front lines, june 2012

IN THIS ISSUE . . .4

From ONA President

Linda Haslam-Stroud, RN

5From ONA CEO

Lesley Bell, RN, MBA

6From ONA First Vice-President

Vicki McKenna, RN

JUNE 2012

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Members Respond to “Hands o! HLDAA” Campaign

ublic health nurses in Haldimand-Norfolk have recently ratified a tentative agreement af-ter spending 12 di!cult days on the picket line – ONA’s first strike in more than a decade."e 25 public health nurses, who work at the Haldimand-Norfolk Public Health Unit,

were forced on strike on April 21, 2012, a day after Norfolk Town Council refused a counter o#er from ONA. "e Council provided wage increases to management, but wanted to force concessions on our public health nurses. "e nurses, who began negotiations last October, had been without a contract for 10 months.

Hundreds of ONA members have responded to ONA’s online campaign urging the gov-ernment to rescind changes to interest arbi-tration in the health sector.

Hands o! HLDAA, which stands for Hos-pital Labour Disputes Arbitration Act, en-couraged members and the public to send a message through a templated form on our

website – personalized comments could also be added – to your local political representa-tive, urging him or her to speak up for pro-tecting nurses and quality patient care and remove proposed changes to HLDAA.

ONA is very concerned about the impact on the recruitment and retention of nurses from the attack on

FEATURESMedical Mission to Bolivia ....................... 7

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INDEX .........................................................

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The Members’ Publication of the Ontario Nurses’ Association

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Forced Strike of Haldimand-Norfolk Public Health Nurses Ends!

ONA President Linda Haslam-Stroud (right) was a regular visitor to the picket line in Simcoe, o!ering support to our striking members from the Haldimand-Norfolk Public Health Unit, including public health nurse Carley Dias (left) and nurse practitioner Kristal Pitter, waving to cars, handing out "yers and talking to the media.

CCAC PENSION CLASS ACTION Info Inside!

UP Front

JUNE 20122

Linda Haslam-Stroud, RN President, VM #2254 Communications & Government

Relations / Student Liaison

Vicki McKenna, RNFirst VP, VM #2314Political Action & Professional Issues

Diane Parker, RNVP Region 1, VM #7710Occupational Health & Safety

Anne Clark, RNVP Region 2, VM #7758Labour Relations

Andy Summers, RNVP Region 3, VM #7754Human Rights & Equity

Dianne Leclair, RNVP Region 4, VM #7752Local Finance

Karen Bertrand, RNVP Region 5, VM #7702Education

Lesley Bell, RN, MBAChief Executive Officer,VM #2255

How to contact your 2012 ONA Board of Directors

Call ONA toll-free at 1-800-387-5580 (press 0)

or (416) 964-8833 in Toronto and follow the

operator’s prompts to access board members’

voice-mail. Voice-mail numbers (VM) for Board

members in the Toronto office are listed below.

ONA Provincial O!ce

ONA

E-mail: [email protected]

www.ona.org

Design:

Printed by union labour:

Copyright © 2012

Editor:

Features Editor:

Send submissions to:

[email protected].

Contributors:

Hamilton 2 King St., W., 2nd Floor Rear Dundas, ON L9H 6Z1 Tel: (905) 628-0850 Fax: (905) 628-2557

Kingston 4 Cataraqui St., Ste. 201 Kingston ON K7K 1Z7 Tel: (613) 545-1110 Fax: (613) 531-9043

London 750 Baseline Rd. E. Ste. 204 London ON N6C 2R5 Tel: (519) 438-2153 Fax: (519) 433-2050

Orillia 210 Memorial Ave., Unit 126A Orillia ON L3V 7V1 Tel: (705) 327-0404 Fax: (705) 327-0511

Ottawa 1400 Clyde Ave., Ste. 211 Nepean ON K2G 3J2 Tel: (613) 226-3733 Fax: (613) 723-0947

Sudbury 764 Notre Dame Ave., Unit 3 Sudbury ON P3A 2T4 Tel: (705) 560-2610 Fax: (705) 560-1411

Thunder Bay #300, Woodgate Centre,

1139 Alloy Dr. Thunder Bay ON P7B 6M8 Tel: (807) 344-9115 Fax: (807) 344-8850

Timmins Canadian Mental Health

Association Building 330 Second Ave, Ste. 203 Timmins ON P4N 8A4 Tel: (705) 264-2294 Fax: (705) 268-4355

Windsor 3155 Howard Ave., Ste. 220 Windsor ON N8X 3Y9

Tel: (519) 966-6350 Fax: (519) 972-0814

ONA Regional Offices

The Members’ Publication of the Ontario Nurses’ Association

JUNE 2012

(June 1, 2012 / 12:07:32)

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UP Front

JUNE 2012 3

“We were agreeable to what was o!ered on that last day, even dropping some improve-ments, but the county forced us out,” said RN Melanie Holjak. “We are small in numbers, but felt strongly that what was going on was unfair and unjust. We wanted to be valued the same way that management has been.”

“If you were to ask any of the other 24 nurses here with me today, we would not choose to be on the picket line, we would chose to be on the front lines, giving des-perately needed services to the commu-nity,” added nurse practitioner Kristal Pit-ter, a few days into the strike. “I became a nurse because I care about people, the community and because I want to make a di!erence in their lives.”

At the request of ONA, a senior media-tor was appointed by the Minister of La-bour and had the employer return to the table. A tentative agreement, set to expire on July 31, 2014, was reached in the wee hours of the morning on May 1, 2012 and calls for a total wage increase over the life of the agreement and improvements to benefits.

