RNAO

By Angela Gemmill

There’s a new report from the Registered Nurses Association of Ontario that calls for almost two dozen recommendations to help address the need for more nurses in rural, remote and northern parts of the province.

C-E-O of the North East Local Health Integration Network (LHIN) Louise Paquette co-chaired the report after a year-long consultation process with experts in the field.

She says they spoke with registered nurses, nurse practitioners, registered practical nurses and nursing students.

They found the main problem was with recruiting and retaining nurses in these communities.

A new report recently published provides 23 recommendations to help improve the system and stem the shortage of nurses.

Chief Nursing Executive at Health Sciences North, David MacNeill, the other co-chair of the report, says a time frame for implementation will vary depending on the recommendation.

Some of the recommendations will require no new money and can be implemented quite quickly, while others will require policy change and lengthier time to put in place.

The report has been forwarded on to upper levels of government.