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Govind Rao

Optimizing Scopes of Practice: New Models of Care for a New Health Care System | Canadi... - 1 views

www.cahs-acss.ca/e-for-a-new-health-care-system

from heather utilization pn psw lpn nursing

shared by Govind Rao on 26 Aug 14 - No Cached
  • Optimizing Scopes of Practice: New Models of Care for a New Health Care System
  • What are the scopes of practice that will be most effective to support innovative models of care for a transformed health care system to serve all Canadians?’ To systematically approach the question the Expert Panel, working with the Canadian Health Human Resources Network Project Team, developed a guiding conceptual framework of macro, meso and micro influences on scopes of practice.  They extracted findings from 125 sources of literature on scopes of practice interventions to see their impact; interviewed 50 Canadian and international experts in the field, and worked closely with the Expert Panel over an 18-month period to discuss the key findings and generate recommended actions.
Govind Rao

Optimizing Scopes of Practice: New Models of Care for a New Health Care Syste... - 0 views

cahs-acss.ca/e-for-a-new-health-care-system

from heather teams scope

shared by Govind Rao on 04 Apr 16 - No Cached
  • Optimizing Scopes of Practice: New Models of Care for a New Health Care System
  • The assessment was conducted by an 11-member Expert Panel, co-chaired by Dr. Sioban Nelson, University of Toronto and Jeffrey Turnbull, Ottawa Hospital.
  • Canadian Health Human Resources Network Project Team,
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  • 125 sources of literature on scopes of practice interventions to see their impact;
  • optimizing scopes of practice, paired with evolving models of shared care can provide a multidimensional approach to shift the health care system from one that is characteristically siloed to one that is collaborative and patient-focused.
  • Govind Rao on 04 Apr 16
     
    2014
Irene Jansen

CBC.ca | White Coat, Black Art | Unfinished Business Show - 0 views

www.cbc.ca/...unfinished-business-show-1

care aide retirement homes regulation ltc ontario

shared by Irene Jansen on 23 Jan 12 - No Cached
  • we have reaction from Ontario's Minister of Health and Long Term Care to our season debut episode on personal support workers and the work they do at retirement homes in the Province of Ontario
  • personal support workers or PSWs, the subject of our full edition season debut episode back in September
  • unlike nursing homes, retirement homes operate in a regulatory grey zone.  And it's at these retirement homes where we found PSWs who say they're expected to perform duties they aren't qualified to do, like injecting insulin or administering narcotics.
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  • We played some of Jen's interview to Deb Mathews, Ontario Minister of Health and Long Term Care. 
  • "That is a very troubling clip you just played for me," Mathews told WCBA.  "No health care worker should ever be put into a position where they feel that they're compromising the health and safety of their patients or their own personal safety."
  • As for the operators of retirement homes that compel PSWs to perform nursing duties that they may not be qualified to perform? "Well, I would say that they're taking a very big risk," she added.  "They really should not be supporting a practice that isn't safe."
  • But if retirement homes are taking a big risk, as the Minister puts it, it's a risk that exists in part because retirement homes aren't regulated nearly as strictly as long term care facilities.  And that won't be changing any time soon.  In terms of regulations, a retirement home is little different from your own home.  
  • Irene Jansen on 23 Jan 12
     
    The story on PSWs and interview with Deb Mathews runs from minute 1:34 to minute 9:28. Mathews: I would say to the operators "they are taking a very big risk and they really should not be supporting a practice that isn't safe - they have to take that responsibility very seriously" I'm asking PSWs to "please stand up and report this". The scope of practice for PSWs is not as clear as it ought to be ... this is why we're establishing the PSW registry. It will allow us to see the training and experience of PSW - this information will be available to the public. My expertise is long-term care homes. Very high standards there. Retirement homes in Ontario are different - wide range of people. They do not fall under the Ministry of Health. Dr. Goldman: Why not regulate retirement homes? Mathews: Because they serve a very different function - e.g. for people who are very healthy but would like to have for example their meals prepared for them. They are not health care facilities the way long term care homes are. A retirement home is a home. We really do want to offer choice to people. The retirement homes determine when a person needs care they can't provide. Dr. Goldman: Regulation of PSWs?  Mathews: I don't see it any time soon. We are working with our training colleges and universities on a common curriculum. Until we have that standard training and established scope of practice, we can't take them the next step to make them a regulated health care professional.
Govind Rao

Should registered nurses prescribe drugs? - Healthy Debate - 0 views

healthydebate.ca/...registered-nurses-prescribing

from heather rn nursing nurses drugs scope

shared by Govind Rao on 03 Mar 16 - No Cached
  • by Wendy Glauser, Sachin Pendharkar & Debra Bournes (Show all posts by Wendy Glauser, Sachin Pendharkar & Debra Bournes) March 3, 2016
  • The Ontario provincial government has said it will expand the scope of practice of registered nurses (RNs) in Ontario to allow them to prescribe medications. Currently, only doctors and nurse practitioners have the ability to prescribe medications. This is a move that could radically change health care – some say for the better, but others are concerned.
Irene Jansen