“I love each and every one of my clients and I am so concerned about their well-being,” Margot Fournier, a public health nurse for 25 years, said through tears when the strike began. “"ey have driven out to the picket line and said, ‘you are our nurse, Margot, and we want you back.’”

“I felt sick every night thinking about my clients,” added Holjak. “We absolutely save lives and we love this community.”

And the community appears to love them right back. "e members were over-whelmed at the support from their allies, including their colleagues from the Canadi-an Union of Public Employees, who waited patiently at the picket line, United Steel-workers, Elementary Teachers’ Federation

of Ontario, Ontario Secondary School Teachers Federation, Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union of Cana-da, and members of the public, who sent letters of support, honked their car horns, walked the picket line, brought them co!ee and donuts, and even o!ered donations.

Hundreds of people also responded to ONA’s online campaign and sent letters to local Council members, urging them to get back to the bargaining table. Over the course of the strike, the virtual reach of our Facebook page also increased by more than 100 per cent, meaning Facebook us-ers who “like” ONA forwarded our mes-sages about the strike to their friends.

“I’m not a client, I’m a member of the public who supports these nurses,” said Donna Hone. “I am disgusted they have been forced on a picket line.”

“A strike is the last thing these mem-bers wanted,” concluded ONA President Linda Haslam-Stroud. “"ey were strong and united, and continued to be the in-credible professionals that they are while walking the picket line. I am incredibly proud of their dedication to their clients and their resilience to not back down. And I join them in thanking their community, union friends and other allies for helping to keep their spirits high during the strike.”

APRIL BOARD HIGHLIGHTS

The following are key highlights from the most recent Board of Directors meeting, held April 10-12, 2012 at the ONA provincial o!ce:

The Legal Expense Assistance Plan will be amended to proactively assist with and cover associated costs to remove Discipline Hearing and/or Fitness to Practice Hearing reports that are other-wise posted permanently on the Col-lege of Nurses of Ontario’s register.

ONA’s short and long-term goals, which help guide the direction of our union, were approved as amended in March 2012.

The Board continued its review of the Local Election Guidelines and Policies.

The next Board meeting will be held at the provincial o!ce on June 11-14, 2012 and highlights will appear in an upcoming issue of Front Lines.

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interest arbitration in the health care sector in Bill 55, which proposes changes to HLDAA. "is legislation impacts most ONA members and amends the rules for interest arbitration boards in ways that will negatively impact our contracts.

“"ese changes are completely un-necessary, as HLDAA has been operating without problems for many years, and is not broken,” said ONA President Linda Haslam-Stroud.

ONA is calling for Schedule 30 (con-taining negative HLDAA changes) in Bill 55 to be removed, and for the govern-ment to consult with stakeholders about whether any changes are necessary to the interest arbitration process under HLDAA. At press time, the Bill had com-pleted second reading.

Members Respond to “Hands o! HLDAA” Campaign

Forced Strike of Haldimand-Norfolk PHNs Ends!

Public health nurse Rose Huyge hears a lot of honking on the picket line!

JUNE 20124

From ONA PresidentPrésidente, AIIO

Linda Haslam-Stroud, RN

The strike was unnecessary, but it also showed us all the strength of our members, the strength that comes from being united…

We are Respected!

I have always said that nursing is the most rewarding profession anyone could ever be part of. Having said that, though, the past few weeks have been filled with both joys and challenges.I enjoyed seeing many of you during Nursing Week 2012 – cele-

brating our wonderful profession is a week-long respite from the seemingly never-ending issues that we deal with in our workplaces.

ONA’s launch of our innovative radio ad campaign in late April was a timely reminder of the fact that, dollar for dollar, we are the best value in health care. !e campaign launch was timed to co-incide with the Stanley Cup playo"s and the ads aired during Nurs-ing Week.

I can’t help but wonder whether the ad campaign had an impact on the community members of Haldimand and Norfolk counties when public health nurses went on strike in late April. !is was the first strike of ONA members in more than a decade, and particu-larly upsetting to me because it’s also where I live.

While I am ashamed of the conduct of Norfolk Council, I am heartened by the response of the media and community at large during the 12-day strike. While politicians likely believed that they could target front-line nurses with impunity – after all, we’ve heard so much about “times of austerity” – the reality was very di"erent.

Local media were more than fair to our members in their strike coverage; our nurses had overwhelming support from the public and other unions – and their CUPE colleagues. !e strike was un-necessary, but it also showed us all the strength of our members, the strength that comes from being united and – I sincerely hope – it showed decision-makers that the public is on the side of our wonderful nurses who do so much for their clients/patients/resi-dents and this province.

My hope is that politicians and decision-makers also see the lesson. ONA is a strong and united union and the public at large respects and supports our members.

Nous sommes respectées!

J’ai toujours a#rmé que le métier d’infirmière est la profession la plus gratifiante qui soit. Cela étant dit, les dernières semaines ont cependant été ponctuées de moments de bonheur et de dif-

ficultés.J’ai été heureuse de rencontrer beaucoup d’entre vous pendant la

Semaine des soins infirmiers 2012 – cette célébration de notre beau métier nous permet d’échapper pendant une semaine aux défis ap-paremment sans fin avec lesquels nous devons composer dans nos milieux de travail.

