Every time we hear about a new round of cuts to Registered Nurses, we hear the same line - patients will not be affected. #Nursesknow better. Share your story about the impacts of cuts and underfunding: bit.ly/1S63JZ4#OnPoli
People here are more dissatisfied with their health care than
almost anywhere else in the province, according to new data that so
concerns the Erie St. Clair LHIN that staff have been charged to find
out why.
“Clearly it’s a symptom, system wise. That problem with patient
satisfaction is a symptom of something we have to address,” Martin
Girash, the chairman of the Local Health Integration Network board, said
Thursday, referring to a recent report on local health indicators and
how they compare to provincial targets.
Two indicators — low patient satisfaction and the high proportion of
hospital beds taken up by patients (called alternative level of care)
who should be somewhere else such as nursing homes — were flagged for
further study, according to Girash. He said staff at the LHIN will be
“drilling down” into the data to find out why people are less satisfied
here than any of the 14 other health regions in the province, with the
exception of two regions in Northern Ontario.
He said a similar red flag was hoisted several years ago when the
data showed too few stroke patients were getting treated quickly
enough so they could be treated with game-changing clot-busting drugs
that can minimize or even reverse the damage. The problem was
identified, studied and addressed, and the next time the measurements
came out the results for stroke were “fantastic,” said Girash.
“It’s a really, really good example of how monitoring the performance
indicators, flagging it, finding out what the problem is, what needs to
be done, actually makes a difference.”
The data also shows near-the-top results for: receiving home care
from the CCAC within the provincial targets; getting CT scans quickly;
getting a spot in long-term care quickly; and fewer repeat customers for
hospitals and emergencies. Erie St. Clair is in the middle of the pack
for: wait times for hip and knee replacements, cancer surgery and MRIs;
emergency department length of stays; and quality of primary care. It
scores near the bottom for the percentage of hospital beds taken up by
ALCs; wait times for cataract surgery; palliative home support; and
patient satisfaction.
Pete Crvenkovski, the LHIN’s director of performance, quality and
knowledge management, has asked the Health Ministry for more detailed
data on patient satisfaction. The numbers are based on asking a sampling
of the population: How satisfied are you with health care in your
community? On average across the province, about 87 per cent said they
were satisfied or very satisfied. The 14 LHINs ranged between about 81
in the North West LHIN (centred in Thunder Bay) and 92 in Toronto. The
Erie St. Clair LHIN had an 82 per cent satisfaction rate, third lowest
in the province. Crvenkovski said it looks like the Windsor area has a
better satisfaction rate (around 84 per cent), than elsewhere in the
LHIN, which covers the Sarnia-Chatham-Windsor region.
Girash said while it’s not yet known why people here are less
satisfied, he speculates one reason may be the crowded hospital
emergency departments where patients are “hanging from the rafters.”
Girash, a retired CEO at Windsor Regional Hospital, went to an ED
recently. “I saw people in terrible pain, awful pain. They had already
been triaged and were sitting in the waiting room, but there were so
many people, the volume was tremendous.”
Windsor Regional Hospital CEO David Musyj.Files /
Windsor Star
The same report showing patient dissatisfaction also showed that
Windsor Regional’s two EDs have length of stay times for serious cases
that are well above the province’s target time of eight hours. Its Met
ED averages 11.2 hours and its Ouellette ED — the regional trauma centre
that takes the most critical cases — averages 14.6 hours.
The data shows that patients who had recently been to an ED were more
dissatisfied with their health care than those who hadn’t been to an
ED, according to Crvenkovski. Windsor Regional CEO David Musyj said the
hospital has work to do in its EDs.
“That is no different than any hospital in the province, emergency departments struggle with patient satisfaction,” he said.
He said the region’s low patient satisfaction scores shouldn’t be
blamed on hospitals, since 90 per cent of the health care people receive
comes outside hospitals, from doctor’s offices, home care, clinics and
other services. Windsor Regional continually measures patient
satisfaction and has numbers better than 82 per cent, said Musyj.
