Consider the nursing shortage before you vote

Every Ontarian has no doubt heard about the severe nursing and health-care worker shortage plaguing the province.

Officially, Ontario needs 22,000 more registered nurses now to just reach the average RN-to-population ratio of the rest of the provinces. We estimate the true number is closer to 30,000 RNs.

With the provincial election just days away, it’s time for voters to give some real thought about how that shortage — and the actions of government and promises of those who wish to form the next government — impact you and your loved ones.

The truth is Ontario’s healthcare system truly is on the verge of collapse. As president of the

Ontario Nurses’ Association (ONA), I hear regularly from many of our 68,000 front-line nurses and health-care professionals about the fear they experience each day as they struggle to provide care to their patients, long-term care residents and home/community care clients.

They are afraid that our system is too understaffed to allow them to provide the care Ontarians need and deserve.

From all corners of the province, I hear and read their stories of the shortage and what it means for you. The nursing shortage means that cancer patients sometimes do not receive life-saving chemotherapy treatments; highly unstable intensive care unit patients do not receive care from a registered nurse (RN) that is the standard because of the severe shortage of specialty-trained RNs. People who go to the emergency department are finding long waits for care due to the nursing shortage, surgeries and diagnostic tests are backlogged and leave patients waiting. In some parts of the province, the nursing shortage has meant that women in labour must travel hours to another hospital to deliver their babies.

As nurses, we are patient advocates. It’s what we’re passionate about — ensuring you receive the best-quality care possible. That’s why we are speaking out — and asking every voter to think hard about what kind of health-care system they want in future.

There is no debate. We know from multiple studies that RN care is a significant factor in patient outcomes. We see the evidence that more nurses at the bedside translates into better, safer care.

If you are grateful to the nurses and health-care professionals who have worked tirelessly throughout the pandemic, despite risk to their own health and that of their families, I urge you to take a critical look at the platforms of the Ontario political parties.

Four years of the Ford government has resulted in policies and legislation that not only failed to address the nursing shortage but worsened it. Ford has introduced legislation that removed Charter rights to freely negotiate a collective agreement, weakened infection control and prevention, attacked pay equity and wages, and weakened our public-health system at a time when we needed it most. All this is only driving more nurses and healthcare workers to leave their jobs, burnt out and hopeless.

The nursing shortage does not just impact those who provide care, it impacts you, your family and your friends.

I urge all voters to look closely at parties’ health-care platforms and cast their ballots for a government that will safeguard your public health-care system and those who care so much for you. Patients, residents and clients deserve the best care. Everyone will need a nurse some day.

Let’s vote for publicly delivered and funded health care that is truly for the people.