Healthcare News
- Nurses in Canada admit to making mistakes
14 May 08 -- The study underscores what frontline nurses in Ontario have been saying for a long time: nursing shortages impact patient care.
- Nurses Complain of Bully, Intimidation
10 May 08 -- As Nursing Week begins Sunday, the government and Canadians are concerned about what appears to be declining nursing care. But nurses too are complaining of bullying and intimidation on the job.
- Foreign Trained Nurses
8 May 08 -- New program in Windsor-Essex helps internationally trained immigrants to prepare to enter the work field by partnering with a local professional.
- Nurses look to future
7 May 08 -- Ontario’s nurses are looking to PDAs as the way of the future.
- Street nurse is front line of health care
5 May 08 -- Registered nurse Doug Roy has a very special bedside manner - he is a street nurse, after all. But the secret of his success, as it is with any health-care professional, has been to build a relationship with his patients based on trust and respect.
- Risky work riles nurses
29 Apr 08 -- More than 100 registered nurses and other workers converged on City Hall yesterday to mark an annual Day of Mourning for those who have lost their lives on the job.
- No mass layoffs, nurses told
10 Apr 08 -- Health Minister George Smitherman scrambled yesterday to convince nurses there won't be mass layoffs as hospitals across Ontario balance their budgets in the coming weeks.
- Hospitals to axe nurses
8 Apr 08 -- Up to 220 jobs will be eliminated to staunch a sea of red ink at Ajax and Pickering hospital and Scarborough's Centenary but it could be just the beginning as Ontario hospitals struggle to balance their books.
- Is Canada ready for an outbreak?
25 Mar 08 -- We still don't know if we could handle another SARS or similar outbreak, according to a McMaster University researcher.
- Long-term care workers face workplace violence
11 Mar 08 -- Elderly and demented residents are attacking their caregivers in Canadian nursing homes at alarming rates, a York University study says.
- Nurses agreement welcome
26 Feb 08 -- Chatham-Kent Health Alliance is pleased a voluntary agreement could be reached between the Ontario Nurses' Association and the Ontario Hospital Association.
- Anger and concern persist over Brampton hospital situation
13 Feb 08 -- More than 100 residents of the Brampton area attended a meeting last Thursday night, hosted by the Brampton Health Coalition, to hear people vent about the situation and to do some venting themselves.
- Chatham health unit nurses could strike
11 Feb 08 -- Claiming they've hit a stone wall in negotiations with the municipality, public health nurses in Chatham-Kent have voted to take strike action to back their demands.
- Nurses, hospitals reach tentative pact
8 Feb 08 -- Ontario's 50,000 nurses have reached a tentative contract agreement with the Ontario Hospital Association.
- Hospitals may have to report bad drug reactions
7 Feb 08 -- Hundreds of hospitals across the country would be forced to inform federal authorities whenever patients had serious reactions to drugs and medical devices under a controversial plan Health Canada is quietly proposing.
- Que. use of private clinics to cut surgery wait lists is costly
6 Feb 08 -- A Quebec government-approved pilot project using a private clinic to help deal with a backlog of patients at a Montreal hospital is drawing criticism as being too costly a solution to deal with wait times.
- Ontario reconsiders neurosurgery funding
21 Jan 08 -- Province denied approval for more neurotrauma beds, but is now studying a plan to handle additional cases.
- Residents tell LHIN they want two hospitals
11 Jan 08 -- More than 200 people turned up at an emotionally charged public meeting on January 9 to discuss the fate of the now defunct Peel Memorial Hospital.
- OHC accuses province of cover-up at new Brampton hospital
7 Jan 08 -- The Ontario Health Coalition has demanded a full investigation into the public-private partnership deal and the cost of the new Brampton Civic Hospital.