In 2015, the satisfaction rate was 94 per cent at its Met campus,
though the rate in the ED was 83. At Ouellette, the overall rate was 90
per cent but 80 per cent in the ED.
The lower satisfaction scores in the ED pull down the hospital’s overall scores, Musyj said.
“That’s the difference maker, why we’re not at 100 per cent, so that’s our focus.”
Dr. Amit Bagga, president of the Essex County Medical Association,
said he believes that, given the resources available, people are doing
amazing work locally providing health care.
“I genuinely believe from my heart we have some great people in the
city,” said Bagga, a nephrologist (kidney specialist), who cites family
doctors, specialists, nurse practitioners and nurses for their excellent
care. “But I don’t think we can ignore that good healthcare depends on
appropriate resources provided by the provincial government.”
Ontario Provincial Budget Provides Small Improvements for Ontario Hospitals, say Front-Line Registered Nurses
TORONTO – The Ontario Nurses' Association (ONA) says that the provincial budget provides a small increase to hospital funding, which we hope will be invested in front-line registered nurses (RNs) for our patients.
"We have been appalled that the government has starved our hospitals of much-needed funding over the past four years and look forward to the new hospital funding improving the quality of care for Ontarians," said ONA President Linda Haslam-Stroud, RN.
Haslam-Stroud says that it is very important for the Minister of Health, Eric Hoskins, to signal hospitals to invest this increased funding wisely. "Our patients deserve no less," she said. We also call on Minister Hoskins to respond to the tens of thousands of Ontarians who have requested a moratorium on RN cuts.
"Each year of hospital underfunding has left hospitals announcing round after round of RN cuts, 462 of them in 2016 alone," she said. "Our patients in long-term care will see increased funding for nursing and personal care. That will assist in addressing the high acuity of our residents. Community care will help build capacity as the system continues to transform. In addition, long-overdue funding for Nurse Practitioners is also included in this budget. Finally, the government has listened to the front-line RNs who have advocated strongly for our patients."
ONA is the union representing 60,000 registered nurses, nurse practitioners, registered practical nurses and allied health professionals, as well as more than 14,000 nursing student affiliates, providing care in hospitals, long-term care facilities, public health, family health teams, community health centres, the community, clinics and industry.
The University of Windsor nursing program received the maximum seven-year term accreditation.
The Canadian Association of Schools of Nursing issued the maximum
seven-year term accreditation for the UWindsor educational unit, as well
as its collaborative BScN program with Lambton and St. Clair colleges.
Dean Linda Patrick says this is a recognition of the high standard
of education the 300 nurse graduates each year are receiving.
She says it is a detailed process with submissions of documents,
followed up by a week-long visit in November by an accreditation team.
She says the accreditation recognizes that all the 4 sites have a
level of excellence because the all have an educational unit that is
evaluated separately from each other.
She says this puts their graduates in good standing for the work
world: "I would have to say that knowing we have the gold standard, or 7
year accreditation, would please an employer knowing the graduate
they're going to hire has gone to a very good school with a good program
that's received the accreditation"
The Canadian Association of Schools of Nursing is the national
accrediting body for nursing education in Canada. It promotes the
process as an objective method to assess professional education
programs.
Accreditation by the is a testament to the continued quality of the
UWindsor BScN program and its faculty, students and graduates according
to Patrick.
Published on: February 24, 2016 | Last Updated: February 24, 2016 6:11 PM EST
MPP Lisa Gretzky (NDP — Windsor West)
told the Ontario Liberal government in question period Wednesday “to
stop pushing out Windsor nurses to the U.S.” Windsor Regional Hospital
announced layoffs last month.Tyler Brownbridge / Windsor Star
Registered nurses facing layoff from Windsor Regional Hospital are
being interviewed for jobs in Michigan one day and hired the next, says
MPP Lisa Gretzky, who on Wednesday told the health minister to “stop
pushing out Windsor nurses to the U.S.”
