Retaining nurses in Ontario is key to a healthy population
A CRUCIAL ELEMENT TO A WELL-FUNCTIONING HEALTH-CARE SYSTEM IS SUPPORTING OUR MOST VALUED ASSET – THE NURSING COMMUNITY.
In a new report entitled Nursing Career Pathways, released earlier this year by the Registered Nurses’ Association of Ontario (RNAO), it’s clear that in order to keep our province’s health-care system – and our population – healthy, we need more government funding and support for one of our most highly regarded health-care professionals – our nurses.
If the pandemic taught us anything about nurses, it’s that their dedication and work ethic is second to none. Working days on end without time off in the very worst of conditions without regard for their own wellbeing is what makes being a nurse such a challenging job – but also what makes it so rewarding. So perhaps it should not come as a surprise that more and more people have been inspired to apply to nursing programs with the intention of making nursing their career.
But the unfortunate truth is that nurses are struggling, says Dr. Doris Grinspun, chief executive officer of the RNAO. “Nurses are hurting. They’re hurting from being exhausted, hurting from the pandemic that was relentless on them, hurting from the perception that they are not as respected as they should be. This document provides different pathways to the many different nursing careers that are available and where there is the most opportunity. It also advocates to push government and employers to tackle those barriers, so Ontarians have access to adequate, excellent health care.”
Nursing Career Pathways does list recommendations for improvement. Some of those recommendations include competitive compensation, healthy work environments and safe workloads, professional development, including continuing education pathways, expanding their scope of practice, and fast-tracking the registration of internationally educated nurses residing in Canada.
But there are also many barriers highlighted in the document, which include inadequate and inequitable compensation and unsafe and unhealthy workloads. In the past few years, nurses have risked their health and safety, endured staffing shortages and experienced burnout and mental health challenges to provide care. Yet the government’s wage restraint legislation – Bill 124 – and high inflation has caused their real income to be in decline. Because of the crisis in work overload and financial constraints, many nurses have left the province or the profession.
Dr. Grinspun insists, however, that despite all of this, the report also focuses on the positives within the nursing sector. “The opportunities are absolutely immense. Very few professions offer such diversity of opportunity, not only by sector, but also the many roles within each sector. But we have to deal with the barriers so we can build on opportunities and solve the challenges to better serve Ontarians.”
As Dr. Grinspun explains, nurses are leaving Ontario for better opportunities in British Columbia, Alberta and the U.S. Some choose agency work, which offers better compensation and more work flexibility. Some leave nursing altogether. “But we want nurses to be inspired to stay here and build careers in Ontario. That’s what we want at our association. We need to look at the issues of competitive compensation with other jurisdictions
within Canada and abroad, and safe workloads, whether you are a staff nurse, a nurse manager or an educator. We need to do better elevating the value, compensation and work environment of nurses by our government – federal and provincial – and employers. We need to do better, and we can do better. We are a country that can, and should.”
And what about those new nurses coming up in the system? Ashley FryO’Rourke is a nursing professor at Mohawk College in Hamilton, but she has worked as a nurse herself in many different areas, and she is also a policy and political action executive network officer for RNAO’s Hamilton Chapter. “Mohawk College is celebrating 50 years of offering the nursing program this year. Our profession has come a long way with
our history and education base, but we can go so much further.”
“The future of nursing is bright,” Fry-O’Rourke continues. “The next generation of nurses has so much passion and good intention as they enter their future profession. They are bringing a lot of positive energy into the profession. Moving forward, we can really leverage this positive energy and intention to influence more change and create a system that is comfortable for everyone, including those providing and receiving care. I think the future generation of nurses is exceptionally self-aware about what it is that they need in order to thrive. They are learning ways to articulate and advocate for that so that we can continue to influence change.”