Provincial panel to shine a spotlight on the role of the RPN | RPNAO - 1 views

www.rpnao.org/...panel-shine-spotlight-role-rpn

from heather Ontario pn scope utilization

shared by Irene Jansen on 16 Apr 13 - No Cached
  • The Registered Practical Nurses Association of Ontario (RPNAO) is pleased to announce the launch of a new provincial project titled: ‘It’s All about Synergies: Understanding the Role of the RPN in Ontario’s Health Care System’.
  • This research and consultation project, which is expected to be completed by December, 2013
  • In addition to producing a final report outlining the findings, the working panel will also lead the development of a set of resources that nurses, nurse employers and educators will be able to utilize to help enhance their understanding of the scope and appropriate engagement of the RPN role in Ontario’s health care system
Irene Jansen

HEU submission on LPN regulation Jan 8 2013 - 0 views

www.heu.org/...akes-submission-lpn-regulation

from heather bc cupe pn regulation scope

shared by Irene Jansen on 22 Jan 13 - No Cached
  • In response to proposed changes to the regulation that governs the LPN profession that were announced this fall, HEU made a submission on December 21 to the B.C. Ministry of Health. 
  • government’s proposed changes to the regulation currently governing LPN practice – while containing some advancements – also has the potential to set back LPN practice
  • the regulation moves away from LPNs being under the direct supervision of an RN, to a “restricted activities” model
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  • the proposed new regulation does not reflect the full scope of current LPN practice and competencies, and could negatively impact LPN utilization
Heather Farrow

What's really behind the Saskatchewan RN dispute with LPNs | Regina Leader-Post - 0 views

leaderpost.com/...katchewan-rn-dispute-with-lpns

Saskatchewan nursing nurses lpn rn scope pn

shared by Heather Farrow on 11 May 16 - No Cached
  • May 9, 2016 |
  • For going on two years, the Saskatchewan Union of Nurses (SUN) has waged a heated campaign against changes to the scope of practice of licensed practical nurses (LPNs). Recently, SUN members demanded a special meeting of the Saskatchewan Registered Nurses Association (SRNA), the profession’s regulatory body, at which they proposed the ouster of the executive director and the members of the governing council for being insufficiently hostile to the changes to the LPN bylaws.
Irene Jansen

CUPE to talk to health board about need to fully utilize nurses < Health care, Saskatch... - 0 views

cupe.ca/...lk-health-board-utilize-nurses

sk lpn utilization

shared by Irene Jansen on 12 Apr 12 - No Cached
  • CUPE’s report, Full Utilization of LPNs: A practical solution to the nursing shortage&nbsp;was sent to the health region board last month.
  • Although licensed practical nurses have the knowledge and skills to perform an array of nursing duties, CUPE 4777 President Carol McKnight says many still are not allowed to work to their full scope of training.
  • CUPE 4777 President Carol McKnight described the situation as a “terrible waste of nursing skills and talent.”&nbsp; The union’s recommendations to resolve the problem include: The development of a clear policyto enable LPNs to work to their full scope of practice across the health region.&nbsp; The policy should include a complaint/resolution process so that LPNs or supervisors can challenge an assignment of duties that violates the policy The Health Region foster a culture of respect and team work among all nursing groups The Health Region establish benchmarks in each facility to measure progress towards the goal of full utilization of LPNs
Irene Jansen

Ivy Lynn Bourgeault: Health Care's Biggest Soap Opera - 0 views

www.huffingtonpost.ca/...ada-health-care_b_1373233.html

cof innovation hhr federal

shared by Irene Jansen on 27 Mar 12 - No Cached
  • a working group on health care innovation to examine three critical issues related to the health workforce. These issues include examining the scopes of practice of health care providers to better meet patient needs, better coordinated management of health human resources, and accelerated adoption of clinical practice guidelines (CPGs).
  • Typically, the public dialogue around the health workforce is narrowly focused on addressing shortages and other supply-related crises, real or imagined, so it is refreshing to see attention paid at this level to broader health workforce issues.
  • we are not so much suffering from a lack of health care professionals as from their inappropriate deployment
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  • first year enrolment in Canadian medical schools is now 80 per cent higher than a decade ago.
  • Scopes of practice, coordinated management, and CPGs have all come under a variety of committee, task force, working group, and Royal Commission lenses over the past two decades. As important as that work has been, there has been a frustrating lack of follow through or haphazard implementation on what are often a series of well crafted, evidence-based recommendations.
  • huge potential for nurse practitioners in primary care. Yet, implementation of this single evidence-based policy recommendation continues to be hamstrung by a maddening mix of professional resistance and lack of political will.
  • There is now a chorus of voices highlighting the need for better health workforce policy and planning
  • a pan-Canadian health workforce observatory.
  • an organization that would assemble health workforce data, information, and expertise to inform more rational approaches to policy development and health workforce deployment
  • Several other developed and developing countries have created such organizations
  • the standing committee supported the call for an observatory in its recommendations but, sadly, the federal government response did not even acknowledge that the recommendation had been made
Irene Jansen