L’AIIO a lancé sa campagne de publicité radio novatrice à la fin d’avril, ce qui a permis de rappeler que, pour chaque dollar investi, nous représentons la meilleure valeur dans le système de santé. Le lancement de la campagne a coïncidé avec les séries éliminatoires de la Coupe Stanley, et les publicités ont été di"usées dans le cadre de la Semaine des soins infirmiers.

Je ne peux m’empêcher de me demander si cette campagne pub-licitaire a eu une influence sur la population des comtés de Haldimand et de Norfolk où les infirmières de la santé publique ont déclenché une grève à la fin d’avril. Cette grève, la première déclenchée par des membres de l’AIIO en plus d’une décennie, a été particulièrement dérangeante pour moi, car j’habite également dans cette région.

Bien que j’aie honte de la conduite du conseil de Norfolk, je suis encouragée par les réactions des médias et de la collectivité en gé-néral au cours de ces 10$jours de grève. Les personnalités politiques croyaient apparemment pouvoir cibler le personnel infirmier de pre-mière ligne en toute impunité – après tout, ce n’est pas la première fois que nous entendons parler de «$mesures d’austérité$» –, mais cela ne s’est pas du tout passé comme cela en réalité.

Les médias locaux ont couvert la grève d’une façon tout à fait équitable pour nos membres, et nos infirmières ont reçu le soutien d’une grande majorité de la population et des autres syndicats, ainsi que de leurs collègues du SCFP. Même si elle n’était pas nécessaire, cette grève a également révélé la force de nos membres, une force née de notre union. J’espère sincèrement que la grève a également montré aux décideurs que le public appuie nos merveilleuses infir-mières qui ne ménagent aucun e"ort pour le bien de leurs clients/patients/résidents et de l’Ontario.

J’espère que les personnalités politiques et les décideurs en ont bien pris note. L’AIIO est un syndicat fort et uni, et nos membres jouissent du respect et du soutien de la population en général.

(June 1, 2012 / 12:08:11)


JUNE 2012 5

From ONA Chief Executive OfficerDirectrice générale, AIIO

Lesley Bell, RN, MBA

ONA Always in the Media!

A few weeks ago, one of our members brought up a very im-portant point to the Board. She knew that ONA produces media releases and letters to the editor on a very consistent

basis, both provincially and locally, but wondered why our stories aren’t always picked up. Is there something more we could be doing?

Well, the short answer is “no.” We already do it all! Our sta! compiles a daily summary of the news stories most applicable to our members and barely one day goes by where ONA isn’t men-tioned or quoted in some capacity. About half of our letters to the editor are published in the major dailies – an amazing feat – and almost all in community newspapers and weeklies.

But don’t just take my word for it. An audit conducted a couple years ago analyzing nursing coverage in Ontario showed that ONA was the number one source quoted. "at’s impressive!

Still, no matter how many media releases or letters to the editor we produce, we simply cannot control what will be covered or print-ed. "ere are numerous reasons: the issue may be too complex, there may be bigger news items on any given day, a paper may receive an overwhelming number of letters to the editor, and sometimes media a#liates may be closely aligned with their local hospital, for example, or a particular political party and unwilling to cover criticism of such. It doesn’t say much about freedom of speech, but it does happen.

Beyond that, we work very hard at building and maintaining strong relationships with members of the media, who know ONA is the voice of registered nurses in the province and that no matter when they call, we will always be responsive.

We also produce a publication for media only, called Behind the Front Lines, which is precisely that. We tell the stories the media may not be hearing. While it’s not a hard sell on a particular story, it certainly does inspire them to follow up.

And we encourage you to play a role as well by writing letters to the editor of your own local newspaper; our Communications and Gov-ernment Relations Team can certainly help. Together, we can ensure that key nursing issues are kept where they belong: in the forefront!

L’AIIO toujours présente dans les médias!

Il y a quelques semaines, une de nos membres a posé une ques-tion très importante au conseil d’administration. Sachant que l’AIIO écrit un grand nombre de communiqués et de lettres à la

rédaction, tant à l’échelle provinciale que locale, elle se demandait pourquoi nos nouvelles ne sont pas toujours reprises dans les mé-dias. Pourrions-nous faire quelque chose de plus?

Eh bien, la réponse à cette question est tout simplement «$non$». Nous faisons déjà tout ce que nous pouvons! Notre personnel pré-pare un résumé quotidien des nouvelles qui présentent le plus d’intérêt pour nos membres, et il est rare qu’un jour passe sans que l’AIIO soit mentionnée ou citée d’une manière ou d’une autre. Près de la moitié de nos lettres à la rédaction sont publiées dans les principaux quotidiens, ce qui est remarquable, et presque toutes ces lettres se retrouvent dans les journaux communautaires et les pub-lications hebdomadaires.

Voici d’autres arguments qui sauront vous convaincre. Il y a quelques années, une analyse de la couverture médiatique consacrée aux soins infirmiers en Ontario a révélé que l’AIIO était la source la plus souvent citée. Voilà qui est impressionnant!

Cependant, peu importe le nombre de communiqués et de lettres à la rédaction que nous rédigeons, nous n’avons tout simplement aucun contrôle sur ce qui est traité ou publié dans les médias. Les raisons sont nombreuses$ : la question peut être trop complexe, il peut y avoir des nouvelles plus importantes ce jour-là, la rédaction du journal a pu recevoir un nombre de lettres inhabituellement élevé et, parfois, les médias a#liés peuvent être si étroitement alignés sur leur hôpital local, par exemple, ou sur un parti politique qu’ils ne veu-lent pas relater les critiques formulées à leur sujet. Bien que cela soit dommage pour la liberté d’expression, c’est une situation bien réelle.

