Windsor Nurses’ Violence Awareness Video Highlighted at the International Conference on Violence in the Health Sector

 WINDSOR – The innovative video violence awareness campaign developed by Ontario Nurses’ Association (ONA) Local 8 members has been highlighted for delegates from around the globe attending the Sixth International Conference on Violence in the Health Sector.

“I am so proud of the innovative work being done by ONA Local 8 nurses to raise awareness about the very real issue of workplace violence,” said ONA President Vicki McKenna, RN. “Their work was featured at this important international conference and is an example of positive action to reduce the violence that front-line nurses and health-care professionals face each day.”

ONA Local 8 Coordinator Susan Sommerdyk, RN, says the third video in this innovative campaign launches today and can be viewed here: 

Sommerdyk notes that, “We are professionals who care about our patients’ safety. Our challenge is to bring the issue of workplace violence to the top of peoples’ minds and keep it there. We want to be ensure our workplaces are free of violence, both for us on the front lines, and most importantly, for our patients’ safety.”

McKenna said that new statistics show that violence in health-care workplaces continues to increase on a year-by-year basis. “The work of our Local 8 members is invaluable in raising awareness of violence against nurses, and I applaud their excellent work.”

ONA is the union representing more than 65,000 registered nurses and health-care professionals, as well as 18,000 nursing student affiliates, providing care in hospitals, long-term care facilities, public health, the community, clinics and industry.

General Membership Meeting - Oct 17

Notice of Elections - Nov 7, 2018

RNAO Event - September 17th

Windsor-Essex Registered Nurses Launch New Anti-Workplace Violence Ad This Week

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                                                             July 19, 2018

 

WINDSOR – The second of four anti-workplace violence ads designed to raise public awareness of the issue is set to launch this week.

Ontario Nurses’ Association (ONA) Local 8 members have developed the ads, which have garnered praise from employers, the public and the provincial nurses’ union.

ONA Provincial President Vicki McKenna, RN, notes that by raising awareness of violence against nurses and health-care professionals, Local 8 members are also helping to keep their members safe.

“When nurses and health-care professionals aren’t safe, patients are not safe either,” she said. “The efforts of these dedicated registered nurses will help to remind everyone that workplace violence in health care is not acceptable. Workplace violence not only causes physical damage, it is one of the causes of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) as well.”

The first of the four ads launched last April, and Local 8 Coordinator Susan Sommerdyk, RN, notes that they have been viewed more than 90,000 times in cinemas, on YouTube and Facebook.

“Feedback has been very positive and encouraging,” she says. “This next ad will be shown at Lakeshore Imagine Cinemas in all theatres except those showing movies geared to children. Our video and still ads will be running on HomeMedia digital screens as well, from Windsor to London.”

The latest ad will begin airing in the Windsor-Essex region starting this week. The ad can also be viewed at

https://youtu.be/Row3TuswveY

ONA is the union representing 65,000 registered nurses and health-care professionals, as well as 18,000 nursing student affiliates, providing care in hospitals, long-term care facilities, public health, the community, clinics and industry.

It's time to erase the difference.

Compensation for Work-Related Mental Stress

On April 29, 2014, the Workplace Safety and Insurance Appeals Tribunal (WSIAT) released its decision on ONA’s Charter Challenge declaring that the exclusion of workers with chronic mental stress from eligibility for compensation under the Workplace Safety and Insurance Act (WSIA) was discriminatory and contrary to the Constitution. Two other non-ONA cases followed with similar success and these wins, along with lobbying and pressure by unions and other injured workers’ organizations, led to the repealing of the discriminatory provisions in May 2017.

Amendments under Bill 127, the Stronger, Healthier Ontario Act (Budget Measures), 2017 came into effect on January 1, 2018 that now allows workers with work-related mental stress to be eligible for benefits under the workers’ compensation plan.

The amendments also allow workers whose mental stress occurred between April 29, 2014 and December 31, 2017 and who did not previously file a claim, to file a claim for compensation with the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB) before July 1, 2018.

Furthermore, workers whose claims were previously denied and workers whose claims are pending may be eligible to have their claims considered or re-considered under the following transitional rules:

1. Claims that were denied by the WSIB or by the WSIAT before January 1, 2018 cannot be refiled. However, if a worker has a timely claim for mental stress pending before the WSIB on January 1, 2018, the decision will be made based on the new provisions regardless of the date on which the mental stress occurred. “Pending” means the WSIB has not made a decision or final decision on the claim by January 1, 2018.

