Staffing levels part of contract talks with hospital. Niagara Falls Review, July 26, 2011 Having been without a new contract since the last one expired in March, the more than 1,400 registered nurses who staff the Niagara Health System's seven sites want the NHS to hire more nurses and support workers, their union said. In the wake of the Clostridium difficile outbreaks in Saint Catharine’s, Welland and Niagara Falls, the nurses are under stress and "doing the best we can" to help manage the care of patients and to ward against the spread of the outbreak, said the president of the local unit of the Ontario Nurses Association, the union that represents registered nurses in the province. ... NHS

Barrie Advance, November 24, 2010 Ontario - The Ontario Nurses’ Association has launched a radio-ad campaign talking about the value of nursing staff. “We know, and research has proven that RNs are the best value for the health care system,” said ONA president Linda Haslam-Stroud. The message is aimed at getting the province to realize nurses provide the best quality of care for the money. “For way too long, our members have seen their profession portrayed by health care leaders as another expenditure on the spreadsheet,” Haslam-Stroud said. The ads began airing on Barrie radio stations Monday.

Ontario Nurses' Association, November 21, 2010 Toronto - Ontario residents will begin hearing a new and innovative radio campaign starting tomorrow as the Ontario Nurses' Association (ONA) asks them to value the priceless health care skills, leadership and knowledge that registered nurses (RNs) bring to the system. "We know and research has proven that RNs are the best value for the health care system," says ONA President Linda Haslam-Stroud, RN. Ontario has seen a great deal of debate about the future of our health care system, with a strong focus on value for money. ... Ontario

CEO warns of layoffs. Monica Wolfson, Windsor Star, November 10, 2010 A hospital executive's prediction is coming eerily true. For weeks Windsor Regional CEO David Musyj has warned that arbitrators would disregard a provincial call for wage freezes and continue to give health care workers pay increases despite the province's $19 billion budget deficit. On Tuesday arbitrator Kevin Burkett awarded a two per cent annual pay increase to maintenance and housekeeping workers at 39 provincial hospitals, although Windsor Regional has no workers in the bargaining unit. Burkett found the government's goal of a wage freeze for nurses and teachers was not binding ... Raises

National Post, November 8, 2010 Toronto - In light of a ruling from an independent arbitrator that awarded raises to 17,000 Ontario nurses, Premier Dalton McGuinty on Tuesday appealed to public-sector workers to assume the responsibility of fiscal restraint. “There is no more money,”he said at a news conference in Hamilton, hours after an independent arbitrator found the provincial government’s wage freeze to be “unreasonable” and granted nurses a pay increase of four per cent over two years. The decision, announced Tuesday by Ontario arbitrator Kevin Burkett, means nurses and staff at more than 60 hospitals will see their compensation rise ... Raise

Problems pose risks to patients’ health, the Ontario Nurses’ Association claims. Jonathan Sher, London Free Press, October 6, 2010 Problems with patient care at London’s University Hospital are the tip of an iceberg that for months has prompted unheeded warnings from nurses across Ontario, the nurses’ union says. Provincial hospitals are so desperate to rush patients out of emergency rooms, they’re cramming them into every nook and cranny of their buildings, often far from the professionals who know best how to make then better, said Vicki McKenna, a longtime London nurse and first vice-president of the Ontario Nurses’ Association. ... Nurses

Sudbury Star, September 27, 2010 Registered nurses have extended their censure in principle of Sudbury Regional Hospital another six months until some of the problems they are experiencing are rectified. Members of Local 013 of the Ontario Nurses' Association passed the motion at a meeting last week. "The membership has made it very clear," Ann Kennealy, president of the ONA local, told The Star on Saturday. "They want things to change." The local has told ONA president Linda Haslam-Stroud it has the hospital on notice. If problems are not resolved, Haslam-Stroud will issue a statement to nurses and nursing students throughout Canada that Sudbury Regional is not a desirable place ... Nurses

Problems only shifted when wait times cut, union says. Pauline Tam, Ottawa Citizen, May 25, 2010 Shorter waits in emergency rooms have not necessarily translated into better care for Ontario patients, the province's nurses charge. Despite receiving millions in extra funding to cut long waits in emergency departments, some hospitals are not using that money to hire extra nurses, as was intended by the government, said the Ontario Nurses' Association. ... ER