Par ailleurs, nous ne ménageons aucun e!ort pour nouer et en-tretenir d’excellentes relations avec les membres des médias qui savent que l’AIIO est la voix des infirmières et infirmiers autorisés en Ontario et que nous sommes toujours disposées à leur parler quand ils nous appellent.

Nous réalisons également une publication destinée exclusive-ment aux médias, Behind the Front Lines, qui traite précisément de questions liées au personnel de première ligne.

Nous vous encourageons également à apporter votre contribu-tion en écrivant des lettres à la rédaction de vos journaux locaux. Notre équipe des communications et des relations avec le gouverne-ment peut certainement vous aider en ce sens. Ensemble, nous pou-vons faire en sorte que les principaux enjeux liés aux soins infirmiers se retrouvent toujours au devant de la scène, comme il se doit!

We work hard at building and maintaining relationships with the media.

(June 1, 2012 / 12:08:32)


JUNE 20126

From First Vice-PresidentPremière vice-présidente, AIIO

Vicki McKenna, RN

Study Misses Mark on RNs’ Workloads

While an analysis of patient safety measurements in a Cana-dian Institute for Health Information (CIHI) report showed that half of the 18 acute care hospitals in the Greater To-

ronto Area (GTA) fall below the national average on measures relat-ing to nursing care, it failed to tell the whole story.

!e measures considered in the report included “nursing-sensi-tive adverse events” – conditions such as urinary tract infections, bedsores, pneumonia and in-hospital fractures due to falls. Yet the study failed to look at why patients in the GTA su"er higher than average nursing-sensitive adverse events in the first place. !e fact is patients are more likely to develop these conditions when nurses don’t have enough time to prevent them and are working short-sta"ed – something you know all too well.

ONA has long warned that with an increased population comes higher occupancy rates at hospitals, yet hospital funding in this prov-ince simply has not been su#cient to provide the additional nursing sta" that our patients require. Clearly, something has to give.

Study after study has demonstrated the direct link between the number of RNs working on individual hospital units and the rate of patient morbidity and mortality. !e studies show that on average, for each extra patient added to an RN’s workload, these rates rise by seven per cent.

So, while the CIHI report proves, quite ironically, what ONA has been saying – that our patients need the skills, experience and care that RNs provide – it fails to specifically state that, and by glossing over nurse sta#ng levels and resulting workload issues, along with overcrowding in hospitals, it completely misses the mark.

I want to thank all of you for striving to provide the best quality health care you can despite these challenging conditions. And I urge you to continue to fill out your workload forms, so we have real tan-gible proof of the negative e"ect on our patients and ourselves due to the increasing di#culties under which you work on a daily basis.

Une étude qui ne rend pas bien compte de la charge de travail des infirmières

Selon une analyse des mesures prises pour assurer la sécurité des patients faisant partie d’un rapport de l’Institut canadien d’information sur la santé, la moitié des 18$hôpitaux de soins

actifs de la région du grand Toronto (RGT) se situent en deçà de la moyenne nationale en ce qui a trait aux mesures liées aux soins infirmiers. Cette analyse ne dit pas tout cependant.

Parmi les mesures prises en considération dans le rapport, on retrouve les «$événements indésirables liés aux soins infirmiers$», ce qui fait référence à diverses conditions, comme les infections des voies urinaires, les plaies de lit, la pneumonie et les fractures liées à des chutes survenant à l’hôpital. Pourtant, les auteurs de l’étude n’ont pas cherché à savoir pourquoi les patients de la RGT sont plus souvent touchés par des événements indésirables liés aux soins infirmiers. La réalité est que les patients sont plus susceptibles de sou"rir de ces conditions lorsque les infirmières ne disposent pas d’assez de temps pour les prévenir et travaillent en e"ectif réduit, une situation que vous ne connaissez que trop bien.

Il y a longtemps que l’AIIO tire la sonnette d’alarme en rappel-ant que l’augmentation de la population entraîne une hausse des taux d’occupation dans les hôpitaux. Malgré tout, le financement accordé aux hôpitaux de l’Ontario n’a tout simplement pas permis d’embaucher le personnel infirmier supplémentaire dont nos pa-tients ont besoin. Cette situation ne peut manifestement pas durer.

Étude après étude, on a démontré qu’il existe un lien direct entre le nombre d’IA travaillant dans un établissement hospitalier et le taux de morbidité et de mortalité des patients. Selon les études, ces taux augmentent de 7$% en moyenne chaque fois qu’on ajoute un patient à la charge de travail d’une IA.

Ainsi, bien qu’ils le prouvent de façon tout à fait ironique, jamais les auteurs du rapport de l’ICIS n’énoncent précisément ce que l’AIIO a#rme depuis longtemps, à savoir que nos patients ont besoin des compétences, de l’expérience et des soins des IA. De plus, en omettant d’aborder la question des niveaux de dotation en personnel infirmier et les problèmes de charge de travail et d’encombrement des hôpitaux qui en résultent, ils passent complètement à côté de l’essentiel.

Je vous félicite des e"orts que vous déployez pour prodiguer des soins de santé de grande qualité malgré ces conditions défavorables, et je vous prie instamment de continuer à formuler des plaintes sur la surcharge de travail, afin que nous ayons des preuves bien concrètes des di#cultés de plus en plus nombreuses avec lesquelles vous devez composer au quotidien dans le cadre de votre travail

Study after study has demonstrated the direct link between the number of RNs working on individual hospital units and the rate of patient morbidity and mortality.