- Patient protection gaining momentum
7 Jan 08 -- Saskatchewan's new government and an Ontario opposition party join the push to shield "the most vulnerable."
- Dupont inquest jury returns with 26 recommendations
11 Dec 07 -- A jury in the inquest into the deaths of nurse Lori Dupont and Dr. Marc Daniel made 26 wide-ranging recommendations Tuesday - aimed at Hotel-Dieu Grace Hospital, the province, the Crown attorney's office and several other public bodies - to prevent such a tragedy from happening again.
- Simulation laboratory to help train nurses
7 Dec 07 -- Nurses to care for acutely ill patients using a state-of-the-art simulation laboratory and online courses.
- Ontario Fire Marshal salutes response of hospital workers
4 Dec 07 -- The quick actions of three nurses and an administration clerk in a Sept. 5 fire at Belleville hospital have been recognized by the Ontario Fire Marshal’s office.
- Members' bills to tackle workplace violence
4 Dec 07 -- As the coroner's jury into the deaths of Lori Dupont and Marc Daniel deliberates for its first full day, two private member's bills are being introduced at Queen's Park today seeking to enshrine Ontario workplace protection rights for those being targeted by harassment or violence.
- Inquest into Windsor nurse's murder in hands of jury
3 Dec 07 -- After 10 weeks of testimony about the November 12, 2005, murder of nurse Lori Dupont by Dr. Marc Daniel, her former lover who then committed suicide, the inquest is now in the hands of a jury.
- Changes demanded after nurses attacked
29 Nov 07 -- The Ontario Nurses' Association is calling for a change in workplace safety legislation after three registered nurses were attacked on duty at the Toronto Centre for Addiction and Mental Health earlier this month.
- Home sweet home: recruiters' call
21 Nov 07 -- The "come home to Canada" approach is a new tactic in the recruiters are using at a time when employers are facing global competition for talent.
- Nurses blast hospital safety
16 Nov 07 -- About 200 nurses waved placards and banners yesterday while chanting for Humber River Regional Hospital's head of personnel to be axed.
- Doctor's actions caused concerns among nurses
13 Nov 07 -- The former ONA bargaining unit president who represented Lori Dupont and other nurses at Hotel-Dieu Grace Hospital in Windsor told a coroner's inquest Tuesday that her members were talking about Dr. Marc Daniel using a machine gun on staff and "going postal," in the months leading up to his workplace killing of Dupont.
- Haslam-Stroud re-elected as head of Ontario nurses
5 Nov 07 -- Members of the Ontario Nurses' Association have re-elected Linda Haslam-Stroud to a third two-year term as president.
- Ontario's aging nursing workforce requires government attention
2 Nov 07 -- A report from Canadian Institute of Health Information (CIHI) on the country's nursing workforce shows continued attention will be required from governments to make sure there are enough nurses to care for all citizens.
- Program allows foreign MDs to train as nurses
12 Oct 07 -- The joint effort between the Waterloo Wellington Training and Adjustment Board and Conestoga College is giving 13 internationally-trained health professionals a chance to earn a diploma as a registered practical nurse in one year rather than the usual two.
- Making positive changes in long-term care homes
5 Oct 07 -- The suggestion that the McGuinty government finds acceptable any circumstance where seniors living in Ontario's long-term care homes are not treated with the utmost care and dignity is patently absurd.
- Aging nurses will retire
17 Sept 07 -- Crisis looms as 15,000 health workers expected to take early retirement.
- Nurse promise will cost Grits
8 Sept 07 -- Premier Dalton McGuinty can reach his promised target to hire 9,000 new nurses but he must front the money to overcome demographic challenges and compete with other provinces and the United States.
- Nursing a system in decline
5 Sept 07 -- Letter from Samantha Dalby, Nurse Practitioner, in Campbellford, Ontario, about the state of health care in Canada.
- Waiting room is on the critical list
1 Sept 07 -- Editorial about wait times and the need for increases in health care during off-hour periods.
- Ont. nurses to be better protected with safety needles, improved respirators
23 Aug 07 -- Ontario's health-care workers will have another line of defence against life-threatening diseases after the province announced Thursday it will provide nurses with new respirators and safety needles to guard against job-related injuries and infections.