Licensed and Registered Practical Nurses urge Premiers to agree on key principles to pr... - 0 views

www.nupge.ca/...ree-key-principles-protect-and

shared by Irene Jansen on 02 Feb 12 - No Cached
  • Victoria, BC (16 Jan. 2012) – Licensed and Registered Practical Nurses (LPNs/RPNs), who are members of the National Union of Public and General Employees (NUPGE), met earlier this week in Victoria to discuss public policy, labour relations and professional practice issues.&nbsp;&nbsp; They were joined by LPN representatives from the B.C Hospital Employees’ Union (HEU).&nbsp;&nbsp; Three important issues discussed at the meeting included: Strategies to ensure LPNs/RPNs receive recognition and respect for the important independent role they play as members of a professional nursing team. The evolution of LPN/RPN practice and regulatory changes that impact entry to practice and scope of practice. &nbsp;The ongoing negotiations between the federal, provincial and territorial governments for a new Health Accord in Canada.
  • In order to strengthen the delivery of health care in Canada, a new Health Accord must encourage health care employers to utilize all health care workers to full scope of practice, particularly Licensed and Registered Practical Nurses; this would help to improve the quality of care and to ensure the cost effective delivery services.
Govind Rao

Antibiotic-resistant 'superbug' discovered at California hospital | CTV News - 0 views

www.ctvnews.ca/...-california-hospital-1.2525053

from heather hai us

shared by Govind Rao on 20 Aug 15 - No Cached
  • August 20, 2015
  • PASADENA, Calif. - A Los Angeles-area hospital said Wednesday that some of its patients contracted an antibiotic-resistant "superbug" that has been linked to a type of medical scope and infected dozens of people around the country. Huntington Memorial Hospital said in a statement that it notified public health authorities after several patients who had procedures using Olympus Corp. duodenoscopes were found to have the resistant pseudomonas bacteria. The hospital said it has quarantined the scopes while it investigates whether they may be linked to the infections.
Govind Rao

Canada should heed UN's human rights warning - Infomart - 0 views

www.fpinfomart.ca/doc/doc_display.php?key=pr|246471|tost|20150724|225531257

from heather refugees migrant worker mental health human rights

shared by Govind Rao on 24 Jul 15 - No Cached
  • Toronto Star Fri Jul 24 2015
  • On June 11, Abdurahman Ibrahim Hassan, an immigration detainee with schizophrenia, died after being held in an Ontario jail for over three years without charge while awaiting deportation to Somalia. On Thursday, the UN found that Canada's treatment of immigration detainees, people like Mr. Hassan, violates international human rights law.
  • Earlier this month, I travelled to Geneva to participate in Canada's review by the UN Human Rights Committee, and to raise the issue of Canada's treatment of immigration detainees. In my submissions to the committee, I noted the scope of detention (more than 7,000 detainees per year), the indefinite nature (with some detainees spending years in jail), the disproportionately negative impact on those with serious mental health issues, and the lack of effective oversight over the detaining authority (the Canada Border Services Agency).
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  • The committee is one of the most well-respected human rights bodies in the world, comprised of independent and eminent international law experts from every continent. My experiences in Geneva affirmed my impression that the committee approaches the Herculean task of ensuring compliance with the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights with professionalism and rigour. After reviewing thousands of pages of documentation, listening to hours of testimony from NGOs and the Canadian government, and grilling government representatives with insightful questions, on Thursday, the committee issued its final verdict.
  • The concluding observations for Canada are breathtaking in their scope, covering issues related to national security, Aboriginal Peoples' rights, prisoners' rights, and even freedom of expression and association for human rights defenders.
  • The document is a sobering reminder of how much Canada has changed in the 10 years since our last review and we should be outraged that, in such a short time, our international reputation has been so tarnished. We have gone from being a global leader in the protection of human rights - the gold standard, even - to a country that repeatedly ignores UN recommendations, engages in suppression of dissent, and enables cruel treatment of migrants. At seven pages in length, the UN's assessment of Canada is necessary pre-election reading for anyone wishing to chart the changes wrought to our society in the past nine years of Conservative government rule.
  • Of particular interest to me, of course, were the concluding observations and recommendations related to Canada's treatment of non-citizens, people like Hassan. The committee expressed grave concerns around laws that allow for the mandatory detention of asylum-seekers who arrive by boat, recent cuts to the interim federal health program for asylum-seekers, and indefinite detention of migrants.
  • The committee recommended that Canada ensure that there is proper oversight over CBSA, place time limits on immigration detention, and ensure there are viable alternatives to detention. It also recommended that those held in provincial jails be granted access to treatment centres for mental health issues.
  • These recommendations are an important vindication of the rights of non-citizens, thousands of whom are detained in maximum-security jails every year, including vulnerable migrants such as asylum-seekers, torture survivors and those with serious mental health issues, people like Hassan.
  • However, the UN's strong recommendations will quickly become cold comfort for Hassan's family if Canada does nothing to implement them. Despite the death of at least 11 immigration detainees held in CBSA custody since 2000, Canada has done nothing to end arbitrary detention and cruel treatment of non-citizens held without charge. Now that the UN has made recommendations to end rights violations against immigration detainees, we must press all the major political parties to commit to implementing the recommendations if elected. Renu J. Mandhane is executive director of the international human rights program at the University of Toronto's faculty of law.
Govind Rao

