We are continuing our advocacy efforts for RPNs across Ontario, focusing on key issues like nurse-to-patient ratios, improving working conditions, and addressing burnout.
Taking advocacy on the road with Community Conversations
In late 2023 and early 2024, WeRPN travelled to five cities around the province to host the Leading Change: RPN Community Conversations town hall series, providing opportunities for members to gather and discuss the issues they continue to face every day at work. The events allowed RPNs to engage directly with their local elected officials about the challenges in Ontario’s healthcare system and to provide information on meaningful solutions and improvements based on RPN experience.
We started in Brampton, where WeRPN members met with Don Valley East MPP and Liberal Health Critic, Adil Shamji, to discuss how RPNs can maximize their skills and transform the healthcare system when given the proper tools.
Our second stop was in Ottawa, where we were joined by Ottawa-Vanier MPP Lucille Collard and Ottawa Centre MPP Joel Harden. The discussion focused on the nursing profession in Ontario post-pandemic and the range of issues that limit RPNs are from delivering optimal care — from burnout to issues in home care.
Next, we hosted our first town hall of 2024 in Kitchener-Waterloo, where local members met with Kitchener Centre MPP Aislinn Clancy, Guelph MPP and leader of the Green Party of Ontario Mike Schreiner and Waterloo MPP Catherine Fife, who all commended WeRPN and our members’ ongoing advocacy toward improving nursing wages and workload.
For our final stops in late February and March, we visited Niagara Falls and Kingston. In Niagara, we were joined by Niagara Centre MPP Jeff Burch and a staff member of Niagara Falls MPP Wayne Gates, and in Kingston we were joined by Kingston and the Islands MPP Ted Hsu.
At all of our town halls, local WeRPN members discussed and provided real-life examples of all the issues we have been advocating for: professional development for RPNs, reduced reliance on nursing agencies, addressing burnout and implementing fair wages. These discussions made a profound impact and we look forward to more opportunities to share our experiences at future in-person engagements.
Legislation
Bill 192, Patient-to-Nurse Ratios for Hospitals Act
One of the most pressing issues affecting RPN retention-rates is a lack of mandated nurse-to-patient ratios. Legislating these ratios would ensure that RPNs are able to provide the appropriate level of care for all our patients instead of being forced into decisions about what care to provide within a limited time frame, often leading to moral distress.
Our Private Members Bill, championed by Nickel Belt MPP France Gelinas, aimed to introduce these ratios by targeting Ontario’s Health Protection and Promotion Act. If passed, it would have added a section that sets out clear patient-to-nurse ratios for hospitals based on the British Columbia and other international models that the Ministry of Health must ensure are not exceeded. The bill is focused on ratios in hospitals as a starting point, but we are actively continuing to advocate for these ratios to be instated across sectors including long-term care.
In early June, we held a press conference alongside MPP Gelinas and our sector partners, the Ontario Nursing Association, the Ontario Public Service Employee’s Union and SEIU Healthcare, to detail the need for this legislation and urge the government to pass Bill 192.
Although the bill did not progress successfully, it presented the opportunity to raise awareness of proven solutions to support nurses and our healthcare sector. We made it clear that nurse-to-patient ratios are a win-win for nurse workloads, Ontarians’ quality of care and fiscal efficiencies. In doing so, we have successfully articulated and created a proven record of our efforts to support RPNs and provide concrete solutions to nursing staffing shortages – and we will continue the advocacy fight
The Ontario healthcare system must truly value its nurses to retain them. We will continue to demand better for RPNs, because all nurses deserve a manageable workload and healthy environment, and Ontarians deserve the high-quality healthcare that RPNs provide.
Advocacy
Looking forward – Fall Advocacy Day
Our 2024 advocacy work is not over yet – we are planning a fall advocacy day this November at Queen’s Park. There is no better way to amplify our advocacy than to host an entire day of bringing RPN voices right to the doorstep of government.
Through meetings with elected officials and a reception, we will share the lived realities and experiences of RPNs in hospitals, long-term care facilities, retirement homes and local communities to ensure government understands how important each of you is. WeRPN Board of Directors, staff and a select group of members, will be holding meetings with MPPs to explore how we can work together towards creating a stronger, more resilient healthcare system that provides the best care possible and affords RPNs the work environment they deserve. This opportunity for face-to-face interaction and sharing of personal experiences from RPNs will be crucial for having our voices heard and action taken. Keep an eye out in your inbox for a registration form to indicate your interest in participating, and in our spring edition of the magazine, a recap of the fall advocacy day.
