Thursday, July 27, 2017

Nurses need to be included in PTSD legislation



Nurses witness and experience many traumatizing events in the course of their working lives. They -- like other front-line workers such as firefighters, police and correctional officers -- can suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Yet nurses are not included in PTSD presumptive legislation that can help them get the help and support they need.

 

We need your help.


Ask our elected officials to include nurses in the post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) presumptive legislation.

 https://www.ona.org/campaigns-actions/ptsd/

Wednesday, July 19, 2017

HOSPITAL MEMBERS - REMEMBER TO VOTE FOR YOUR CENTRAL TEAM REPRESENTATIVE!

 
 
Voting information was mailed to all members working in the hospital sector.
 
If you have not received it contact Vicki Romaniuk at 519‑966‑6350, toll free at 1‑800-387-5580, extension 5221 or at vickir@ona.org
 
Deadline to vote is August 10th at 1600 hrs!

Tuesday, July 18, 2017

Nursing Union Leaders Brief Premiers


Access through Innovation: 
Maximizing Federal Mental Health presented at Premiers’ Summit

EDMONTON – Ontario Nurses’ Association (ONA) leaders and the Canadian Federation of Nurses Unions (CFNU) co-hosted a premiers’ breakfast briefing on mental health care today.

ONA First Vice-President Vicki McKenna, RN, Regional Vice-President Cathryn Hoy, RN and CEO/CAO Marie Kelly along with CFNU President Linda Silas and Canadian nurses’ union leaders co-hosted the event during the premiers’ summit. The briefing featured two speakers dedicated to improving Canadian mental health care – Michael Kirby, former senator and current founding chair of Partners for Mental Health, and Tazz Norris, a Canadian mental health motivational speaker also known as Big Daddy Tazz.

McKenna notes that statistics show that 20 per cent of Canadian children and youth will develop a mental illness by age 25, and 43 per cent of Canadians will experience a mental health problem or illness over the course of their lives. Fully half of family doctors’ time is spent addressing mental health issues or illness, costing the Canadian economy upwards of $50 billion a year.

“As nurses working on the front lines with patients and families impacted by mental illness, we know it is crucial that the $5 billion invested by the federal government in targeted funding for mental illness be wisely invested in effective, innovative approaches to improve access to mental health services,” says McKenna.

Kirby said that “the most important, and cost-effective innovation in mental health is to provide psychotherapy to all, starting with children and youth. This would enable young Canadians to overcome mental illness by early adulthood and save governments millions of dollars.”

Kirby, who was Chair of the Senate Committee which authored the 2006, ground-breaking report, “Out of the Shadows: Transforming Mental Health, Mental Illness and Addiction Services in Canada,” briefed the premiers on needed innovations to mental health care. ONA and the CFNU will continue to work with federal, provincial and territorial governments to improve public health-care services for all Canadians.
ONA is the union representing 64,000 registered nurses and health-care professionals, as well as almost 16,000 nursing student affiliates, providing care in hospitals, long-term care facilities, public health, the community, clinics and industry.

Wednesday, July 12, 2017

NOTICE Hospital Central Negotiating Team Elections



Full-time Candidates for ONA Region 5:

James Murray                                                   Betty Scott
London Health Sciences Centre                  St. Joseph’s Health Care
Local 100                                                        Local 45
Toll-free: 1-877-839-6245 ext. 7800                           Toll-free: 1-877-839-6245 ext. 7801
See like below for email contact details                      See like below for email contact details 

Part-time Team Member for ONA Region 5 (acclaimed):
(No election required)

Joanne Wilkinson
London Health Sciences Centre
Local 100
  
Voting information will be sent to all members in the hospital sector on July 10, 2017.  Members will be entitled to vote until August 10, 2017 for one full-time and one part-time candidate from their region, unless the position has been acclaimed.

For more information on ONA’s Hospital Central Negotiating Team election, please visit our website at https://www.ona.org/news-posts/elections-for-hcnt-2017/.  You may contact the Office of the Chief Electoral Officer (Chief Executive Officer/Chief Administrative Officer) at chiefelectoralofficer@ona.org or 416‑964‑8833, ext. 2801, or (toll-free) 1-800-387-5580. Press 1 for “English” or 2 for “French,” then press 0 and enter 2801 when prompted.