- Nursing home food budgets get boost
30 Jul 07 -- On the heels of an increase earlier this month, the Ontario government plans to further boost the daily food allowance for nursing home residents to $7 a person, The Canadian Press has learned.
- Clinic Expects Flood of Patients
30 Jul 07 -- Hundreds of orphan patients won't feel so alone in finding health care when the city's nurse practitioner clinic opens this week.
- Designing healthy hospitals
29 Jul 07 -- Different designs for hospitals can positively affect patient care.
- MPP applauds 'Sicko's' message
24 Jul 07 -- Providing free, universal health care to everyone is fundamentally important in any country regardless of political stripe, said Peterborough MPP Jeff Leal after screening Michael Moore's new documentary "Sicko" last night.
- No Crocs for docs and nurses?
24 Jul 07 -- fashion eyesores for some, comfortable saviours for others – but are they appropriate footwear for hospital employees?
- Labour nurses feel strain
7 Jul 07 -- Sault Area Hospital can trace its labour pains directly back to nursing cuts two years ago, says the president of Ontario Nurses Association, Local 46.
- Nurses hold rally; Trying to shed light on working conditions
21 Jun 07 -- Saying they are overworked, understaffed and stretched too thin across the Niagara Health System's insufficient resources, 200 nurses tried to shed light on their problems during a rally Wednesday.
- Hospital fine 'wake-up call' for safety - nurses
15 Jun 07 -- The North Bay and District Hospital was fined $25,000 Thursday for failing to protect its workers when it improperly installed an anesthetic gas machine in 2003.
- Incentives help but medical shortages linger
9 Jun 07 -- The nurse and doctor shortage in Ontario has become so acute that various regions are now offering incentive programs to lure health professionals. But the problem isn't going away.
- Critics say raise for Ontario nurses falls short
8 Jun 07 -- Health Minister George Smitherman has pledged a $5 million pay raise, but critics say it's just not enough.
- Learning to Appreciate our Nurses
30 May 07 -- Nursing student, Alanna O’Malley, speaks to the importance of the role of nursing.
- Investigator to hear directly from public
30 May 07 -- A public forum has been arranged for local residents to speak directly with Bluewater Health investigator Dr. Kevin Smith.
- Hospitals get funds to train nurses
13 May 07 -- Six hospitals in the Ottawa area will receive a total of $270,000 from the provincial government to train 16 nurses for critical care services.
- ONA Member wins Nightingale Award
5 May 07 -- ONA Member Anne Marie Langthorne, 43, is this year's recipient of the Toronto Star Nightingale Award, which is awarded each year during Nursing Week.
- Long-Term Care gets more nurses
9 May 07 -- Health Minister George Smitherman promises $57.7 million investment in annual funding to create new long-term care positions.
- Nursing association worried about changes to CCAC
28 Apr 07 -- ONA's president, Linda Haslam-Stroud, distributed letters to the editor to newspapers throughout Niagara CCAC's jurisdiction, warning that access to the services the CCAC provides will diminish as services are moved out of communities and centralized.
- SARS legislation fails to protect nurses, group says
26 Apr 07 -- Proposed provincial legislation, Bil 171, fails to protect front-line healthcare workers, who were among the most vulnerable casualties during the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) crisis four years ago.
- Liberals defend private-public hospital scheme
11 Apr 07 -- Spiraling interest and upkeep costs aren't enough to deter Liberals from private-public partnerships in healthcare, despite Canadians' concerns.
- Nurse saves Leafs fan's life
2 Apr 07 -- ONA member Julie Beattie uses her valuable skills as an RN to save a man's life in the stands at Saturday's Maple Leaf's game at Toronto's Air Canada Centre.
- Chronic disease gobbles Ont. health budget
27 Mar 07 -- Care for patients with chronic conditions, such as diabetes and heart disease, is eating up 60 per cent of Ontario's health budget and will likely consume more as the population ages, a provincially appointed watchdog warned Monday.
