Greetings SNIG members.
I am writing this communication just after the Thanksgiving Holiday. I am now retired from the paid workforce so I am able to spend the holidays with my family. I know many of you are at work during festive times and I thank you for doing the important nursing work of caring for Ontarians every hour and every day of the year.
I attended the RNAO AGM and enjoyed learning some of the stellar advocacy work of our professional organization. I will discuss a couple of issues in which RNAO is doing progressive work based on evidence.
* In recent months, Premier Ford announced that his government plans to close 10 supervised consumption sites (SCS) in Ontario. RNAO quickly responded. Doris Grinspun, our CEO, appeared on the CBC program "Power and Politics" and gave a passionate and reasoned response, saying that it is folly to close SDCs as they save lives and reduce people using substances in public places. Doris received some hateful responses on social media for her actions. Doris advises nurses to state their evidence-based position in the media and not respond to toxic messages or even look at responses if you find them distressing.
* One of the resolutions at AGM was to urge the provincial government to fund independent NP practice. I did not even realize that NPs can only be paid by a clinic or hospital and that NPs cannot bill OHIP directly for their services. At a time when 2.3 million Ontarians do not have access to a regular primary care provider and less MDs wish to work in primary care it seems foolish not to publicly fund NPs who have been providing high-quality, cost effective primary care for decades.
I urge you to sign RNAO Action Alerts on these and other issues. You receive them in emails but can also just google RNAO Action Alerts and sign several at one time.
*In the last year SNIG had difficulty attracting new executive members, but this June we made some great connections at AGM and now our executive positions are filled! We are so happy about this! Old members are myself, Una Ferguson, Paula Manuel and Brad Manuel . New members are Laura Uribe, Chahat Sharma, Merit Sadek, McKenna Hill and Allyson Norton. We had an in-person meeting in Kingston on Sept. 21 to get to know each other and to plan for the coming year. We enjoyed each other and found the group worked cooperatively. Our theme for this year is "Standing Together for Nurse Wellness".
* We hope some of you can join us for upcoming webinars.
- On Oct. 23 at 7 p.m. ET via Zoom, Paula Manuel will give a talk "Thriving Not Surviving!"
- On Nov. 28 at 7 p.m. Adrienne Kappes will speak about "Travel Nursing".
You receive emails regarding webinars but can also register on the RNAO website under Events. Past webinars are archived and you can watch them from SNIG website.
Register here: Thriving Not Surviving! | RNAO.ca
* Self-care Tip: Family or friend events can be stressful. To decrease your stress, accept that you may not have control over this and things may not go as well as you expect. Release expectations as soon as reality proves otherwise. The less attached we are to our expectations, the less we will suffer in our reaction to reality. For example there are some frictions in members of my immediate family. I have let go of the expectation that we will all get together for holidays and have decided to enjoy whoever I am with and let go of perfection. I enjoyed being with some of my family on Thanksgiving and that is ok. All I can control is myself and my reactions. According to Buddhism, we are attached to our desires and that is why we suffer. "Let Go and Go with the Flow"
Thank you for your important and difficult work. It is appreciated more than you know. And thank you for being a member of SNIG and the amazing RNAO.
Until next time,
Brenda Hutton,
Chair SNIG, RNAO