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Through our advocacy work, ongoing consultations with the Ontario government, we are vigilant in our mission to enhance the nursing profession. Members are often among the first to learn of proposed changes to public policy and members often provide input in policy making decisions. RNAO regularly monitors and responds to issues relating to the nursing workforce, scope of practice, nursing culture and safety, education and regulation with evidence-based recommendations. RNAO continues to sound the alarm on the need to put more resources into primary care, home and community care to decrease the number of patients in hospital.
Take action
Action Alert
There is no space for hate in Ontario, Premier!
Call on Premier Ford to support educators and school boards to support our kids, regardless of their sexual orientation or gender identity.
Action Alert
Canada is burning and our future is in peril! Act NOW, Premier Ford and Prime Minister Trudeau!
Call on governments to put forward a science-based plan that addresses the scale and urgency of the climate crisis. Tell Premier Ford and Prime Minister Trudeau to behave like this is an emergency – because it is one!
Action Alert
Let’s make pharmacare happen!
Tell Prime Minister Trudeau that it’s time for universal, single-payer pharmacare!
Current issues
Long-term care and rehab
Long-term care
An aging long-term care resident population with increasing medical complexity calls for increased care from staff with the right skill mix, yet Ontario continues to underfund and understaff homes. Residents and staff deserve better.
Nursing
Nursing policy
Chronic underfunding and understaffing across all health sectors in Ontario, and the relentless replacement of RNs and NPs with less qualified health-care workers, is challenging the effectiveness of RNs and NPs and the system as a whole.
SDOH
Opioid overdose crisis
For over a decade, Canadians have been dying at an increasing rate from opioid overdoses. Between January 2016 and December 2021, nearly 30,000 Canadians died from an opioid overdose. Ontario is not immune to this tragedy.
Our vision
Our vision is of an Ontario that creates the conditions for health and wellness for everyone by addressing the many determinants of health.
That means a system that is
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Accessible
with interprofessional care teams anchored in the communities where people live, work and play.
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Person-centred
where a person and their support system are viewed as a whole and empowered to be genuine partners for their own health.
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Equitable
where deliberate efforts are made to decrease gaps in health outcomes, services and experiences.
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Integrated
where care is coordinated so that transitions from sector to sector, service to service, are seamless.
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Publicly funded and not-for-profit
so that it is efficient and sustainable and everyone, no matter their means, receives the care they require.
Upcoming events
Queen's Park on the Road (QPOR)
It allows RNAO members to meet their MPPs within their local constituency to discuss key nursing, health, and health-care issues that matter to them and that affect their day-to-day practice.
Leadership and Management for Nurses Program
Due to popular demand, the virtual Leadership and Management for Nurses Program is back and open to nurses in managerial roles - registered nurses, registered practical nurses and nurse practitioners across all sectors. The program aims to enhance key knowledge and applied skills necessary to successfully support their teams in goal achievement, shared decision making and effective team functioning within a healthy work environment.
Take Your MPP To Work
Each year, commencing at the beginning of Nursing Week, we encourage RNs, NPs and nursing students to take part in our annual Take Your MPP To Work™ political action event.
Find policy files
The RNAO policy library provides search for all our policy resources.