(June 1, 2012 / 12:08:52)


ONA Members Across Ontario

JUNE 2012 7

Local 75 member Cheri Edwards, a charge nurse in the Pre- and Post Surgery Centre at St. Joseph’s Healthcare in Hamilton, recently participated in a two-week Medical Ministry In-ternational (MMI) project for the Healthy Eyes Program in Sucre, Bolivia, with several other

But there was happiness too. Young people were being !tted for a prosthetic eye, and I saw their delight once it was in place. A mother excitedly exclaimed, “Now, my daughter will be able to get married!”

I experienced many thoughts and feelings throughout the two weeks: How lucky we are to have health care in Canada. We complain when we have to wait for an appointment or sit in a physician’s o"ce for more than an hour. These people arrived at 6:30 a.m. and sat pa-tiently while we processed them. They waited for their eye to be frozen “blocked” by anesthesia or the surgeon, and then waited for surgery. Many were waiting outside for us as we arrived at the hospital in the morning. We walked them into the operating room with their hands on our hips, as we did two to three surgeries in one operating room and did not want them to touch our sterile !eld with instruments. They were very stoic and did not move during their procedures.

What a grateful acknowledgement when you come into work and the patients and families are clapping and thanking you. I felt like an angel and I needed to be there to help them. Expressions of fear and happiness were on their faces. We really did make a di#erence to the Bolivian people, and I thank all my sponsors for this incredible oppor-tunity. For more on the MMI, see www.mmint.org.

ONA members and retirees. What follows is Edwards’ story about her ex-periences in South America.

Sucre was made the capital of Bolivia after Independence and is a broad highland valley in the Altiplano’s eastern edge of the Andes. The city exudes the sense of being frozen in time somewhere back in the late 19th century. Laid out in grid sections, it is an architectural jewel, with splendid churches, monasteries and mansions. Two lan-guages are spoken: Spanish and Quechan.

Most of the people we cared for at our Eye Clinic were the less fortunate, Indigenous who lived on the outskirts of Sucre. They were very proud, strong and respectful people, rich in spirit and culture.

We served 4,707 patients (4,517 in the clinic and 190 at the hospital). Of that, 4,204 were adults and 503 were children. We dispensed 3,402 pairs of glasses, including prescription eyeglasses, readers and sunglass-es. The team completed 265 surgeries, 142 cataracts, 15 strabismus, four nucleations, 47 other surgeries and 44 pterygiums. Fifty-two patients were assessed for arti!cial eyes and 36 were !tted. Our youngest patient in the operating room was eight months and our eldest was 91.

The hospital, Santa Barbara, was 450 years old and had no modern conveniences. The nurses were hand sewing gauzes together for ab-dominal surgery. Just the simple things in life: an IV pole that doesn’t have wheels and was so light it could fall over if you blew on it, and stretchers that didn’t go up or down and did not lock in place. We saved our sterile gloves, including the outer wrappings, and gauzes for them to sterilize.

I toured the hospital with a nurse I became friends with, Rosa, who worked in endoscopy. Hospital rooms had up to eight people with no privacy. One bathroom was shared by all. The sites I observed while walking through the pediatric unit were unbelievable. A baby from an orphanage with a history of hydrocephalus and blindness was crying. A little boy with a broken arm in a sling attached to an IV pole was sobbing in pain. It was very sad to see these children without parents.

“We really did make a di!erence”

Member Feels Like “an Angel”after Medical Mission

(June 4, 2012 / 08:56:45)

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JUNE 20128

Bargaining Unit Success StoryRelationship Building with Employer “Very Uplifting,” Local Leader Says

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Region 1 Vice-President Diane Parker (left in left photo) and Local 81 Coordinator Judy Carlson (right in left photo) take advantage of National Medical Laboratory Profes-sionals Week, April 22-28, 2012, and National Physiotherapy Month, held in May, to travel to Margaret Cochenour Memorial Hospital in Red Lake and celebrate with our allied members. Physiotherapist Tracey Vilks (middle, left photo) and Andrea Wannog, a medical laboratory technologist (right photo) are integral parts of the health care system, dedicated to providing vital and specialized services that contribute to over-all e!ective patient care.

Celebrating our Allied Members!

ONA President Linda Haslam-Stroud (far right) is joined by Region 3 Vice-Presi-dent Andy Summers (back, middle) and Local 68 Coordinator and Bargaining Unit President Micheal Howell (back, left) as she meets with members and CEO Rueben Devlin (not pictured) during a visit to two sites of Humber River Region-al Hospital. “Linda’s visit was a celebration of our achievements by being wel-comed to meet with membership and the employer,” Howell noted, adding that as a result of her visit, “new energy has been brought into Humber to the execu-tive and membership.”

(June 1, 2012 / 12:09:31)


JUNE 2012 9

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ONA member Karen McPhail receives a 40-year pin and gift certi!cate from (then) Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Cen-tre CEO Ron Saddington while Hospital Board member Ingrid Parkes looks on dur-ing an employees’ recognition celebration last year. “I would hope that most nurses can say they have enjoyed their careers as much as I have over the years,” she said.

You Want Evidence? We Have Evidence!ONA came equipped with a mountain of evidence for the Independent Assessment Committee hearing looking into the concerns about unsafe RN sta"ng levels and how patient care is being compromised at Sault Area Hospital’s new emergency room. From May 1-3, 2012, a panel of three nursing experts heard evidence from our nurses and the employer and will issue recommendations in the weeks to come, which will be summarized in an upcoming issue of Front Lines.

