In January, CTV News reported, the Ontario government announced a plan to deploy internationally-trained nurses to work in provincial hospitals to alleviate the ongoing nursing shortage. Six months later, reports the same network, nursing shortages are still forcing Ontario hospitals to temporarily close facilities, while tens of thousands of internationally-trained nurses are still sidelined.
Ontario will deploy internationally educated nurses to hospitals dealing with staffing shortages | CTV News - Sean Davidson:
January. 11, 2022 - "Ontario will deploy internationally educated nurses to hospitals and long-term care homes facing staffing shortages due to COVID-19. Health Minister Christine Elliott made the announcement on Tuesday while speaking about health-care capacity, saying international nurses who have applied to practice in Ontario 'will have the opportunity to meet their applications requirements by working in health-care settings under the supervision of a regulated health-care provider.' Elliott said more than 1,200 applicants have already expressed interest and will be matched with hospitals and long-term care homes later this week."
Read more: https://toronto.ctvnews.ca/ontario-will-deploy-internationally-educated-nurses-to-hospitals-dealing-with-staffing-shortages-1.5735340
Tens of thousands of nurses on the sidelines as ERs on the brink of closure in Ontario | CTV News - Hannah Alberga:
July 26, 2022 - "Tens of thousands of nurses are currently sitting on the sidelines as hospital emergency rooms in Ontario near the brink of closure due to staffing shortages. That’s because this pool of about 26,000 nurses in Ontario is internationally educated, according to the most recent report from the province’s Office of the Fairness Commission. 'Of those, 14,000 are registered nurses, which is really where the toe is hurting,' Registered Nurses’ Association of Ontario (RNAO) CEO Doris Grinspun said. 'You have ERs that are closing. You have nursing homes that don't have enough staff. All of it boils down to the same thing. Nursing is like the spinal cord of the system. If you don't have enough nurses, the system cannot function,' Grinspun said.
"According to the College of Nurses of Ontario (CNO) website, the registration process for a nurse who was educated outside of Canada takes between three to 18 months. That includes eight registration requirements, such as evidence of practice, language proficiency and a registration exam.... But for applicants like Karla Ducusin, it ... took three years. Ducusin was qualified and practiced as a registered nurse for four years in the Philippines before she immigrated to Canada.... It took Ducusin two years to complete the required English and licensing exams, which she spent all of her savings on. But after she passed, she also needed permanent resident status or an open work permit....
"Grinspun said lowering the time frame it takes to process these nurses would dramatically change the current shortage. A recent RNAO report found the backlog of internationally educated nurse applicants in Ontario has been growing for over a decade, and has only escalated during the pandemic.... Meanwhile, the workforce is collapsing, said Birgit Umaigba, a registered nurse in a Toronto emergency room.... Some days, Umaigba said she’s performing the work of three nurses. She said that means patients will have to sit soiled for hours, developing bed sores.... While Umaigba said she sees an immediate need for bringing more internationally educated nurses into the workforce, she said it needs to be paired with a long-term solution."
Read more: https://toronto.ctvnews.ca/tens-of-thousands-of-nurses-on-the-sidelines-as-ers-on-the-brink-of-closure-in-ontario-1.6002766
'Titanic' staffing crisis leaving at least 14 Ontario hospital units shut down ahead of long weekend | CTV News - Hannah Alberga & Siobhan Morris:
July 28, 2022 - "The intensive care unit at a hospital in Bowmanville will be temporarily closed amid a 'significant staff shortage,' alongside more than a dozen other Ontario hospitals that are expecting to reduce beds and relocate care ahead of the long weekend. An Ontario nursing union told CTV News Toronto at least 14 hospitals will be impacted. 'Long weekends always have an increased visit to emergency rooms, so there'll be further staffing issues, further burnout issues,' Ontario Nurses’ Association President Cathryn Hoy said on Thursday afternoon. At the centre of the closures is a staffing crisis that Hoy said she can only compare to the 'Titanic'....
"Lakeridge Health told CTV News Toronto that they had to make the 'difficult decision' to temporarily close their [Bowmanville] ICU and relocate patients to Ajax Pickering and Oshawa hospitals.... Emergency rooms in Wingham and Listowel will also be closed for parts of the long weekend. Hoy said these closures are the result of nurses leaving the profession in 'droves.'
"Birgit Umaigba, an Ontario emergency room nurse, said she has witnessed this with her own eyes. Just yesterday, the ICU she was scheduled to work at shutdown. She said two more colleagues told her they were prepared to leave the profession, adding to the list of over a dozen she’s recently seen walk away from the profession to work at Boston Pizza and Costco, some with decades of experience. The most recent Statistics Canada data illustrates the severity of the situation. Almost one in four nurses said they planned on changing or leaving their job in the next three years."
Read more: https://toronto.ctvnews.ca/titanic-staffing-crisis-leaving-at-least-14-ontario-hospital-units-shut-down-ahead-of-long-weekend-1.6006460
Nursing shortage is 'going to cost lives,' says ICU nurse | CBC News, Jan 4, 2022:
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