WeRPN welcomes the additional $1.25 billion investment to retain and recruit more nurses in Ontario’s long-term care homes. With RPNs representing more than 64 per cent of the nurses in long-term care, this is a critical step to ensure Ontario’s LTC homes have the right balance of staff to meet growing resident needs. This investment will bring the government closer to meeting its commitment to four hours of direct care per resident per day.
With Ontario’s budget set to be tabled next week, WeRPN is continuing to urge the government to take further action on the key issues that matter most to RPNs. Our recommendations are as follows:
- Address the wage compression that has impacted RPNs across the province.
- Harmonize wages for RPNs across sectors in the health system to ensure that long-term care homes remain desirable places to work.
- Additional new funding for educational opportunities to ensure continued career growth in our nursing workforce is possible.
- Address the negative impact of for-profit nursing agencies.
Today’s announcement is an important step towards ensuring that more RPNs can be retained and recruited in long-term care. We look forward to seeing additional steps taken in the upcoming budget based on our recommendations.