Celebrating our Allied Members!

Telemedicine RN Knows “a Little Bit” about Many Disciplines

(June 1, 2012 / 12:09:51)



JUNE 201210

MEMBERSHIP ENGAGEMENT

IN MEMORIAM…

Service with a Smile!Proving their good deeds extend far beyond their places of employment, ONA members serve up some tasting free !xings for participants at an anti-poverty rally in downtown Toronto on March 16, 2012. After demonstrating outside the Ministry of Housing, partici-pants in the Fight Poverty! march, including Region 3 Vice-President Andy Summers, marched to the !nancial district to expose the big business source of the provincial gov-ernment’s austerity agenda and to demand the reversing of previous cutbacks, the right to a living income and a"ordable, accessible housing, and for good quality public services for all. “I heard so many people comment on how good it was to see the nurses out and how the food was amazing,” reported ONA member and participant Wendy Forrest.

Online news you can use!new online events

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to improve our home page-

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Get Connected: What’s New at

www.ona.org?

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Building Safety Capacity Through our Nurses,

and Transforming our Culture,

Building Safety Capacity

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Transforming our Culture ---

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ONA members who have worked so diligently on two quality of worklife initiatives include (left to right): Mawardi Kalil, Alicia Jones, Susan Pearce, Ti!any Wichert, Primrose Mharapara, Siew Tang, Alleth Anderson. Missing: Harry Ilacas, Estherlyn Esguerra, Kristin Ponte.

North York General Nurses Head Quality of Worklife Initiatives

Val-ue the Invaluable

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www.ona.org/nursingweek.

Valuing the Invaluable During Nursing Week!

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REGION 1

REGION 5

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REGION 2

REGION 3

REGION 4

ONA News

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Seniors Must be Protected in LTC Homes, ONA Submission States

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Submission to Consultations to Address Abuse and Neglect in Long-Term Care Homes

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www.ona.org/submissions.

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ONA Mourns Killed, Injured Workers

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ONA President Linda Haslam-Stroud (middle) is surrounded by other nursing leaders during a discussion of key nursing issues in times of austerity at the recent meeting of the Public Services International in Switzerland. Pictured are (left to right) FIQ President Régine Lau-rent, UNA President Heather Smith, CFNU President Linda Silas, and Judith Kiejda, Assistant General Secretary (VP) of the New South Wales Nurses’ Association in Australia.

ONA Discusses Austerity with International Labour Leaders

President’s Letter to the Editor Published

The following letter to the editor of the Brantford Expositor in response to its edi-torial on public sector workers receiving “significantly higher wages” than private sector workers was published on April 19, 2012.

As President of ONA and a public sector worker myself, I feel compelled to com-ment on your April 11 editorial, “Educa-tion Minister gets an ‘F’ on restraint.”

!anks to misguided editorials such as this, it now seems to be accepted “wis-dom” that public sector workers are paid significantly more than similarly-em-ployed private sector workers and enjoy overly inflated pension plans. !e trouble with this theory is that it simply isn’t true – and we have the research to prove it.

Using detailed occupational data com-piled by Statistics Canada, the Canadian Union of Public Employees recently re-leased a study that finds average salaries for comparable occupations in the pub-lic and private sector are similar on the whole, with a small overall public-sector pay premium of just 0.5 per cent, which is entirely due to a smaller pay gap for women in the public sector.

Women are still only making 70 cents for every dollar earned by a man in Can-ada; surely you and your readers support a move towards pay equity in the public sector.

I would urge you to please do your research before making statements that only add fuel in unnecessary and unwar-ranted attacks on public sector jobs, wag-es, benefits and even the most basic rights of the nurses of Ontario.

JUNE 201216

NEWS IN BRIEF

The Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan (HOOPP),

ONA is proud to support the Partners for Mental Health campaign, -

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www.partnersformh.ca

ONA is not supportive of any move to regulate physician assistants -

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onto www.ona.org/submissions. The Canadian Nurses Association (CNA) has launched a campaign

Nurse Practitio-ners: It’s About Time! -

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The Registered Nurses’ Association of Ontario

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QUEEN’S PARK Update

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STUDENT Affiliation

The following article is by Je! Reed (standing sec-ond from right, above), a University of Western Ontario nursing student, ONA student rep and an acting executive of the 2012 Nursing Games.

It’s not often that nursing students get a break from their seemingly endless class schedules, clinical hours and hours of home-work, but on March 23 and 24, 2012, they got the chance to drop the books for an unfor-gettable weekend.

Nursing students from all across the prov-ince came to London, Ontario to take part in the 2012 Nursing Games at the University of Western Ontario. The Nursing Games is a student-led initiative to bring together nurs-ing students for a weekend of fun competi-tion. Each participating school sent a team of their best and brightest students to com-pete in a friendly two-day contest of athlet-ics, academics, skills and school-spirit. The games proved to be a great way for nursing students to showcase their talents and acted as a medium for bonding between universi-ties. Participants were able to share stories, experiences and show their pride for their program and the nursing profession.

An extremely dedicated committee of students worked diligently to create a two-day venue of events that took place on the university campus, and the Hilton Hotel, as well as throughout the downtown area.