Nurses rally against job cuts at Almonte General Hospital - Infomart - 0 views

www.fpinfomart.ca/doc/doc_display.php?key=pr|245142|pgac|20150319|216702400

from heather cupe Ontario nurses nursing hospital cuts campaign

shared by Govind Rao on 19 Mar 15 - No Cached
  • Almonte/Carleton Place EMC Thu Mar 19 2015
  • Not all cuts heal. That was one of the messages written on signs held by demonstrators on Monday, March 16, who were protesting the Almonte General Hospital's (AGH) plan to cut 10 registered practical nurse (RPN) positions from their team of staff over the next few months. "We don't want to see these nurses lose their jobs," said Marie Campbell, a demonstrator whose husband, Bill Campbell, receives complex care in the hospital's Rosamond Unit. "There is an excellent level of care here, and we don't want that to change." AGH recently announced that,
  • in light of continuing budget challenges, they would be implementing a new model of care to the hospital over the coming year. The new model will introduce 11 personal support worker (PSW) positions and eliminate 10 RPN positions in an effort to reduce salary expenditures. "In this fiscal climate, the challenge is finding ways to live within our means while ensuring quality and safety are always at the forefront of the patient and staff experience," said Mary Wilson-Trider, the hospital's president and chief executive offi cer. "Embracing the addition of PSWs is in line with that." Hospitals across Ontario have been experiencing budgetary challenges for years, ever since the provincial government implemented funding cutbacks, Wilson-Trider said. This year, the hospital received a mere one per cent increase in their provincial funding, which Wilson-Trider said is not enough to cover mandated salary increases or to offset inflation on product and service costs.
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  • "We've been managing our budgetary costs for years," she said, "but this is the first year we've considered staffing restructuring as a practice to balance the budget's bottom line." Since PSWs are trained for a smaller scope of work than RPNs, they are compensated at a lower rate. Wilson-Trider said it should be made clear that there will still be RPNs on the hospital's team. Though there will be fewer RPNs, the team of PSWs will work to lighten their workload by taking care of certain tasks. The restructuring of the care model for the hospital's Rosamond Unit is just one aspect of the changes made to the AGH's budget this year. During the winter months, AGH conducted an internal comprehensive review of the hospital's revenues and expenditures, looking for efficiencies and asking for suggestions from staff.
  • The review, Wilson-Trider said, had a target figure of a five per cent change to the budget's bottom line, either in increased revenue or decreased expenditures. The cuts to RPN positions will account for some of that five per cent change, but the review also found other areas to cut costs, such as supply cost savings and energy management practices. Also, the hospital reviewed their service costs and found that they were charging below the average for private rooms, something they've adjusted for 2015. "These changes are a way of living within our means from a budget standpoint while providing the least impact to current patient care and the patient experience," Wilson-Trider said.
  • Protest Anita Comfort, one of the RPNs whose job is being eliminated, has been working at AGH for 21 years. She's among one of many soon-to-be-laidoff RPNs who have been at the hospital for decades, and she says that level of dedication can't be replaced. "We know our hospital, we know our patients and we know how to care for them," she said. "There's simply not going to be the same level of care without us." Comfort was one of more than 30 demonstrators who marched the street in front of AGH on March 16, asking for honks of support from passing cars.
  • Affected RPNs, friends, family, union representatives and even patients came out to show their support, holding signs boasting messages such as "Cuts hurt everybody," and "My skills are vital to patient care." Linda Melbrew, president of the local chapter of the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE), which represents the RPNs, was present for the demonstration, showing the union's support for saving their jobs. "We're asking the hospital to reconsider their decision," she said, "and we're also asking for the province to provide better funding for our hospitals so something like this doesn't have to happen at all." Representatives from the Ontario Nurses Association also showed their support during the demonstration, holding signs and marching among the affected RPNs.
  • Cathy Porteous, another of the RPNs who will lose her job because of the cuts, also mentioned the hospital's appearance on the Sunshine List: a list of employees whose annual salary rates are $100,000 or more. She said she heard there are 10 such employees with the AGH. "Why can't they make cuts in that area," that's what we want to know," she said. "Instead of cutting from the front lines of patient care, maybe they should take a look at their own salaries." When asked about the Sunshine List later in an interview, Wilson-Trider said the hospital doesn't have 10 employees being paid more than $100,000 annually - instead, they have nine.
  • Those employees, she explained, are all high-level employees and not all of them are paid by AGH itself. Among those on the Sunshine List are the director of care for the hospital's Fairview Manor (FVM) and the manager for Lanark County Ambulance Services. "These managers are already stretched," she said. "Between managing the hospital and their accountability to the LHIN (Local Health Integration Network) and the ministry, they're stretched." Many of the demonstrators voiced another concern as well: that patients will not receive the same level of care with a team of PSWs than they would with RPNs. "The don't call it complex care for nothing," said Debbie Tipping, whose husband, like Marie Campbell's, receives care in the Rosamond Unit, also called the Complex Continuing Care Unit.
  • Since PSWs don't go through the same level of training as RPNs and therefore are not qualified to perform certain tasks, Tipping said she is concerned her husband's care could suffer. "We don't want to lose the nurses we've come to know and love," Campbell said. Patient care While Wilson-Trider said the AGH is appreciative of the work the affected RPNs have put in over the years, she also said that she thinks the new care model will benefit patient care. "I actually think that this will be good for patient care," she said. "The new PSWs will be there to support the RPNs, who will be working at their full scope of practice."
  • "Patient care," she added, "is of the utmost importance here, and we have taken every measure to ensure that that level of care is maintained." Over the next few months, as the new model of care is phased in and positions are jostled around, Wilson-Trider said that the AGH will be following the union's collective agreement and working with the union the whole way through. "We appreciate the commitment and high quality of care that all of our staff has demonstrated and continues to demonstrate," she said, "and we're also very appreciative of the care they've given to our patients." Illustration: • Kelly Kent, Metroland / On Monday, March 16, more than 30 demonstrators took to the street outside Almonte General Hospital (AGH) to protest the hospital's new model of care that will cut 10 registered practical nurse (RPN) positions from its team of sta . AGH's new model of care comes in light of budget challenges passed down from the province's freeze on funding. Some of the a ected RPNs, above, held signs reading "My skills are vital to patient care."
Govind Rao

