The following article was prepared in May on the occasion of Nursing Week but still remains relevant today. It was coauthored by Alex Harris (Manager, Professional Practice at Trillium Health Partners), Doris Grinspun (CEO, Registered Nurses’ Association of Ontario), Mike Villeneuve (CEO, Canadian Nurses Association) and Judith Shamian (President Emerita, International Council of Nurses).

In honour of Pride month, RNAO and its interest group the Rainbow Nursing Interest Group (RNIG) continued to speak out against discrimination and social exclusion based on sexual orientation and gender identity. We remained committed to celebrating diversity, inclusivity and equality. 

RNAO action alert – RNAO demands government implement a Nursing Home Basic Care Guarantee - please read the following action alert and sign it.

RNAO has been for several weeks calling on public health authorities in Ontario and in Canada to immediately implement mandatory masking in certain settings. Specifically, we follow the Masks4Canada letter from healthcare professionals asking that mandatory masking (or face covering) policies be established for “ACT”:

Colleagues and friends – It has been a long haul and this blog and all of us at RNAO have walked with you every step of the way! I started the COVID-19 updates on January 27, two days after the first Ontario case was announced. For a period of three months, until May 1, we kept an almost daily schedule for the updates. During the month of May we kept a schedule of three times a week, and in June we have moved to a schedule of once a week.

We received the following message from Dr. Jennifer Kwan, a family physician, inviting health providers to add their signature to a petition calling on mandatory masks in Canada in three high-risk settings: all indoor spaces outside the home, crowds, and public transit. We support this request wholeheartedly and I already signed and urge you to do the same! And – as important – let’s start to personally abide by this call.