The Primary Care Nurse Task Force was launched by the Registered Nurses’ Association of Ontario (RNAO) in response to the gross under-utilization of thousands of primary care nurses – registered nurses (RNs) and registered practical nurses (RPNs) – in Ontario’s health system. Bringing together key stakeholders from across the health system, we engaged in factual and evidence-based discussions that were open, thoughtful, and respectful. The result is a report that offers a fair and balanced analysis and practical solutions to improve primary care. The goal is simple: improve access to timely, quality, and person-centred care for the public.

In October 2012, the Registered Nurses’ Association of Ontario (RNAO) issued Enhancing Community Care for Ontarians (ECCO) 2.0, a bold model for health system transformation. Subject to significant praise, debate and discussion, this model generated timely and important dialogue on how to make the system more integrated and person‐centred, while ensuring the ongoing sustainability of a publicly‐funded and not‐for‐profit delivery model. Today, more than ever, we believe the dialogue must continue in a transparent way that is open to the public. To this end, RNAO is issuing ECCO 2.0.     

Ontario’s nurses call on government and stakeholders to collectively strengthen our publicly-funded, not-for-profit health system and make it more responsive to the public’s needs, easier to navigate and more efficient and cost-effective. To make this happen, focus must be placed on advancing primary health care for all through health promotion, disease prevention, social and environmental determinants of health and community care. Equally important are changes that enable nurses and all other regulated health professionals to work to their full scope of practice, a commitment to reducing structural duplication, and advancing system integration and alignment.

The ECCO model proposes that interprofessional primary care organizations, such as community health
centres (CHC), nurse practitioner-led clinics (NPLC), Aboriginal health access centres (AHAC) and family
health teams (FHT) expand their reach and role over the next three years, with the support of a
temporary LHIN-led primary care transitional secretariat to organize local geographic primary care
networks.

In October 2012, the Registered Nurses’ Association of Ontario (RNAO) issued Enhancing Community Care for Ontarians (ECCO), a bold model for health system transformation. Subject to significant praise, debate and discussion, this model generated timely and important dialogue on how to make the system more integrated and person‐centred, while ensuring the ongoing sustainability of a publicly‐funded and not‐for‐profit delivery model.1 Today, more than ever, we believe the dialogue must continue in a transparent way that is open to the public. To this end, RNAO is issuing ECCO 2.0.     

In a groundbreaking report, the Registered Nurses’ Association of Ontario’s (RNAO) Black Nurses Task Force (BNTF) unveiled recommendations to tackle structural racism within nursing organizations, regulatory bodies, associations and the broader health system.

The BNTF Report: Acknowledging, Addressing and Tackling Anti-Black Racism and Discrimination Within the Nursing Profession features 19 recommendations. The task force was guided in its work by four main pillars: education and awareness building; research; advocacy at all levels; and partnership with allies and stakeholders. This report also includes information from a scoping review of the literature and results from an online survey of 205 Black nurses across Ontario.

When you’re sick, you expect to be cared for by the right provider to keep you healthy and safe. But that is not always the case in our province these days.

Ontario has the lowest RN-to-population ratio in the country. To cut costs, registered nurses (RN) are being replaced with less qualified and less expensive care providers.

RNs are trained to provide person-centred care for patients with the most complex needs, and evidence shows RN care reduces complications and deaths. So having fewer RNs means your safety is at risk.

Ontario's population is aging and its needs are changing. If we're going to keep pace, we can't get tripped up by short-sighted budgetary decisions. We need the right care providers at the right time, and that means reclaiming the role of the RN in the name of patient safety.

Learn more about RNAO's research and recommendations by reading Mind the Safety Gap in Health System Transformation.

Enhancing Community Care for Ontarians (ECCO) 3.0 calls on the government and health system partners to strengthen community care and anchor the health system in primary care to better meet the health needs of all Ontarians. First released in 2012 and next in 2014, ECCO 3.0 aligns with much needed health system transformation that responds to the COVID-19 pandemic. 

RNAO’s Work and Wellbeing Survey Results tells the story of nurses and a nursing workforce under considerable stress and strain as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

While all nurses have been affected by the pandemic, how they experience levels of stress and strain are as unique as the nurses themselves as they struggle with job demands and their own life circumstances.

The survey results point to the need for better supports for nurses – particularly from government and employers – as they attempt to manage the impacts of the pandemic, both at work and at home. While virtually no one claims to have escaped the impacts of the pandemic, the survey results reveals certain sectors of the health system, domains of practice and age cohorts are under particular strain.

This report outlines a number of recommendations geared to retain nurses in the profession and build Ontario’s registered nurse (RN) workforce, such as repealing Bill 124, expediting applications and finding pathways for internationally educated nurses, and more. It also outlines four new RNAO programs aimed to address nurses’ needs for better workplace supports, more professional development opportunities and more control over their working lives:

• Advanced Clinical Practice Fellowship program
• Leadership and Management for Nurses program
• Mentorship for Nurses program
•  Nursing Student Preceptor for Long-Term Care program

Visit our Nursing Career Pathways page

Nursing Career Pathways examines the nursing profession and the opportunities before the government to build nursing careers and fix Ontario’s health system.

This report also highlights the barriers to retaining and recruiting nurses in Ontario – inadequate and inequitable compensation and unsafe and unhealthy workloads – and identifies opportunities for short-term and long-term improvements.