SooToday.com, May 4, 2010 Recently, articles and letters have appeared in local media alleging the elimination of a significant number of nursing positions at Sault Area Hospital (SAH). These allegations have been made by both the Ontario Nurses’ Association (ONA) and some elected officials in the Ontario legislature. At no time did any representatives of the aforementioned contact SAH officials to request or verify the information they were citing. ... Sault

Ontario Nurses' Association, May 3, 2010 Pembroke - Ontario Nurses' Association (ONA) President Linda Haslam-Stroud, RN will be in Pembroke tomorrow to visit registered nurses and tour Miramichi Lodge as part of Nursing Week celebrations. Haslam-Stroud will be joined by ONA Vice-President Anne Clark, RN for a tour of the facility. The two will meet with ONA members from 11:30 AM to 4:00 PM. Though Nursing Week doesn't officially commence until May 10, Haslam-Stroud will travel the province both during the week leading up to Nursing Week and for several days following it. ONA's theme for Nursing Week 2010 is "Celebrate our Nurses: The Heart of Health Care" ... Ontario

Ontario Nurses’ Association, April 7, 2010 On Wednesday, members of the Ontario Nurses’ Association (ONA) joined more than 200 people in an Ontario Health Coalition protest. The demonstration took place outside of a downtown Toronto hotel where The Honourable Deb Matthews, Minister of Health and Long-Term Care, was giving a speech to The Canadian Club of Toronto. Demonstrators criticized Minister Matthews and Premier Dalton McGuinty for ignoring and downplaying the consequences of provincial government cuts that have closed hospitals for thousands of Ontarians, reduced hospital services, increased user fees, redirected patients to inappropriate facilities ... Nurses

Donna Casey, Sarnia Observer, March 26, 2010 Nurses at the Ottawa Hospital should expect more layoffs in the wake of next year's funding increases laid out in the provincial budget, says the head of Ontario's largest nursing union. A 1.5% increase to hospital budgets for the 2010-11 fiscal year will mean additional staff cuts beyond the 133 positions already identified by the hospital last month, said Linda Haslam-Stroud, president of the Ontario Nurses Association. "Unless the Ottawa Hospital can magically come up with ways to reduce money in areas other than front-line care, I assume there will be a lot more layoffs of registered nurses and less patient care," said Haslam-Stroud ... Nurses

Ontario Nurses' Association, March 25, 2010 Toronto - Ontario Nurses' Association (ONA) President Linda Haslam-Stroud, RN says that today's provincial budget means more service and nursing cuts for patients in this province. "Every Ontarian should brace themselves for yet more cuts to the health care they need and count on," said Haslam-Stroud, following the release of the provincial budget. Base funding for hospitals will increase by just 1.5 per cent for 2010/11. Haslam-Stroud notes that care has already been cut in communities throughout Ontario in recent months, and the 1.5 per cent increase means that we will see more of the same. ... Ontario

Lisa Rainford, InsideToronto.com, February 9, 2010 When registered nurse Karla Dozzi arrived in Haiti as part of an emergency medical team some five days after the earthquake, the streets were full of people walking aimlessly, most of them wearing masks. "At first I thought, 'what's that smell,'" she said over a hot apple cider at Holy Oak, one of her favourite coffee shops, on Bloor Street West, east of Lansdowne Avenue, not far from her home. That scent, realized the Regent Park Community Health Centre nurse, was the smell of decomposing bodies. Landing in Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic, January 15 ... Nurse

Sharon Lem, Toronto Sun, February 4, 2010 Two Toronto nurses returning from a two-week relief mission to earthquake-ravaged Haiti say the catastrophic conditions will remain imprinted in their memories forever. Maida Mrakovic and Valerie Rzepka volunteered to fly to Haiti on their own time and at their own expense with the Canadian Medical Assistance Teams (CMAT). The 12-person CMAT team set up a field hospital in Leogane, a town of 130,000 located 60 km southwest of Port-au-Prince. They lived in tents, cooked on fires and dug their own latrines. “When we got there, nothing was left standing. You could smell death in the air,” said Mrakovic, 27, a surgical nurse who returned last week. ... Nurses