Professional Practice
Reporting Workload Concerns
By engaging in the Professional Responsibility and Workload (PRW) process, you are playing a pivotal role in meeting your Accountability Standard for your regulatory college, while also advocating for your patients/residents/clients.
Your collective agreement outlines issues that would constitute workload concerns. For a comprehensive list of workload concerns, review the Professional Responsibility Workload Indicators for your sector. These can be found on the “Forms and Resources” page.
Regardless of the collective agreement language, all regulated health-care professionals are accountable to report concerns that prevent them from complying with their college’s standards.
The Professional Responsibility Workload Form (PRWF) assists you in meeting your professional and regulatory standards. Use it to document and report concerns and to make recommendations for improvement.
Complete a form whenever your workload or working conditions compromise your college standards, including your ability to provide safe, ethical, quality care.
History has shown that completed PRWFs can result in an increase in registered and support staff, changes in policy and procedures, additional equipment and many other workplace improvements.
Hard copies of the PRWFs may be found in your workplace in each Unit. Some workplaces have an electronic process for submitting the form. Please contact your Unit Rep, Bargaining Unit President or Professional Responsibility and Workload (PRW) Representative for assistance in finding either of these formats.
You can also download the form from our website. Remember to choose the form specific to your sector, as there are indicators that are particular to the different sectors.
We recommend that you complete the workload form as soon as possible after your shift. Completing the form as soon as possible ensures that you can best recall the details of the workload issues that occurred and will help prepare you for your meeting with your manager. You do not have to fill out the form before you leave at the end of your shift. However, if you wait, it may be difficult to recall multiple days of workload concerns/issues if they occur consecutively and are similar in nature.
Most collective agreements contain a timeline in which the form must be submitted. Please refer to your collective agreement for timelines or contact your Bargaining Unit President for clarity.
Be sure to review the guidelines for completing the forms, and the sample completed forms that serve as a reference for each sector. These can be found on the professional practice Forms and Resources page.
You can also visit ONA’s eLearning site to find helpful tips on completing the form for each sector.
NOTE: Remember to omit any patient/family names or identifiers when providing details of any situations to avoid breaching confidentiality.
Submit your PRWF to your manager, the Bargaining Unit President or Professional Responsibility and Workload Representative and keep a copy for yourself. A Bargaining Unit leader will ensure a copy is sent to ONA and the Chief Nursing Executive. Copies of the form need to be legible.
The PRWF serves as protection for ONA members, shifting the accountability for resolution and legal liability back to their administrative leaders and the employer.
Below are a few FAQs that may be helpful if you are having issues submitting a workload form, or if an issue has not been resolved.
This is a collaborative process and needs to include management at every step. Your manager has additional accountabilities under the administrative accountabilities of their professional standards and must act to resolve issues and concerns raised. By being transparent with management, you are allowing them the opportunity to implement resolutions in a timely manner and provide appropriate supports to enable regulated health professionals to practice in a setting that is consistent with proper patient/client/resident care.
The employer and ONA agree that patient care is enhanced if concerns relating to professional practice, patient acuity, fluctuating workloads and fluctuating staffing are resolved in a timely and effective manner (see the relevant Professional Responsibility Article in your collective agreement). By submitting a PRWF, ONA members are using an agreed-to process to meet their professional practice standards from their regulatory college.
If your manager has taken actions or steps to interfere or offset the PRW process, including the filing of workload forms, you should contact your Bargaining Unit President at the earliest opportunity. They will support you and advise you of the next steps.
Your manager is required to respond to you and your union representatives in writing within the specified time frame outlined in your collective agreement. Please refer to your collective agreement for timelines, and follow up with your Bargaining Unit President or PRW Representative. As a best practice, we recommend meeting with your manager after you submit your form to discuss the issues. We encourage you to request an ONA representative to accompany you to this meeting.
The process can be ongoing and lengthy. Once you have submitted a PRWF and have spoken with your Manager and Bargaining Unit President and/or PRW Representative regarding the workload concern, an attempt to resolve the workload should occur. If the issue is not resolved, then the PRWF will be forwarded and discussed at a meeting with key stakeholders of your place of employment to resolve your concerns.
If your concerns are not resolved at this level, a Professional Practice Specialist will become involved and can provide you with support on resolving your PRW concerns, with the goal of a timely and positive outcome. It will be determined whether progress is being made, or consideration for a Grievance, Mediation or Independent Assessment Committee (IAC), as per your collective agreement.
Members are encouraged to attend and participate in the meetings between ONA and the employer to provide specific and relevant input and ensure appropriate outcomes.
At any point throughout this process, you can contact your Bargaining Unit President or your PRW Representative for an update.
Please consult your collective agreement for the full process.
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