2. If a worker has a timely claim for mental stress that is pending before the WSIAT on January 1, 2018 (a pending appeal), the WSIAT will send the claim back to the Board to decide entitlement under the new provisions regardless of the date on which the mental stress occurred.

3. If on or after January 1, 2018 a worker files a timely Notice of Appeal to the WSIAT of a final decision of the WSIB made before January 1, 2018, the WSIAT will refer the claim back to the WSIB to be decided under the new provisions regardless of the date on which the worker’s mental stress occurred.

Next Steps

1. ONA members who have suffered work-related mental stress for which they lost time and/or sought medical treatment and have not previously filed a WSIB Claim, should contact the WSIB immediately to find out if they are eligible for compensation under the new provisions. WSIB: 416-344-1000 or 1-800-387-0750.

2. ONA members who have an existing claim or appeal at the WSIB or WSIAT for work-related mental stress should contact the WSIB to find out how the new provisions affect their claim. They can also contact the ONA WSIB Appeals Intake Line: 416-964-8833 or 1-800-387-5580, and ask for WSIB Intake or enter extension 7721. ONA members can leave their name, phone number and a time they can be reached with a brief message and a WSIB Appeals Labour Relations Officer will return their call within 48 hours. They can also email the ONA WSIB Appeals Team via: WSIBIntake@ona.org.

Please note the deadline for WSIB and WSIAT Claims or Reconsiderations under the new provisions in any of the above circumstances is JULY 1, 2018.

NEW ONA Local 8 Bursaries for 2018!

Local 8 is now accepting applications for our two new bursaries:

• Supporting and Promoting ONA Bursary
• This bursary will be used to cover the cost (up to $1000) for a Local 8 member in good standing to attend an ONA education or event.

• Local 8 Nursing Enhancement Bursary
• This bursary will be used to reimburse the cost (up to $500.00) for a Local 8 member in good standing for any education costs related to the nursing field.

Want to know more?

Want to apply for a bursary?

Click this link to access our Local 8 Nurses Week web page:
https://local8.ona.org/nurses-week

Bill 148: A Quick Primer on Leaves of Absence

Windsor-Essex Registered Nurses Launch Anti-Violence Campaign

 WINDSOR – Far too often, Registered Nurses (RNs) and front-line health-care professionals experience violent attacks at the hands of patients and their families. Now, RNs working in Windsor-Essex are launching a new public awareness campaign to highlight the risk of workplace violence in health care.

Ontario Nurses’ Association (ONA) Local 8 members have developed four new commercials highlighting the issue with a view to ending this serious problem. ONA President Vicki McKenna, RN, has praise for the local nurses and their campaign.

“RNs are caregivers,” she said, “and we go to work each day to help their patients heal, not to be beaten and assaulted. These commercials are powerful and will help people understand the very real risk to RNs and health-care professionals – and consequently, to patients – with a view to prevention.”

Windsor Regional Hospital CEO David Musyj has also expressed support for the campaign. “Believing that violence against RNs and health-care professionals doesn’t exist won’t help eradicate the attacks,” he said. “The only way we will end workplace violence in health care is to take the necessary steps – proactively – to prevent it. It cannot be stressed enough that when our care providers are at risk, our patients also suffer…I commend ONA and our nurses for their efforts to keep this issue top of mind.”

Making health-care safe entails training, safety planning, having strong policies in place and identifying risks to patients and staff, notes Hotel-Dieu Grace Hospital CEO Janice Kaffer. “All of that, though, won’t be enough unless people feel they can come forward when violence happens and be heard without judgement or retribution.” Kaffer supports the ONA Local 8 campaign, and has committed, “as a Registered Nurse and the CEO of HDGH that our hospital will be safe from violence and from all fear of reporting it.”

The first in a series of four ads will begin airing in the Windsor-Essex region today. They can also be viewed at https://youtu.be/GjM5_BiFWP8

ONA is the union representing 65,000 registered nurses and health-care professionals, as well as 16,000 nursing student affiliates, providing care in hospitals, long-term care facilities, public health, the community, clinics and industry.