Nurses protest cuts ; Hospital underfunded, they say - Infomart - 0 views

www.fpinfomart.ca/doc/doc_display.php?key=pr|245142|sust|20151023|232029063

from heather pn lpn cupe Ontario hospital cuts utilization

shared by Govind Rao on 23 Oct 15 - No Cached
  • The Sudbury Star Fri Oct 23 2015
  • Registered practical nurses blaming provincial government health-care cuts for a change in their status at Health Sciences North converged on the office of Sudbury MPP Glenn Thibeault on Thursday to protest government underfunding. RPNs at HSN say their positions were eliminated and they were transferred to the renal program as renal aides, where they are expected to practise on the dialysis unit like nurses, but their status and pay has been downgraded, according to representatives at CUPE Local 1623. "It's a multi-purpose rally today," said Dave Shelefontiuk, president of CUPE Local 1623. "The immediate purpose is over the action the hospital has recently done, which is to reassign 16 RPNs back to the renal (program), freeze their wages and they're no longer going to be used as nursing staff, but we all hear every week there's a nursing shortage at Health Sciences North and they voluntarily took 16 very experienced nurses out of the system and we don't think that's correct. We think that's degrading to these nurses. They went to school, they're professional nurses, they have the skills and now they're not being allowed to use those skills."
  • The other purpose of the rally, Shelefontiuk said, was to highlight workers' struggles under the current funding model. "We're over capacity now; the emerg has been just jam-packed," Shelefontiuk said. "Everybody who provides direct patient care is overworked, they're stressed out, and the only thing we can see to correct this problem is if Mr. Thibeault and Premier (Kathleen) Wynne realize that the North East LHIN (Local Health Integration Network) needs to be funded differently from the other LHINs.
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  • "People who come to Health Sciences North come from a lot of different areas. I can't jump on the subway and go down to the hospital to make my appointments. Some people come from Blind River, some come from Timmins, we're a referral hospital that's not funded properly and we can't provide the care we expect to be able to provide. We're very proud of what we do and people are struggling. People are going home sick. They're happy to get through a day, not happy to go to work and provide the care they want to provide. We don't think that's proper." According to CUPE, the hospital has cut beds, services and staff because of a five-year funding freeze imposed by the provincial Liberal government.
  • The union cited an Auditor General's report which estimated hospitals' costs increase by 5.8% annually, rising faster than inflation, because of the soaring costs of drugs provided free to inpatients and medical technologies, among other factors. Thibeault was at Queen's Park in Toronto on Thursday, but forwarded a statement through his communications staff. "I understand that Health Sciences North has made the decision to make changes in its nephrology department, shifting to a model of RNs working alongside renal aides, rather than RPNs," Thibeault said. "I have been assured by officials at Health Sciences North that this decision was made based on surveys of other nephrology departments in Ontario working successfully under similar models, and will not change the terms or quality of patient care.
  • "I understand that RPNs who choose to stay in nephrology will be re-assigned as renal aides, while those interested in pursuing RPN opportunities in other departments will be offered any additional training necessary. "I have been assured by officials at HSN that no layoffs are anticipated, and that vacancies for RPN positions in other departments are expected. I recognize, as does our government, that nurses are the backbone of our health-care system, and I will continue to advocate for health-care practitioners and patients in Sudbury."
  • The move to use renal aides alongside registered nurses, rather than the previous model of RPNs alongside RNs, was made to find efficiencies without affecting patient care, HSN spokesperson Dan Lessard said in a statement. "Nothing changes from a patient's standpoint, in terms of the care provided or quality of care," Lessard said. "The RNs assigned to the patient still oversee the process and their care."
  • The duties of the renal aide will include preparing, starting, and monitoring the dialysis machines, Lessard said. They'll also help transfer patients around the unit and help them with such things as going to the bathroom. "RPNs were doing these duties before, but these duties don't encompass the full scope of practice for RPNs. "For the RPNs affected by this, we're offered them an opportunity to let us know if they would be interested in receiving additional training in order to qualify for other RPN positions within HSN, where they would be working more fully within an RPN's scope of practice." Lessard confirmed that no layoffs are expected.
  • "In terms of their salaries, they don't get a pay cut," Lessard said. "They will have their salaries red-circled. That means their salaries will remain the same until the pay scale for renal aides catches up to their present salaries, and at that point they will follow the normal progression up the salary grid, but as renal aides, not RPNs." ben.leeson@sunmedia.ca Twitter: @ben_leeson
  • Registered practical nurses from Health Sciences North and their supporters hold a rally outside Sudbury MPP Glenn Thibeault's office in Sudbury on Thursday.
Govind Rao

