Grace Macaluso, Windsor Star, November 17, 2005

Windsor - The murder of nurse Lori Dupont has renewed demands for legislative changes that would treat sexual harassment as a workplace hazard.

Toronto-Danforth New Democrat MPP Marilyn Churley said Wednesday she will reintroduce a private member's bill in the Ontario legislature on the issue next week in light of the tragedy at Windsor's Hotel-Dieu Grace Hospital.

Dupont's funeral is this morning in Amherstburg, south of Windsor on the Detroit River. ... Nurse's death

Work environment and job duties need to be re-examined to ensure a safe and healthy workplace.
Elizabeth Monier-Williams, University of Toronto, November 17, 2005

Ontario nurses are very committed to their jobs and experiencing excessive job-related guilt and stress about the quality of care they provide to patients, says a new University of Toronto study published in Social Science & Medicine.

U of T nursing professor Linda McGillis Hall, a Canadian Institutes of Health Research new investigator, and colleague Diana Kiesners interviewed eight female nurses from different hospitals ... Overworked

LaSalute.net, November 16, 2005

Toronto - Nurses and other health care workers are being put at risk by the failure to mandate the use of safe hypodermic needles, their unions say. Linda Haslam-Stroud, president of the Ontario Nurses Association, said up to 33,000 injuries a year could be prevented by the use of "safety-engineered medical sharps" in hospitals, long-term care facilities and other medical settings. ... Needles

Michael Jiggins, Brockville Recorder & Times, October 24, 2005

Shoppers at the 1000 Islands Mall were urged Saturday to take home more than what they purchased.

Sue Prettejohn, vice-president of the Ontario Nurses Association, implored them be outraged enough to protest against what she claims is the dismantling of the province's health-care system by Premier Dalton McGuinty.

"The public in Brockville needs a wake-up call to get out there and lobby their MPP and say, 'OK, we've had enough. You're not taking anything else away from us," said Prettejohn, who lives in the Brockville area. ... Shoppers

Lynda Rath, RN, President Lakeridge Health Bargaining Unit, ONA Local 051, October 6, 2005

Your editorial lays it out clearly that we're in the midst of a severe shortage of nurses.

You're right when you say that this province needs more nurses. Our own community hospital, Lakeridge Health, has laid off or eliminated 100 RN positions. I encourage your readers to tell the government to hire, retain and train more nurses. ... We need

Canadian nursing leaders protest staff shortage.
Ontario Nurses’ Association, October 5, 2005

Ottawa - National officers of the Canadian Federation of Nurses Unions (CFNU) will hold an information picket for members of the media and the general public to explain the impact of the current nursing shortage on patient care.

Members of the CFNU Executive Board, meeting in the nation's capital from October 3-6, will be lending their support to the Ontario Nurses' Association's "Not enough nurses" campaign. ... Not enough

New strategy could create full-time jobs in nursing.
McMaster University, October 3, 2005

Hamilton - A new human resources management strategy could help create full-time jobs and attract nurses who might otherwise find it difficult to obtain full-time work, a McMaster University study says.

Over the past decade nurse staffing has been a challenge for hospitals. One response has been to use a nursing resource team, an innovative transformation of the float pool of the past. ... Nursing

Canadian Jewish News, September 29, 2005

When the Registered Nursing (sic) Association of Ontario (RNAO) put out the call to its nurses to start collection drives for their colleagues in flood-ravaged New Orleans, the nurses at Baycrest Centre for Geriatric Care came through in a big way.

The response was enormous, said Penney Minor, the Baycrest nurse who organized the drive, which collected 50 large boxes of clothing, toiletries, scrubs and medical supplies to send down.

“In disasters like Hurricane Katrina, we sometimes forget the other victim of this flooding – the medical caregivers,” Minor said. ... Baycrest nurses

Ontario Nurses' Association - Region 3, September 22, 2005

Toronto - Registered nurses from ONA Region 3, working in health care facilities in the Greater Toronto Area, will hold an information picket to explain the impact of the current nursing shortage on patient care.

The Ontario government said it would hire 8,000 new, full-time nurses over the course of its mandate. It has certainly hired some - but not enough, say frontline professionals, to give patients the care they require and to ease the burden of overwork faced by RNs in Toronto and across the province. ... Toronto

Lauren Gilchrist, mykawartha.com, September 21, 2005

For a nurse working at the local hospital, 12-hour shifts often turn into 14-hour shifts, lunch is rarely taken and coffee breaks are frequently missed.

"It's a tough, tough thing but morale is falling," says Louise Flaherty, a registered nurse and local president of the Ontario Nurses' Association (ONA).

"We need to hire nurses now. This is a really big issue in this community."

Wendy Fucile, vice-president and chief nursing officer at the local hospital, concurs. ... Overworked

Canadian Press, September 15, 2005

Toronto - The Ontario Nurses' Association has launched a $2-million campaign to pressure the province to hire more nurses.

ONA president Linda Haslam-Stroud says the government has yet to deliver on a campaign promise to hire 8,000 more nurses.

Haslam-Stroud says the Liberal government is falling far behind in its target well into its mandate.

She adds that too few nurses, layoffs and poor working conditions are burning out the profession and jeopardizing patient care. ... Nurses

Bob Perreault, CFRA, September 14, 2005

Members of the Ontario Nurses Association were speaking about job conditions, and lack of help in front of the general campus of the Ottawa Hospital Wednesday afternoon.

Spokesperson Eric Drouin told CFRA News that in order to have appropriate care, they need to have 70% of the nurses at the Ottawa Hospital be full time.

As it is right now, only 42% are in that category. ... Nurses

Local 83, Ontario Nurses' Association, September 13, 2005

Ottawa - Registered nurses from ONA Local 83 working at the Ottawa Hospital will hold an information picket for members of the media and the general public to explain the impact of the current nursing shortage on patient care.

The Ontario government said it would hire 8,000 new, full-time nurses over the course of its mandate. It has certainly hired some - but not enough, say front line nurses, to give patients the care they require and to ease the burden of overwork faced by RNs in Ottawa and across the province. ... Ottawa

Ontario Nurses' Association, September 13, 2005

Toronto - Ontario Nurses' Association President Linda Haslam-Stroud will be available to respond to questions about the imposed arbitration award and its effect on some 45,000 nurses working in hospitals across the province. The decision's impact on patient care, in the context of the present nursing shortage, will also be discussed. ... Ontario

Ontario Nurses' Association, September 12, 2005

Toronto - After working for almost 18 months without a contract, the province's 45,000 hospital nurses are relieved to finally have one, but Ontario Nurses' Association (ONA) President Linda Haslam-Stroud says that Friday's arbitration decision won't address the main problems confronting nurses or "our ability to provide quality patient care." ... Nurses