RNAO encourages public to effect change
Association calls for support for its policy recommendations to improve health care for all
It’s little wonder that nurses — consistently lauded as the most trusted of all professionals — are the minds behind an ongoing political movement for change.
Having recently released its non-parti- san policy platform called “Improving Health for All,” the Registered Nurses’ Association of Ontario (RNAO) is making 24 recommendations in five key political areas to Ontario’s four parties: health system reform, the environment, government fiscal capacity, living standards, and access to nursing care.
“More than any other group of professionals, we’re the constant throughout people’s lives, in times of health, sickness, birth or death, and it’s because we value this responsibility that we advo- cate and push for healthy public policies,” says Doris Grinspun, chief executive officer of the RNAO, which represents registered nurses, nurse practitioners and nursing students in Ontario.
“Time and experience have shown that if these evidence-based recommendations are implemented, they will shape health outcomes and benefit Ontarians in the short and long term.”
Among the most integral suggestions is to ensure a better functioning health system, which must be anchored in primary care, says Grinspun.
That means adding a requirement that all first home-care visits are handled by an RN, that the proportion of RNs in long-term care be boosted to at least 20 per cent (rather than the current regulation of one RN at any given time), and ensuring RNs can communicate a diagnosis and prescribe medications for common ailments.
Green-lighting RNs to order lab tests, as well as continuing to have them initiate the controlled act of psychotherapy are also recommended.
Other key highlights: Implementing a universal, single-payer pharmacare health-care system that covers all medically necessary prescriptions without deductibles, co-payments, user fees and means testing, and investing $10 million to support oral care for low-income adults and seniors. Grinspun adds that it’s long overdue and necessary that the government work with Indigenous communities and their leaders to find solutions for basic social determinants of health, to prevent child and youth suicide, and when it comes to living standards, among other suggestions, there needs to be an investment of one per cent of Ontario’s budget ($1.5 billion) designated for building affordable, accessible housing and fix existing units in need of repair.
“The bottom line is that each policy recommendation is good for Ontario, but also the whole of Canada,” she adds.
“When parties take the time to read our thoughtful, thoroughly researched document, they see that we are advocating for the people, for their health, for improved living standards, for what everyone living in this country deserves. What’s more, they see that it’s an opportunity for their parties to get behind these progressive suggestions and provide the kind of health-care change Ontarians want and need.”
But for real change to happen, Grinspun notes that public input is paramount.
“It’s vitally important that the public gets involved, and I say that to the public in its entirety, but especially younger generations,” she says.
“This is your Ontario, so I implore you to get involved in being part of what the future of this province looks like. Read more about the suggestions we’ve made (at rnao.ca/improvinghealthforall) and why we’ve made them, and inform yourself about each candidate’s platform now. Ask your MPP about where they stand on topics that matter to you, and if you do nothing else, make sure you vote,” she says.