ONA Local 8 - Save These Dates!

Unions are great!

Attention Nurse Practitioners: Help improve NP working conditions!

An important pan-Canadian study of Nurse Practitioners' working conditions is being launched, with the aim of improving retention and recruitment of NPs.

A high level of participation is essential to the success of the project. Your input will help paint a picture of the reality of working as an NP in Canada, and how improvements can be made.

Please share your experiences as part of this brief survey.

Visit https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/Pan-CDNNPSurveyEN to complete the English online survey.
Visit https://fr.surveymonkey.com/r/Pan-CDNNPSurveyFR to complete the French online survey.

The deadline for completing the survey is January 12. We encourage you to share with your colleagues.

The data obtained from the survey will be strictly anonymous (unless you indicate you wish to be contacted), and only aggregate information will be shared.

The outcome of the project will be to develop recommendations for employers and governments to improve NP working conditions to better attract and retain NPs, and expand NP positions throughout the health care system.

The study is being launched by the Canadian Federation of Nurses Unions (CFNU), Canada's largest nurses' organization representing nearly 200,000 nurses and student nurses and supported by the Ontario Nurses' Association.

Thank you for your participation in this important initiative. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact cfnu@nursesunions.ca.

Better Care Starts Here Campaign

ONA’s ‘Better Care Starts Here Campaign’ Expands Today

 “Better Care for a Lifetime” in cinemas, on radio and social media

TORONTO – The Ontario Nurses’ Association (ONA) public awareness campaign, Better Care Starts Here, expands today with a new tagline.

“As we enjoy the holiday season, ‘Better Care for a Lifetime’ will be airing in theatres across the province before the much-anticipated Star Wars: The Last Jedi movie,” says ONA President Linda Haslam-Stroud, RN. “It’s a timely reminder that not everyone will be home for the holidays, and our dedicated registered nurses are there on the front lines to care for and protect their patients.”

ONA’s new cinema ad can be viewed here. Also launching are radio ads across Ontario and social media ads. To listen to the radio ads, visit ONA’s Nurses Know website where visitors will also find a list of actions that can be taken and information about Ontario’s health-care system.

Haslam-Stroud notes that ONA’s social media campaign will be on Facebook, and for the first time, on Instagram.

“And as many of us anticipate the opportunity to spend time with friends and family, it’s important to remember those who are not as fortunate, and to show gratitude that highly skilled, highly caring registered nurses are on the front lines to provide the quality care our patients need and deserve.”

ONA is the union representing 65,000 registered nurses and health-care professionals, as well as 16,000 nursing student affiliates, providing care in hospitals, long-term care facilities, public health, the community, clinics and industry.

Be part of the team!

The ONA Provincial Human Rights and Equity (HR&E) Team is comprised of ONA members and staff with a mandate to promote ONA’s development as an inclusive and equitable organization.

The team is currently seeking to attract participants to represent the following equity groups:

1. Francophone

2. Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer+ (LGBTQ+)

3. Racialized

Please note that you must belong to the respective equity group to be a representative on the team. The term for team members is two years, and membership terms are staggered to ensure continuity.

An Expression of Interest form is available online at: https://www.ona.org/eoi/

Deadline for applying is Friday, December 18, 2017

 

Click here to access the survey!

Ontario Nurses’ Association Celebrates National Nurse Practitioner Week

TORONTO – The Ontario Nurses’ Association (ONA) is urging the public to join in celebrating the critical work that Nurse Practitioners (NPs) do each and every day.

“Nurse Practitioners Week is being marked in Ontario from November 12 to 18,” notes ONA President Linda Haslam-Stroud, RN. “ONA is proud to recognize the invaluable work they do, providing high-quality services and primary care to their patients.”

Haslam-Stroud says that Nurse Practitioners Week is also a chance to raise awareness of the scope of practice of our RN-extended class front-line care providers.

“ONA has been advocating on behalf of Ontario Nurse Practitioners (NPs) on a number of issues,” she said. “We have made progress in standardizing provincial salary grid equity for our highly educated and skilled NPs. We are also making progress in ensuring that Ontario NPs are able to practice to the full extent of their scope without barriers.”

In Ontario, Nurse Practitioners work in every sector of health care. With their advanced university education, NPs provide personalized health care to their patients, and work independently and in partnership with physicians, RNs and pharmacists.