- Nursing grads get six months' 'bridging' pay
28 Feb 07 -- The province pledged $89 million to help fulfill its promise to provide every graduating nursing student in Ontario a full-time job.
- Ont. health minister disputes wait-times survey
15 Feb 07 -- Ontario is working toward measuring and reducing wait times for all surgeries but there's not enough money in provincial coffers right now to fund the extra nurses, anesthesiologists and operating rooms.
- Calgary's wooing of Ontario nurses is a wake up call
12 Feb 07 -- Time and time again, we read of Ontario nurses heading out west and down south. With less pay, no benefits and lack of full-time opportunities at home in Ontario, it seems the grass is greener on the other side of the fence.
- Quebec nurses to give out birth control prescriptions
1 Feb 07 -- Women in Quebec will now be able to get birth control from a nurse without seeing a doctor.
- Nurses are tired of poor conditions
1 Feb 07 -- ONA Local Coordinator, Pat MacDonald, of Local 70 in Hamilton responds to article about Calgary poaching Hamilton's nurses.
- Province failed health workers
10 Jan 07 -- The final investigation into the handling of the deadly SARS crisis has found that a gutted public-health system, command and communication breakdowns and a blind faith in science all failed to protect the people -- but most specifically-- the health-care workers of Ontario in 2003.
- London hospitals better prepared
10 Jan 07 -- London hospitals are better prepared to handle a disease outbreak than three years ago when the SARS crisis rocked Ontario.
- Nurses put at risk, report says
10 Jan 07 -- The SARS outbreak shows hospitals are as dangerous a place to work as mines or factories, a new report says -- safety information that has been ignored for too long, according to SARS nurses.
- Superbug at Canada's doorstep
02 Jan 07 -- A superbug that is popping up in locker rooms and day cares in the U.S. is poised to "emerge in force" in Canada.
- Helping the sick jump the queue
02 Jan 07 -- Rick Baker, a 63-year-old former soap salesman, is putting that expertise to work in a much different market: private health care in Canada.
- Ontario regulates tradition
02 Jan 07 -- New regulations are coming into place for traditional Chinese medicine and acupuncture. They will protect Ontarians from the dangers of the currently unregulated ancient practices.
- OPSEU union boss is stepping down
16 Dec 2006 -- Leah Casselman has decided to step down from her presidency at Ontario Public Service Employees Union.
- Ontario to get centre for disease control
11 Dec 06 -- Ontario is creating a centre for disease control so it can be better prepared for another SARS outbreak or flu pandemic.
- Stress and job strain higher for nurses
11 Dec 06 -- The National Survey of the Work and Health of Nurses, released by Statistics Canada on Monday, found that nearly a third of female nurses were classified as having job strain, where the needs of the job are higher than the workers' discretion to meet those needs. That compares to 26 per cent for all employed women.
- Mandatory Retirement Ends In Ontario As Of Tuesday
11 Dec 06 -- As of Tuesday, the new law kicks in that banishes the practice of mandatory retirement in Ontario.
- Full-time jobs key to Kingston recruitment: nurses
24 Nov 06 -- Kingston General Hospital may have trouble reaching its goal to hire 100 nurses by the spring, says the hospital's manager of recruitment.
- Smitherman airs his "frustrations"
24 Nov 06 -- Ontario hospitals "squirm off the hook" every time the going gets tough by blaming the province for not giving them enough money, a frustrated George Smitherman told the Ontario Nurses' Association yesterday.
- Ontario to plug cracks in ERs
27 Oct 06 -- $140 million will be infused into health system to free up beds, doctor pay hikes among measures.
- Hospitals lagging behind 905 growth
25 Oct 06 -- GTA suburbs pay one-quarter of the total revenue that Ontario's government collects through the health tax, and yet the funding gap has grown dramatically since 2003.
- Nursing crisis looming
25 Oct 06 -- The problem of an aging workforce of nurses is even worse in Owen Sound than the Ontario average.