The hospital announced the layoffs last month — a total of 166
full-time-equivalent jobs, primarily RNs, offset partially by the hiring
of 80 registered practical nurse FTEs to replace 80 RN FTEs.
Windsor Regional says it is being squeezed financially because
overall hospital funding in the province has been frozen at $19 billion
for five years, and that money is divided up according to a new funding
formula that gives more money to hospitals in areas of higher population
growth. That means hospitals in areas like Windsor where growth is
slow, the funding goes down — a $10-million reduction last year and
another $10-million reduction this year.
A total of 169 full- and part-time nurses are being affected by the
cuts, according to the Ontario Nurses Association which has launched apetition and letter writing campaign.
In the Ontario legislature Wednesday, Gretzky (NDP — Windsor West)
said the nurses facing layoff are resorting to jobs at Michigan
hospitals. “These nurses should be working in Ontario hospitals, not
being forced by this government’s cuts to leave the country just to find
work,” she said in a question period query to Minister Eric Hoskins.
“When will the Liberals stop cutting our hospitals, stop pushing
Ontario’s nurses to take jobs in Michigan and start protecting patient
care in all our communities?”
Hoskins replied that his ministry had recently provided Windsor
Regional with $7 million in additional money to help with its situation,
and added that the hospital is one of only a few in the province with
all-RN nursing staffs. Most have moved to an RN-RPN mix. (Actually,
while Windsor Regional’s Met location is all-RN, its Ouellette location
has an RN-RPN mix. The 80 new RPNs being hired will be going to Met to
provide it with a similar mix as at Ouellette.) High-seniority RNs make
$44 an hour while RPNs make $27.50.
In his reply to Gretzky, Hoskins said: “I think we should leave it to
the experts, to the LHIN, to the local leadership, to make sure the mix
of nurses and other staff in the hospital truly meets the patients’
needs.”
Sue Sommerdyk, the Ontario Nurses’ Association local president who
represents 1,550 RNs at Windsor Regional, said the minister should be
ashamed for blaming Windsor Regional for keeping its level of care
“higher” than what other hospitals have.
“I really think it’s appalling,” she said. “With all these issues of
workload and patient care and all the things we have today, the
government should be augmenting the staff, it should be bringing in RPNs
to work with the RNs, not cut the RNs.”
Michigan hospitals have also organized job fairs in Windsor to go after nurses cut by Windsor Regional, according to Gretzky.
But Sommerdyk doesn’t view the Detroit hospitals as a great option.
Nurses must have written their Michigan exams and be licensed to work
there; there are hassles at the border and tunnel tolls to contend with
during their daily commute; there are safety concerns working in
Detroit; and the wages and working conditions in these non-unionized
hospitals vary widely, Sommerdyk said.
“We want our nurses to stay in Ontario,” she said. “They want to stay
in Ontario, they want to work where they grew up, they want to be
around their family and friends.”
Ontario's Health Minister is pointing the finger at management at
Windsor Regional Hospital for the layoff of 169 Registered Nurses.
Under questioning at Queen's Park from Windsor West MPP Lisa Gretzky,
who is the NDP Health Critic, Eric Hoskins says Windsor Regional is one
of only a few hospitals in the province who have not used RPNs more.
Gretzky asked the minister if he knew how many Ontario nurses have had
to take jobs in the US: "American hospitals like Beaumont Health Systems
in Michigan have come to Windsor to hire nurses who have been cut from
our hospitals. RNs are being interviewed one day and are being hired
the very next. These nurses should be working in Ontario's hospitals,
not being forced by this government's cuts to leave this country just to
find work)
Hoskins says the Windsor Regional layoffs are the result of decisions
made by management at the hospital: "Windsor Regional is one of only a
handful, only a few hospitals around the province that never made a
transition to look at its nursing services from a holistic,
comprehensive perspective, to understand there is a role for RPNs -
Registered Practical Nurses - in our hospitals for example"
Hoskins says the decisions about staffing need to be made a the local level through the LHINS and hospital management.