“Ontarians are lucky to have dedicated and highly skilled NPs working to care for them in so many settings,” said Haslam-Stroud. “Let’s celebrate our Nurse Practitioners, this week and every day.”

ONA is the union representing 65,000 registered nurses, Nurse Practitioners and health-care professionals, as well as 16,000 nursing student affiliates, providing care in hospitals, long-term care facilities, public health, the community, clinics and industry.

Violence against health-care workers ‘out of control,’ survey finds

https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2017/11/05/violence-against-health-care-workers-out-of-control-survey-finds.html

Some 68 per cent of nurses and PSWs report being assaulted, harassed on the job, poll conducted by Ontario Council of Hospital Unions shows.



Linda Clayborne retired last year after 42 years as a psychiatric nurse at a Hamilton hospital. She says she was assaulted many times on the job and witnessed countless incidents of violence against colleagues.  (ANDREW FRANCIS WALLACE / TORONTO STAR) 

A hospital admissions clerk who is stabbed with a pair of scissors.

A nurse whose head and neck are punctured with a pen.

A young father who comes home day after day from his health-care job with a black eye.

According to a new survey of Ontario health-care workers, incidents like these aren’t isolated tragedies. In fact, 68 per cent of nurses and personal support workers across the province have experienced physical violence at least once on the job over the past year, a poll conducted for the Ontario Council of Hospital Unions shows. Some 42 per cent experienced at least one incident of sexual harassment or assault.

“Violence is raging really out of control in these hospitals,” said Michael Hurley, OCHU’s president. “The level of physical violence, sexual harassment, sexual assault, verbal assault, and racial name-calling is at a level which is toxic and simply shouldn’t be ignored or tolerated.”

While the vast majority of front-line workers reported experiencing physical violence at least once in the past year, a fifth of those surveyed also said they had experienced nine or more incidents in the same time frame. A quarter reported missing work at least once because of either physical or non-physical violence. Some 83 per cent of respondents said they had experienced verbal abuse on the job.

More than 770 frontline nurses and personal support workers in Ontario were asked about workplace violence. In the past year:

68%

experienced at least one incident of violence

 

20%

experienced 9 or more incidents of violence

 

42%

experienced at least one incident of sexual harassment or assault

 

83%

experienced at least one incident of non-physical violence

 

75%

have witnessed at least one incident of violence against a co-worker

 

26%

lost time at work due to violence on the job

Source: Ontario Council of Hospital Unions

Linda Clayborne retired last year after being a psychiatric nurse for 42 years in a Hamilton hospital. She told the Star she has seen countless assaults on the job, and believes many of them could have been prevented through better staffing levels and dedicated security teams who are able to respond fully to violent incidents.

She says she remembers being punched for trying to stop a patient repeatedly kicking a co-worker, seeing a fellow nurse being thrown to the ground and beaten because she asked a patient to leave his food tray in the dining room, and seeing a corridor pooled with blood after a nurse was attacked.

“I’m 62 years old. I’ve been in fights where we’ve had to hold the patient down many, many times. It’s a daily occurrence,” she said. “It’s verbal assault, it’s physical assault, it’s sexual assault.”

But health-care providers surveyed by OCHU also expressed significant concerns around reporting such incidents, with 44 per cent saying they feared reprisal from their employer if they spoke up about violence on the job.

The study polled more than 770 front-line nurses and personal support workers in seven cities including Toronto, and an additional 1,200 workers in other health-care jobs such as admissions clerks, record keepers and cleaning staff. Of the latter group, 24 per cent reported experiencing at least one incident of violence in the past year and 58 per cent said they’d been subjected to non-physical violence.

Last year, the average lost-time injury rate in Ontario was 0.94 claims per hundred workers, while in the health-care sector that figure was 1.35, according to data from the provincial workers compensation board.

Occupational health expert Jim Brophy said those figures may not paint a full picture of workplace assaults because stigma and fear of reprisal leads to under-reporting.

“You have this pressure cooker that people are facing on a daily basis the fear of assault — but you can’t talk about it.”

In September, contract negotiations between the health-care unions broke off when hospitals “refused to agree that we share a common goal of a workplace free of violence,” Hurley said. He said hospitals also refused to write a letter to government asking for investments in workplace safety to prevent violent assaults.