Project will see restrictions on advanced-care paramedics lifted - Infomart - 0 views

www.fpinfomart.ca/doc/doc_display.php?key=pr|245142|frdg|20160406|244123026

from heather NB ems

shared by Govind Rao on 06 Apr 16 - No Cached
  • The Daily Gleaner (Fredericton) Wed Apr 6 2016
  • Representatives from the Department of Health and stakeholders across the provincial ambulance service are busy completing the work needed to launch an advanced-care paramedic pilot project, which would finally lift regulations that prevent these highly trained paramedics from using all of their skills in the field.
  • New Brunswick is the only province in Canada that doesn't use some form of advanced-care paramedic within its pre-hospital emergency system. It has legislation that mandates Ambulance New Brunswick use primary-care paramedics throughout the province. Advanced-care paramedics have completed more training than their primary-care paramedic colleagues, which allows them to administer certain types of medications and perform advanced, potentially life-saving interventions at the scene of an accident or in a patient's home.
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  • Stakeholders throughout the province's health-care system have been lobbying successive provincial governments for at least a decade, urging them to lift restrictions that force the province's roughly 35 advanced-care paramedics to work below their full scope of practice. In February, the provincial government announced it had set aside $580,000 for a new pilot project, which will help New Brunswick figure out how best to make use of these valued health-care providers.
  • Health Minister Victor Boudreau said two committees have been formed to complete the behind-the-scenes work that is needed to introduce them to the existing ambulance service. So far, he said, things are going well, though he's not sure when advanced-care paramedics will be ready to use their skills on the streets. "We're still trying to put a pilot project together, making sure that we're respecting all the different moving parts to this," he said. "The money is still in the budget for this year. It's just sometimes these things prove to be a little more difficult than you'd like to put together. But it's certainly still on the table."
  • Chris Hood, executive director of the Paramedic Association of New Brunswick and a participating member of the committee tasked with sorting out the clinical issues around such a change, said that work is progressing nicely and he expects to see advanced-care paramedics in use within the provincial ambulance service soon. "I know the meetings have been happening and, by all indications, we're getting close," he said.
  • "The committees are still meeting. I've missed the last two meetings, but we had a representative there. They're getting into discussions about the protocols for practitioners, what they'll be following. From what we hear, it sounds like full-steam ahead. They accelerated the meeting times and it seems like everything is on the right track ... All of the prep-work that is necessary is, I would say, probably 80 per cent done, 85 per cent done." Ambulance New Brunswick is also completing some preparatory work, said Hood.
  • "They're looking at curriculum - refresher programs and things like that. From the clinical side of the business, which is what we're concerned with, that stuff is almost complete," he said. "If form follows function, we should be moving forward rather quickly."
  • When asked if the province's advanced-care paramedics are excited they'll finally be able to put all of their training to use in this province, Hood said many are still frustrated from the long struggle to lift these restrictions on their scope of practice. "I think many ACPs are still a bit, 'I'll believe it when I see it.' But some are very excited about it. We've had a couple of people enquire about attending ACP school and I know that the requests for enrolments in ACP classes both in New Brunswick and in the state of Maine are increasing," he said.
  • People are starting to feel more comfortable in spending the money to upgrade their skills, to take the education they need. But with the existing practitioners, I think, it's a wait-and-see mentality." Judy Astle, president of paramedics' union CUPE Local 4848, said she's anxious to learn what the pilot project may look like and how advanced-care paramedics will be used alongside primary-care paramedics across the province.
  • It's going to be a positive," she said. "But we're still waiting to find out the details."
Govind Rao

Union, Horizon spar about potential job losses in centralized scheduling - Infomart - 0 views