The !nal awards were announced at the banquet dinner at the Hilton Hotel. Western University took home the athletics award and the overall plaque, the Toronto Team (made up of George Brown, Ryerson, York and Cen-tennial) took home the award for spirit, and Ottawa University won the award for the aca-demic/nursing skills challenge. Other attend-ing schools were the Northern team made up of Laurentian and Nipissing, and Windsor and McMaster universities.

This was the !rst Nursing Games in more than two years, and so it was the !rst experi-ence of the majority of the students. The suc-cess of this event was evident not only from the feedback and smiles, but also from its sustain-ability. Windsor University has been given the honour of hosting the 2013 Nursing Games, which means this legacy will live on. That was the most important goal of our committee.

These games could not have happened without the support from organizations like ONA. We were happy to have members of ONA present at the games, representing a group that as students, we don’t have a lot of contact with. It bene!ted both sides, as many of these students will be the leaders that will take part in important work that ONA does in the future.

Thank you ONA for your support, and we hope to see you next year in Windsor!

Getting Involved in the Games: One Leader’s StoryFor Local 45 Coordinator David Remy, (far right of photo) getting involved in the 2012 Nursing Games is just another way to continue to build ties with up and coming nurses and ONA members.

“I have done a lot with nursing students over the years,” said Remy, who works at St. Joseph’s Health Care in London. “I have spoken to the political action classes at the University of Western Ontario about ONA.”

It was there that Remy !rst learned about the Nursing Games from Je" Reed, whom he arranged to speak at the Region 5 Area Coordinators Conference last fall.

“Region 5 donated $1,000 to the games and we were able to get ONA’s pro-vincial o#ce to donate another $1,000, for a total of $2,000, the highest sponsorship level,” said Remy.

But Remy’s involvement didn’t end there. He, along with Local 45 First Vice-Coordinator Betty Scott and Colleen Roefs from Local 100, sta"ed an ONA booth dur-ing the games, handing out ONA promo-tional material and answering questions. Local 100 was also involved in the games.

“We talked to a lot of the students about who we are because they just don’t know,” said Remy. “It’s important they’re aware of all the services we o"er before they gradu-ate and start looking for that !rst job.”

What has also helped is that the Uni-versity of Western Ontario now had a dedi-cated ONA rep, who is elected and serves as a liaise between ONA and the students – something Remy hopes can be adopted by other Locals in the province.

“Locals have to start getting students involved and engaged,” he said. “With the average age of nurses 48 years, we’ve got to think about who were are going to leave this to. This is the best way to start succession planning.”

Nursing Games Could not Happen Without ONA, Student Says

(June 4, 2012 / 08:56:49)


CFNU News

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THE CANADIAN FEDERATION OF NURSES UNIONS !CFNU" is calling for governments across the country to engage collectively in de-veloping an action plan to address the deepen-ing crisis in continuing care. “Equitable access to quality care based on need and not ability to pay is a shared value, but we are not walking the talk when it comes to continuing care,” said CFNU President Linda Silas. “There are growing gaps in quality and services of home care and long-term care across the country and we need a plan to close that gap.” The call was made dur-ing a national conference, hosted by the CFNU, which brought close to 100 experts from vari-ous aspects of continuing care together in Ot-tawa in March 2012.

CFNU HAS PARTNERED WITH THE CANA#DIAN NURSES ASSOCIATION, the Canadian Healthcare Association and the Dieticians of Canada to oversee the Research to Action initiative, which is comprised of pilot proj-ects in nine provinces and one territory to implement evidence-based strategies with the objective of improving workplaces and increasing the retention and recruitment of nurses. The pilots, which received fund-ing from Health Canada, involved innova-tive strategies that literally brought research to action, including programs that address sta!ng ratios, new mentoring and training projects, critical care and emergency nurs-ing education programs, enhanced training for nurses new to caring for the elderly, and online orientation programs. “Canada’s front-line nurses are grateful for this landmark ini-tiative,” said CFNU President Linda Silas. “We have years of research linking positive work environments with reduced health care costs and better patient care, and it was high time to take the research o" the shelf and bring it to life in the workplace.” Information about the projects has been released in a special is-sue of the Canadian Journal of Nursing, which can be viewed at www.longwoods.com/publi-cations/nursing-leadership/22793.

OHC News

Meeting with MPPsConcerned about misinformation regarding health spending, hospital cuts, ac-cess to long-term care and home care, and privatization, the Ontario Health Co-alition (OHC) holds a Legislative Lobby Day on March 28, 2012 at Queen’s Park. More than 100 volunteers, including several ONA members, travelled to Toronto to attend Question Period and participate in approximately 70 lobby meetings with MPPs from all three political parties. MPPs were asked to answer a set of questions, including commitments to provide local health services, and only a few, including Minister of Health and Long-Term Care Deb Matthews, did not agree to meet with us.

Cuts are Coming, ONA WarnsONA First Vice-President Vicki McKenna talks to the media after addressing an OHC townhall meeting in Kitchener on May 14, 2012 to warn of upcoming cuts to health care as a result of the recent provincial budget. “What nurses need to see is the government’s renewed commitment to ensure adequate nursing hours to protect quality patient care and a guarantee that nursing positions in Ontario will not be eliminated. Health funding cuts in the Ontario budget clearly fail this test,” she told the townhall, one of several held throughout the province, attend-ed by members of the ONA Board of Directors. In advance of the townhalls, the OHC released four key demands to protect access to health care: putting a mora-torium on hospital bed cuts; providing adequate funding to maintain existing services and address wait times in the public system; stopping privatization of health care services, including long-term care and home care; and holding open public consultations on the government’s plan.