He says Windsor Regional is one of just a few hospitals around the
province that hasn't yet made that transition, recognizing and "quite
frankly respecting" the role of Registered Practical Nurses.
Hoskins points out the province provided $7-million in additional funding to help the hospital transition through the change.
Registered
nurses (RNs) have special skills that are crucial for patients with
complex needs. Yet Windsor Regional Hospital is cutting 169 RNs to save
money. That’s more than 300,000 hours of care, and 10 per cent of the
RNs serving our community. In fact, RNs, save our system money in the
long run by preventing patient complications and costly readmissions.
Fewer RNs means an increased risk of complications including bedsores,
sepsis, blood clots, pneumonia, cardiac arrest and even death. The
hospital is struggling because funding has been frozen since 2012. We shouldn’t be balancing the books at the expense of patients. Please join our call to stop the cuts and ensure hospitals can continue to provide the care patients need.
Nurses
across the province are saying enough is enough. Join our virtual rally
by signing up to post a campaign message on Facebook or Twitter at a
coordinated date and time: http://thndr.me/mzKfNL#NursesKnow#OnPoli
Registered
nurses James Gibbons, Alan Warrington, Kathy Burgess, and union head
James Murray, l-r, in front of the emergency department of Victoria
Hospital. Photo taken on Monday Feb 22, 2016 (MORRIS LAMONT, The London
Free Press)
Nine months after London’s largest
hospital took a hammer to its emergency rooms and turned to methods of
auto giant Toyota to speed patients through, that project has hit
delays.
London Health Sciences Centre had hoped by March to complete changes
that would break an ER logjam that had been among the worst in Ontario —
but that target now has been pushed back to later this year.
The delay isn’t the only challenge: The union that represents
front-line registered nurses is accusing the hospital of funding the
Toyota plans by downgrading the calibre of nurses who treat the mentally
ill in ERs.
“We just spent millions of dollars to try to implement Toyota,” said
James Murray, a registered nurse and president of Local 100 of the
Ontario Nurses’ Association that represents 3,600 nurses in London.
“It’s wasted money.”
Five registered nurses who care for those with mental illness in the
emergency room will be replaced by cheaper, less educated registered
practical nurses (RPNs), he said.
Though RPNs have valuable skills, they can’t replace RNs tasked with
making tough calls about those with mental illness, including whether to
restrain them through the use of medication or physical devices
“(RPNs are) not going to be able to pick up the subtle clues,” Murray said.
But hospital CEO Murray Glendining says the change won’t compromise
safety and that the money saved had nothing to do with the Toyota plan.
As for the delay, that’s because the plan required changes to how
care is provided in homes, the community and long-term care, and those
changes aren’t complete.
“We are not abandoning the (Toyota plan),” Glendining told The Free Press.
In order to move patients through the ER more quickly, the hospital
must speedily treat those who can be released while securing ward beds
for those who will need to be admitted. The first part of that plan has
gone well — Glendining says the December results were spectacular — but
the second part is challenging,
When there is not enough support for people to be cared for in their
homes, communities and nursing homes, patients who should be discharged
are not — creating a bottleneck that backs up the ER with patients
waiting for a bed on a ward.
“(The plan) is much bigger than just the emergency department,” Glendining said.
The percentage of patients waiting to be safely discharged from a
ward has remained stubbornly high and recently spiked again, he said.
But Murray isn’t convinced Toyota changes help patients, pointing to a
review of all previous studies on similar efficiency changes that found
little evidence that such changes make a difference.
“While some may strongly believe (these) interventions lead to
quality improvements in health care, the evidence to date simply does
not support this claim. More rigorous, higher quality and better
conducted scientific research is required,” researchers in Saskatchewan
wrote in a study published in the International Journal for Quality in Health Care Advance Access. jsher@postmedia.com
Tired doctors: How your doctor’s schedule could harm your health
Trouble with the video? Watch it on YouTube here.
Do tired and overworked doctors on marathon shifts make more mistakes?