www.fpinfomart.ca/doc/doc_display.php?key=pr|245142|frdg|20151017|231581910

from heather NB hospital cupe cuts admin

shared by Govind Rao on 19 Oct 15 - No Cached
  • The Daily Gleaner (Fredericton) Sat Oct 17 2015
  • The union that represents thousands of New Brunswick's front-line health-care professionals says a plan to centralize employee scheduling within the Horizon Health Network will cut jobs and reduce spending in some rural communities. However, officials with the province's largest regional health authority say job losses should be minimal and employees affected by the change may be able to move to keep their positions. Earlier this year, the Horizon Health Network announced that it would create a new dedicated scheduling team in Saint John that would help work units across New Brunswick schedule employee shifts, make arrangements for vacation time, and sort out which employees would be called in to work if a colleague called in sick.
  • The goal, say officials with the Horizon Health Network, is to remove unnecessary paperwork from the duties of managers in the field, standardize scheduling protocols at sites across the province, reduce payroll errors, and avoid potential union grievances by ensuring the proper distribution of overtime and call-in shifts. Robin Doull, Horizon's regional director of workforce optimization, said roughly 80 per cent of the health authority's staff will eventually be scheduled in this way by March 2017.
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  • Doull said the project will begin rolling out in January, when certain staff members at the Miramichi Regional Hospital will start using the software developed for this initiative and working in collaboration with the scheduling team in Saint John. Ralph McBride, co-ordinator for CUPE Local 1252, said it's a shame the professionals who are currently scheduling staff at various sites across the province aren't able to keep those responsibilities. "We see this as taking away important jobs in rural New Brunswick and moving them to urban centres," he said. He said that based on what he's heard from the Horizon Health Network, between 17-20 health-care professionals working in Miramichi could be affected by this organizational decision.
  • "To lose 17-20 positions, to lose any positions out of the Miramichi, out of any rural setting and off to a place like Saint John, creates a hardship in that economy, in that area," he said. "I guess what the government failed to consider is that most of the people that are in these central scheduling systems are long-term employees. They've got stakes in their hometowns. That's where many have grown up. That's where they live. Some of them are 20-year employees, 25-year employees, 30-year employees. To ask somebody that's in their mid-50's to uproot and move is, I think, shameful and disrespectful."
  • Doull said that, to be clear, this decision to centralize staffing was made by the Horizon Health Network - not the Department of Health, as suggested by the union. "A couple of years ago we started on this in a preliminary way and it's now becoming operational for us," he said. Doull also denied that many positions will be in jeopardy.
  • "There are three staffing support clerks in Miramichi that are affected," he said, explaining that employees impacted by the move to centralized scheduling will have the option to move to Saint John and continue working there. "All employees who work in the staffing support clerk classification have the option to take a position in the staffing centre in Saint John. If they do not take the offered position, they may choose to 'bump' into another CUPE position, if they have the basic qualifications for the position and the person in that position has less seniority. Their right to 'bump' includes any position (as described) at any site in Horizon." McBride said he thinks the provincial government would have to be on board with a plan of this scope. "I believe the government is not wanting to be the forerunners of this so they're using the health authority to deliver a message," he said, explaining that there are already rumours more services - such as accounts payable - could be following suit in the months ahead. "Things don't happen in health care in New Brunswick without the Department of Health knowing. Somebody has to give the blessing on this."
  • The union representative said the changes will cause turmoil for work units across the province as, per the terms of the existing collective bargaining agreements, senior employees affected by the scheduling changes choose to bump junior colleagues out of other positions. "(The affected employees) will exercise their right to bump under the collective bargaining agreement. But somewhere down the line it's going to take away from the economy," he said.
  • McBride said that he hopes the new centralized scheduling program works effectively when employees begin using it in January, explaining that it was initially slated to kick off earlier. "There's going to be some stuff they'll have to work out," he said.
  • "This move was supposed to happen the first of November. But we got word (this week) that it had been delayed because there had been glitches in the system. It's like any software program, it's not been tested to its full extent. So there's going to be issues with it." It's too bad, he said, that the employees who were already working on scheduling staff at various sites across New Brunswick couldn't join the centralized scheduling team, yet remain at their initial site. "With today's technology, they should be able to do scheduling from any office, any facility in the province. They don't need to centralize them all into one location," he said.
Govind Rao

Skateboarders scare as they show off skills ; Don't accept Trenton hospital cutbacks: c... - 0 views

www.fpinfomart.ca/doc/doc_display.php?key=pr|246243|peex|20151019|231707258

from heather Ontario coalition campaign cuts hospital

shared by Govind Rao on 19 Oct 15 - No Cached
  • The Peterborough Examiner Mon Oct 19 2015
  • QUINTE WEST -Natalie Mehra was blunt with her assessment of the proposed cost-cutting measures facing Trenton Memorial Hospital. On a scale of one to ten, Mehra rated the severity of cuts at nine. "They are setting the ground work for the demise of the hospital. There will be no future in it," said the executive director of the Ontario Health Coalition. But the Coalition wants Quinte West and Brighton to keep fighting back, even harder than in previous years. "I am a bit worried because people get tired of fighting back. But our (the Coalition) message is that when you push back hard enough we can often win. Every community should be demanding long term stability when it comes to their hospitals. The bottom line is there should be a basket of good services available in every hospital," said Mehra.
  • The Coalition and Our TMH are planning a massive day of protest set for Friday, Nov. 13 at Trenton's Centennial Park beginning at 12- noon. Mehra said the protest will include the involvement from people from across eastern Ontario from Perth to Brockville and west to Quinte West and the Peterborough region. "We're asking community volunteers, residents, nurses, and medical staff to be there. It's extremely important," said Mehra. Trenton Memorial isn't the only small hospital that's being hit.
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  • "Hospitals across the Southeast LHIN face a devastating restructuring plan that's all about cuts and centralizing services," said Mehra. Mehra described relocating complex continuing care beds to TMH as nothing more than a smokescreen. Retaining cataract surgery at TMH is also misleading. "The plan is to elimin
  • ate cataract surgeries at hospitals and move the service to private clinics," she same. The same goes for complex continuing care beds. Mehra said the ultimate plan is to relocate those beds to facilities outside hospitals. "Another kicker is losing half the acute care beds at TMH," said Mehra.
  • Mehra said other hospital across the province are, and have faced, a similar pattern to what's taking place at TMH. She also noted that hospitals in Ontario are chronically under-funded compared to other provinces. Mehra said hospitals in Welland, Fort Erie, Port Colborne, Niagara on the Lake and Niagara Falls are being gutted and face possible closure. Hospitals in those communities are part of the Niagara Health System.
  • "The first phase includes removing, diagnostics, surgical services and acute care beds, followed by replacing emergency rooms with urgent care centres," said Mehra. The final phase is closure. Mehra said amalgamated hospital systems have never worked. She used Quinte Health Care and the resulting yearly service cuts at TMH as a prime example.
  • "The current funding model has never worked. It means those hospitals face deficits every year. Virtually all hospital are under stress because the plan is to reduce the scope of services, resulting in the fact that residents will have to travel a lot further," said Mehra. The end result is that smaller hospitals inside large amalgamations are being "completely" gutted. But the local community, said Mehra, shouldn't give up hope. The Coalition has kept a watchful eye on Quinte West and Brighton, and its community hospital.
  • "Our TMH has done a fantastic job of generating great ideas that are constructive. They have great integrity and have done a great job of rallying the community," said Mehra. On that front, Mehra said the idea of a one-stop health centre and community operated hospital with inpatient beds has the potential to provide a "robust" range of care to tens of thousands of residents. Mehra said a proposed veteran's care centre is a natural extension of that plan. The idea has received attention from national party leaders during the federal election campaign.
  • But is that enough to convince the province, and those bureaucrats in charge at the LHIN and QHC? Ultimately, said Mehra, it depends on how hard the community pushes its agenda. De-amalgamating from larger hospital corporations wouldn't be precedent setting.
  • Mehra said smaller hospitals in Georgetown and St. Joe's Island (near Sault Ste. Marie) have successfully divorced from larger corporations. "But it's up to the community to raise a huge stink with the province and present a good plan," said Mehra. Mehra suggested Trenton Memorial, if it were locally owned and operated, form a coalition with other independently run hospitals such as Napanee, Campbellford or Northumberland.
  • "The bottom line is people have to fight for what they want. They have to stand up and be heard," said Mehra. Local organizers want that fight to continue in Trenton on Nov. 13. -The Trentonian
Govind Rao

