Three RNAO media releases during the last week addressed the current pandemic context in Ontario and the responses from government. 1. RNAO’s media conference - Nursing crisis risks patient safety and health of Ontarians. 2. Response to the Ontario government Dec. 15 announcement - RNAO welcomes plan to move up eligibility dates for third doses; urges additional public health measures. 3. Response to Ontario public health measures announced Dec. 17 - RNAO says government’s new measures essential but not enough to blunt Omicron’s force.

Ontario is in a nursing human resource crisis that has been made worse by Bill 124 and the COVID-19 pandemic. RNAO issued a call on December 7 to all Ontario MPPs: #StandWithNurses by demanding Bill 124 be repealed. As of now, ALL MPPs from the three opposition parties have signed the pledge. None from the PC Party and none of the independent MPPs have signed.

The Registered Nurses’ Association of Ontario (RNAO) says the province’s nursing crisis is spiraling out of control. Yet the Ontario government insists on keeping Bill 124, which nurses say is a slap in the face. RNAO will hold a media conference on Tuesday, Dec. 14 at 2:30 p.m. ET to call on the premier to take immediate action, and discuss crucial next steps to address Bill 124 and Ontario’s nursing crisis.

This month, RNAO spoke to the media about many timely issues, including the expanded booster dose eligibility, the Ontario government’s fall economic statement and most prominently, our call to the premier to immediately #RepealBill124. Our virtual Fall Tour with members also generated lots of media coverage.

The Ontario government’s move to expand eligibility for the COVID-19 booster dose comes at a critical time in the fight against the virus. RNAO continues to ask the government to make vaccination for healthcare workers mandatory. With another winter approaching, the government must urgently address the crisis in nursing human resources, starting with the repeal of Bill 124. The emergence of the Omicron variant is the result of global vaccine inequity.

With staff quitting at the National Health Service (the publicly funded healthcare system in the UK, or NHS) over poor conditions and a recruitment black hole, a pay raise for nurses is the least Sajid Javid – the UK’s Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, should do. This is the main argument in a 26 November article by Polly Toynbee in The Guardian. Does it resonate regarding conditions in Ontario?

Ontario has had a shortage of registered nurses for decades. Yet this is the worst crisis I have seen in my entire career. The enormous stresses of the COVID-19 pandemic; the disdain of the Ontario government embodied in Bill 124 – these, have turned a serious shortage into a mega crisis.

On Nov. 14, we took action and spoke up against Bill 124 – legislation that limits wage increases to one per cent and is a disgrace to nurses and other public sector workers. Organized by Nursewithsign416 (@NurseWithSign on Twitter), RNAO CEO Dr. Doris Grinspun, President Morgan Hoffarth, President-Elect Claudette Holloway, Board members Debra Lefebvre (region 9), Anita Tsang-Sit (region 4), co-chair Black Nurses Task Force Corsita Garraway, as well as numerous RNAO members and other public sector workers, participated in the rally to #RepealBill124.

For the past 22 months, nurses across the province have been working tirelessly and diligently to care for patients and residents amid a relentless pandemic. To make sure their voices are heard, RNAO will be checking in with nurses and nursing students this month through a virtual Fall Tour. RNAO will hear nursing struggles and aspirations from more than 10 Ontario regions and check the pulse on the association’s next steps of escalating demands with government and employers.