It’s a nightmare that many people don’t think about: How your doctor’s
schedule may be harming your health. Sleepless shifts of up to 30 hours
are routine for many of Canada’s 12,000 resident doctors. And that’s
unacceptable and dangerous, according to a panel of medical experts. But
Canada has no national standard for the hours residents work. David
Common and two doctors stay awake and put themselves to the test in a
26-hour sleep lab experiment, to test how sleep deprivation can affect
even the best doctors.
Published on: February 19, 2016 | Last Updated: February 19, 2016 9:02 PM EST
Lois Fairley, a nurse at Grace
Hospital from 1954 to 1993, is pictured in this handout photo. Each year
in Windsor-Essex, an outstanding nurse is awarded the Lois Fairley
Nursing Award.Handout / Windsor Star
Nominations are now being accepted for the ninth annual Lois
Fairley Nursing Award, which honours outstanding nurses in Windsor and
Essex County.
Presented by the Windsor-Essex chapter of the Registered Nurses’
Association of Ontario, nominations are received from the community.
If you a know a nurse who has made an impact in their workplace or in
the lives of a patient or family member, nominate them by writing your
story in 500 words or less.
For more information or to access the nomination form, visit www.windsoressexrnao.org.
Deadline for the entries is 5 p.m. on April 1.
The award is named in honour of Lois Fairley, a Registered Nurse who
started and finished her 38 year nursing career at Grace Hospital in
Windsor from 1955 to 1993.
Fairley died in 2007 and the Registered Nurses Association of Ontario established the award in 2008.
Last year’s winner was Rita DiBiase.
Rita Di Biase, left, is presented with the 2015 Registered Nurses
Association of Ontario, Windsor-Essex Lois A. Fairley Nursing Award by
Dana Boyd and last years winner Ava Lewis at the Leamington Hospital on
Wednesday, April 22, 2015.Tyler Brownbridge /
Windsor Star
TORONTO – Ontario registered nurses know what is ailing Ontario's health-care system and urge the public to recognize and speak out regarding the special role their care plays in health care.
On Family Day, the Ontario Nurses' Association (ONA) launched new television, radio, transit, print and social media ads across the province. The ads celebrate the dedication, knowledge and skills registered nurses (RNs) possess and the challenges they face as they provide quality, compassionate care.
ONA President Linda Haslam-Stroud, RN, says that ONA's Nurses Know campaign, "says it all in one, simple phrase. Nurses know what is ailing our health-care system. Nurses also know the cure. As this province continues to starve hospitals of funding, nurses know the impact on patients. By signing our on-line petition, Ontarians can support our call for an end to RN cuts, restoration of adequate hospital funding and a funded, multi-year plan to increase the ratio of RNs-to-population.
"Hospitals across Ontario continue to announce round after round of RN cuts, 406 of them in 2016 alone, leaving patients vulnerable to an increased risk of suffering complications and death," says Haslam-Stroud. "Nurses know that patient care is suffering because we see it on the front lines each and every day. The question is, do we value our health care enough to speak out against the cuts that are doing so much harm?"
The campaign focus is on the professionalism of RNs, their medical knowledge and advanced education that qualifies them to care for patients suffering from complex illnesses with unpredictable outcomes, like patients in hospitals. ONA urges concerned Ontarians to take action for better care by signing an on-line petition or contacting their MPP.
ONA's 60,000 registered nurses and allied health professional members, nursing students, friends and supporters will be taking the campaign to their local communities, holding events to engage their communities, speaking to decision-makers and local media.
"Nurses know that every patient deserves the best quality care possible," Haslam-Stroud says. "RNs will continue to try to make Ontario's health-care system better, and we ask Ontarians to join us."
ONA is the union representing 60,000 registered nurses and allied health professionals, as well as more than 14,000 nursing student affiliates, providing care in hospitals, long-term care facilities, public health, the community, clinics and industry.
Despite the freezing rain, light snow and cold temperatures, around 150 members, friends, family, doctors, RPNs, ward clerks and fellow brothers and sisters from other unions [sorry if I missed anyone!] helped spread the word that cuts to health care are bad for the people of Windsor Essex County and Ontario.
