to access NP care, the need for a national pharmacare program, RNAO’s annual Fall Tour, and a recent report about hospital staffing and its impact on patient safety.
An Ottawa-based walk-in clinic is charging the public an out-of-pocket fee to access NP care. Currently, NPs cannot charge OHIP for their services and are remunerated through salaried government funded positions including those working in NP-led clinics. RNAO CEO Dr. Doris Grinspun told Ottawa Citizen (Oct. 2) that these access charges are outrageous. There are several open NP-led clinic proposals across the province, yet there hasn’t been any movement. “The actions speak louder than anything,” said Grinspun. For-profit models of care compromise the quality of the health-care system and further deepens health inequities. “The detriment is that you will get faster access for those who can pay and slower access for others,” Grinspun told CBC News (Oct. 4). Sign and share RNAO’s Action Alert to call on the provincial government to stop the move towards for-profit care.
RNAO continues to urge the federal government to pass legislation for a national pharmacare program. In a media release (Oct. 5), RNAO President Dr. Claudette Holloway said, “We have universal health care in Canada, but we are laggards when it comes to provisions for prescription drugs.” On CP24 (Oct. 6), Grinspun noted that Canada is an anomaly when it comes to coverage for prescription drugs. “Every other country in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development that has universal access to health-care services includes pharmacare.” Add your voice to the call: Sign and share RNAO’s Action Alert urging Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to make pharmacare happen.
This year’s Fall Tour took place between Oct. 16 and Oct. 26. Holloway, Grinspun and RNAO’s President-Elect Lhamo Dolkar spoke with nurses across the province about the state of the nursing profession and issues they face in their community and how to improve health care for all Ontarians. Tbnewswatch.com’s story (Oct. 19) highlights Holloway’s comments at a visit to Lakehead Chapter, about importance of nurse retention. “Nurses are only expecting fair compensation, fair and equitable workloads which don’t stress them out [as well as the opportunity to] develop their career here in Ontario.”
On Oct. 19, the Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI) released a report that looked at hospital staffing and its affect on patient care during COVID-19. The report reiterates what RNAO has said for years: unsafe workloads and a shortage of RNs results in burnout, stress and compromised patient safety. In RNAO’s media release (Oct. 19), Holloway said that “this report calls for urgent action and backs up with more conclusive evidence the findings in RNAO’s Nursing Through Crisis report.” Grinspun agreed, telling AM800 (Oct. 19) that the results of the CIHI report were “troubling but not surprising.” She reiterated on CBC Radio (Oct. 19), “when nurses are exhausted and you don’t have enough, the result is patient safety issues.” In order to resolve this issue, the government must build opportunities for nursing careers in Ontario. RNAO outlined several recommendations in our Nursing Career Pathways report.
RNAO will continue to speak out alongside its members on topics related to nursing and health. Stay up-to-date on media coverage by visiting RNAO in the news. Are you a member interested in speaking to reporters? Compete our short survey and a member of our communications team will be in touch.