“You’ve got frankly a hierarchal environment where there is a reluctance to acknowledge or address the problem,” Hurley told the Star.

In an emailed statement, the Ontario Hospital Association said it was “disappointed” negotiations broke down.

“It is important to reiterate that the health and safety of employees has been, and will continue to be a priority for both the OHA and our member hospitals,” the email said.

“While we know that the work performed by health-care providers is often challenging and demanding, acts of violence are never accepted as something that staff members should expect to face within the workplace.”

Hurley said the Ministry of Labour has increased workplace inspections of hospitals in response to concerns over violence, and said he wanted to see the Occupational Health and Safety Act amended to include explicit protections against reprisal for workers who report violence on the job. (Workers are already protected against reprisal for refusing unsafe work and exercising their rights under the act.)

Hurley also wants to see money dedicated to installing alarm systems and protective barriers in hospitals.

“They have open hearts. They’re gentle people. And out of the blue, there’s a vicious assault,” he said of health-care workers.

“There’s physical scars here. But there’s also emotional and psychological damage,” he added. “There’s a lot of anguish here.”

ONA Local 8 partners with CMHA!

Local 8 is thrilled to announce their partnership with Canadian Mental Health Association Windsor-Essex County Branch (CMHA-WECB) on their Sole Focus Project. http://solefocusproject.ca/

As a strategic partner with the Sole Focus Project movement we assist them to take a stand for mental health and collectively create a legacy fund to further enhance and distribute mental wellness education, awareness and training in our community.

The economic burden of mental illness in Canada is estimated at $51 billion per year. This includes health care costs, lost productivity, and reductions in health-related quality of life.

On average, 6,400 clients receive treatment from Canadian Mental Health Association Windsor-Essex County Branch (CMHA-WECB) annually for moderate to severe mental illness.
Education and training are key areas not fully funded by the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care. Yet they are key to shifting the tide of mental health stigma.

The Sole Focus Project aims to ease societal and financial burdens on those with a mental health or addiction problem by raising funds towards mental wellness education and awareness, providing training and treatment, and community support.

The more resources and services we can make available to those in need of help, the more we can ensure a mentally healthy Windsor & Essex County, overall.

Support the cause - buy a pair of socks!
http://solefocusproject.ca/swag-shop/

Ontario Nurses’ Association Election Results

November 2, 2017

Ontario Nurses’ Association Election Results:

Vicki McKenna, RN is Incoming President, Cathryn Hoy, RN is Incoming

First Vice-President 

TORONTO – London’s Vicki McKenna, RN, has been acclaimed as the Ontario Nurses’ Association’s (ONA) incoming President for 2018-19, and Kingston’s Cathryn Hoy, RN, has been elected First Vice-President.

McKenna, a day surgery nurse from London Health Sciences Centre, will take office as ONA President in January 2018.

“I am thrilled to announce that our 65,000 registered nurses and health-care professionals will be led by Vicki McKenna in her first term as ONA President,” said current ONA President Linda Haslam-Stroud, RN. “ONA members will be in good hands with Vicki’s leadership. She is a passionate advocate for our profession and for quality patient care, and has been both a dedicated ONA First Vice-President and a reliable support to me during my terms as president.”

McKenna is a registered nurse from London Health Sciences Centre, where she has worked with both adult and pediatric day surgery patients. An ONA member for more than 30 years and an ONA activist for more than 20 years, McKenna says that she will continue to harness the power of the union’s 65,000 members and more than 16,000 nursing student affiliates to fight for quality working conditions for ONA members and quality patient care.

“Nurses know both the challenges and solutions to so much of what is happening in our health-care system right now,” says McKenna. “We are on the front lines each day, and our patients look to us to be their voice. I am honoured that our members have entrusted me to be their voice as we work to improve health care for Ontarians.”

ONA’s Board of Directors will also welcome Kingston registered nurse Cathryn Hoy, elected as incoming First Vice-President, and Laurie Brown, a registered nurse from Hamilton Health Sciences, elected as Vice-President, Region 4.

ONA is the union representing 65,000 registered nurses and health-care professionals, as well as 16,000 nursing student affiliates, providing care in hospitals, long-term care facilities, public health, the community, clinics and industry.