Nursing Games Could not Happen Without ONA, Student Says

(June 4, 2012 / 08:57:06)


EDUCATION

ONA Members Giving Back Through eLearning!

ONA Members Giving Back

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ONA Members Giving Back

What Else is New with ONA’s eLearning Platform? -

Voting on Your Contract: Rati!cation VotesHow to be a Great ONA Unit Representative.

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[email protected].

Earn Cancer Care Education at No Cost!

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www.desouzanurse.ca/ourstory.

JUNE 201220

HUMAN RIGHTS and Equity

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The FactsCanada Criminal Code

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Barriers to Reporting Sexual Assault in the WorkplaceSupport the Stephen Lewis Foundation!

(June 1, 2012 / 12:14:13)


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HUMAN RIGHTS and Equity

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The FactsCanada Criminal Code

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Barriers to Reporting

reported

Victims are deterred from reporting by feelings of embarrassment, fear of reprisal by the perpetrator, or concerns they will not be believed and that the legal system will re-victimize and ultimately fail them.

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What We Can Do

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Violence in the Workplace: A Guide for ONA Members at www.ona.org, click

Barriers to Reporting Sexual Assault in the Workplace

(June 1, 2012 / 12:14:43)


JUNE 201222

The following is a sampling of recent key awards and/or decisions in one or more of the following areas: rights arbitration, interest arbitration, Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB), Long-Term Disability (LTD) and Ontario Labour Relations Board.

AWARDS AND DECISIONS: The Work of our Union!

RightsHospital’s psychiatric assessment not helpfulONA and a hospital

(Arbitrator Barry Stephens, April 9, 2012)The grievor went o! work due to stress fol-lowing a series of discipline and was denied sick pay for the period June 9 - July 8, 2010. Her family doctor diagnosed her with insom-nia, anxiety and possible depression due to stress at work.

When the grievor returned to work, the hospital sent her for a psychiatric assessment, which disputed the family doctor’s diagnosis, stating it was based solely on the grievor’s subjective reporting of her condition. The hospital argued that the medical information was invalid because the grievor could not be trusted to honestly report her symptoms.

The family doctor testi"ed on behalf of ONA and was unmoved in his diagnosis. The doctor stated that he kept the grievor o! work out of concern for patient safety, given her problems with concentration. The hos-pital disputed the testimony, arguing that there was no objective testing of the griev-or’s memory or concentration at the time, and both appeared unhindered when she was sent for the psychiatric assessment.

The arbitrator held that the family doc-tor’s assessment was supported by the medi-cal evidence as reported by the grievor re-garding her symptoms. The arbitrator reject-ed the evidence of the hospital’s psychiatrist, stating that the psychiatric assessment was not helpful because it took place after the grievor had returned to work and her condi-tion had improved.

The hospital was ordered to pay the lost sick time.

WSIBLife after WSIB benefitsSouth hospital

(March 1, 2012)The worker, a full-time nurse, su!ered an in-jury to her right low back in 2007 while deal-ing with a combative patient.

WSIB allowed the claim at "rst, but then discontinued bene"ts in 2008, stating that the worker had recovered from her 2007 in-jury and that her low back condition was due to a non-compensable 2004 injury and not the responsibility of WSIB.

ONA showed that the 2007 compensable injury was not related to the 2004 non-com-pensable injury, which was on the other side of her back, and from which she had com-pletely recovered. ONA appealed the WSIB decision to terminate bene"ts; the WSIB saw the light and reinstated bene"ts.

Since winning the appeal in February 2009, the nurse continued to receive loss of earnings bene"ts, and also won a 20 per cent non-economic loss award. She recently received her degree in nursing through the WSIB Labour Market Re-entry Program, and bene"ts continue as she participates in the job search portion of the new Work Re-integration Program.

Importance to ONA: Workplace in-juries can be devastating, and the struggle for WSIB bene"ts chal-lenging. With persistence and ONA assistance, it is possible for the WSIB bene"t program to work and help injured workers get a new start.

LTDThe chronic problem diagnosesHealth unit, Region 4

(January 26, 2012)The member was diagnosed with "bromyal-gia (FM) and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS) by a well respected specialist, and her initial claim for bene"ts was approved. Among her symptoms were reports of physical, cognitive and emotional dysfunction.

As usual with FM and CFS, her ability to function in all these modalities varied con-siderably over time. She did her best to fol-low medical advice on how to achieve a gradual improvement.

At the change of de"nition, she had still not recovered. The carrier referred her for a Functional Abilities Evaluation (FAE), which suggested that she could perform light du-ties. Issues of cognitive and emotional func-tioning were not considered, although they are common symptoms of FM and CFS.

ONA referred the member for a multidisci-plinary assessment, including an independent medical exam, neuropsychological testing, and another FAE. The results pointed to ongo-

ing di#culties in all areas, which prevent-ed her from working in any occupation.

On appeal, the carrier was suf-"ciently unsure of the evi-

dence that it referred her for yet another independent medical examination.

Two months later, the deci-sion to reinstate her bene"ts was

received. The carrier noted that it would also refer her for rehabilita-tion in the hope of assisting in her

recovery.

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Where are We with the Shift Work Debate?

Front Lines

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OCCUPATIONAL Health & Safety

ONTARIO NURSES’ ASSOCIATION

(June 1, 2012 / 12:15:59)


front lines, june 2012

Documents

norfolk public health

e nurses

rnvp region

health sector

retention of nurses

hundreds of ona members

mba6from ona

protecting nurses