Media Statement: NURSING SHORTAGES KEY THEME IN AUDITOR’S REPORT; FORD GOVERNMENT MUST INVEST IN RETAINING AND RECRUITING, NOTES ONTARIO NURSES’ ASSOCIATION

TORONTO, ON, December 6, 2023 – The release of the Auditor’s Report today made clear the devasting impact the province’s nursing shortage is having on Ontarians’ health, especially in northern hospitals, which rely on high-priced nursing agencies rather than retention strategies to fill the many gaps in care, notes the Ontario Nurses’ Association (ONA).

“Whether in primary care or in our long-term care sector, the nursing shortage was clearly identified in the Auditor’s Report as an issue that needs to be rectified across our province,” says ONA President Erin Ariss, RN. “One recommendation notes that the Ministry of Long-Term Care must monitor staff-to-resident ratios, especially on overnight shifts, weekends and holidays. We couldn’t agree more. Our front-line members say that they are sometimes looking after 40 or more residents at any one time, which unfortunately is not unusual. This must change for the safety of our residents.”

Because of the nursing shortage, hospitals and long-term care homes are heavily relying on for-profit nursing agency use, which the report focuses on. “Health-care workplaces are paying nursing agencies double or triple the rate that staff nurses are paid. This is depleting desperately needed hospital funding dollars for private profit and must be reined in now. The Minister of Health must now recognize that staffing nurses through nursing agencies is not the best use of our health-care dollars or for continuity of care and must regulate the usage and focus on retention of existing nursing staff,” adds Ariss.

The report also notes that 20 per cent of emergency room visits involved patients going to the ER for non-urgent issues because they didn't have a family doctor or access to other services. “Yet again, the government has failed Ontarians. They must move on a funding increase for the primary-care sector to increase wages in order to retain and recruit nursing and health-care professionals to ensure access to primary care services,” concludes Ariss.

ONA is the union representing more than 68,000 registered nurses and health-care professionals, as well as 18,000 nursing student affiliates, providing care in hospitals, long-term care facilities, public health, the community, clinics and industry.

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