Also thank you Karen McCullough CNE and Ralph Nicoletti, VP for coming out to support us. The donation of coffee from our fellow unionists and WRH was very much appreciated during our pickets.
Today many petitions were collected nearly 1000 signatures were added to the nearly 4000 we have collected or had submitted online. Please keep the pressure on by getting more signatures or having concerned citizens go online to sign the petition
Together we are stronger - for more pictures of the picket check out our ONA Local 8 Google Plus profile for more pictures!
Special thanks to Sherri who had these great t-shirts made at her own expense! They were the highlight of the day!
Canada's theme: Women’s Empowerment Leads to Equality
Empowerment is
essential to gender equality. Women and girls who are empowered are better
equipped to fulfill their potential and contribute their best to society.
So, what is
empowerment?
Empowerment is
having the tools to make better choices.
Empowered women
make choices that meet their own needs and those of their families. When this
happens, the world becomes a better place – not just for women, but for all of
us.
Empowerment
includes:
Having access to education.
Women who have
access to educational opportunities are more likely to participate in the
labour market and strengthen outcomes for themselves, their families, their
communities and the economy.
Getting involved in the community.
When women and
girls get involved in the daily life of their communities, they learn more
about the people and opportunities around them and are able to share their
talents and perspectives.
Becoming financially independent.
When women have
the knowledge and means to support themselves, they are more able to make
financial decisions that will improve their quality of life.
Understanding your right to live free from violence.
Women and girls
who feel safe and secure in their homes and communities are more able to
participate in all aspects of life.
Knowing how government works and exercising your
democratic rights.
Women who have
the opportunity to participate in the democratic life of their country
influence its governance, taking into account their rights, needs and values.
When women and
girls have the opportunities and resources to succeed, it enriches all of
society. We are all stronger when women and girls are empowered!
A century of voting rights
Photo credit:
Library and Archives Canada
The right to
vote and to run for office is a fundamental aspect of women’s empowerment. In
1916, Manitoba became the first Canadian province to grant women the right to
vote in provincial elections. In 2016, Canada is recognizing the significance
of this milestone by celebrating the centennial of women’s suffrage and
reflecting on how this historic event has influenced women’s empowerment and
gender equality
TORONTO – Ontario nurses say enough
is enough following three futile weeks of bargaining with the Ontario Hospital
Association (OHA). Contract talks came to an abrupt halt when the OHA team made
a final offer which would result in the gutting of our wages, benefits and job
security.
The union representing more
than 58,000 hospital RNs has been clear from day one that RN workloads and lack
of staffing are at crisis levels and something must be done immediately to stop
the unprecedented wave of RN cuts, says ONA President Linda Haslam-Stroud, RN. The
current collective agreement between ONA's hospital-sector RNs and their
employers expires on March 31.
Haslam-Stroud is appalled
at what has been tabled by the employer. She says that, "we will not
bargain away our future or our ability to provide quality patient care. Neither
are we prepared to devalue the contributions made by these crucial
professionals." ONA stands firm in our commitment to negotiate an
agreement that fairly reflects the contribution that RNs make to our patients.
Ontario's nurses are
calling on the provincial government to give hospitals a wake-up call about the
integral role that RNs play in the government's "Patients First"
agenda. Registered Nurses have had enough of staffing shortages leading to
death and disease, escalating workloads and violence. Nurses continue to suffer
from work environments that contribute to the highest injury and illness rates
of any profession.
Unsafe RN staffing levels
have become more common as hospitals have cut RN positions to balance budgets;
increasingly, RNs are finding they are unable to provide care consistent with
the standards set by their regulator. Ontario has cut more than 1,200 RN
positions in the past 13 months.
The message from Ontario's
nurses is crystal clear: Our patients deserve better!
ONA is the union representing 60,000 registered nurses
and allied health professionals, as well as more than 14,000 nursing student
affiliates, providing care in hospitals, long-term care facilities, public
health, the community, clinics and industry.