Address huge public health coverage gaps - Infomart - 0 views

www.fpinfomart.ca/doc/doc_display.php?key=pr|246243|gumr|20151015|231429264

from heather Ontario determinants pharmacare medicare

shared by Govind Rao on 15 Oct 15 - No Cached
  • Guelph Mercury Thu Oct 15 2015
  • It's time to tackle root causes of health inequities As Canadians, we are justifiably proud of our publicly funded health-care system. It is, arguably, the single-most powerful expression of our collective will as a nation to support each other. It recognizes that meeting shared needs and aspirations is the foundation on which prosperity and human development rests. We can all agree that failing to treat a broken leg can result in serious health problems and threats to a person's ability to function. Yet, we accept huge inequities in access to dental care and prescription drugs based on insurance coverage and income. Although the impacts can be just as significant, dental care isn't accessible like other types of health care, and many Canadians don't receive regular or even emergency dental care. Many others have no insurance coverage for urgently needed prescription medications and may delay or dilute required doses due to financial hardship.
  • Demand for dental care among adults and seniors will only increase as the population continues to grow in Ontario. From 2013 to 2036, Ontario's population aged 65 and over is projected to increase to more than four million people from 2.1 million. It is time all Canadians had access to dental care. This necessitates federal and provincial leadership in putting a framework together to make this possible. Dental health problems are largely preventable and require a comprehensive approach for all ages that includes treatment, prevention, and oral health promotion.
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  • Low-income adults who do not have employer-sponsored dental coverage through a publicly funded program - and most don't - must pay for their own dental care. Because the cost is often prohibitive, too many adults avoid seeking treatment at dental offices. Instead, they turn to family doctors and emergency departments for antibiotics and painkillers, which cannot address the true cause of the problem. In 2012, in Ontario alone, there were almost 58,000 visits to Ontario hospital emergency rooms due to oral health problems. Why is access to dental care essential now?
  • A person's oral health will affect their overall health. Dental disease can cause pain and infection. Gum disease has been linked to respiratory infections, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, poor nutrition, and low birth weight babies. Poor oral health can also impact learning abilities, employability, school and work attendance and performance, self-esteem, and social relationships. It is estimated that 4.15 million working days are lost annually in Canada due to dental visits or dental sick days. Persons with visible dental problems may be less likely to find employment in jobs that require face-to-face contact with the public.
  • Why is there such a difference in coverage? In short, dental care and pharmacare were not included within the original scope of Canada's national system of health insurance (medicare), and despite repeated evidence of the need to correct this oversight, is still not covered today. Instead, we are left with a patchwork of private employer-based benefits coverage, limited publicly funded programs, and significant out-of-pocket payments for many. Publicly funded dental programs for children and youth do exist for low-income families, including the dependents of those on social assistance. Most provinces and territories have some access to drug coverage, mostly for seniors and social assistance recipients, and there is some support for situations where drug costs are extremely high.
  • Pharmaceutical coverage in Canada remains an unco-ordinated and incomplete patchwork of private and public plans - one that leaves many Canadians with no prescription drug coverage at all. This has many negative consequences including: Three million Canadians cannot afford to take their prescriptions as written. This leads to worse health outcomes and increased costs elsewhere in the health-care system.
  • One in six hospitalizations in Canada could be prevented through improved regulation and better guidelines. Medicines are commonly underused, overused, and misused in Canada. Two million Canadians incur more than $1,000 a year in out-of-pocket expenses for prescription drugs. The uncontrolled cost of medicines is also a growing burden on businesses and unions that finance private drug plans for approximately 60 per cent of Canadian workers. Canada pays more than any comparable health-care system for prescription drugs. We spend an estimated $1 billion on duplicate administration of multiple private drug plans. Depending on estimates, we also spend between $4 billion and $10 billion more on prescription drugs than comparable countries with national prescription drug coverage plans.
  • Affordable access to safe and appropriate prescription medicines is so critical to health that the World Health Organization has declared governments should be obligated to ensure such access for all. Unfortunately, Canada is the only developed country with a universal health care system that does not include universal coverage of prescription drugs. From its very outset, Canada's universal, public health insurance system - medicare - was supposed to include universal public coverage of prescription drugs. The reasoning was simple. It is essential to deliver on the core principles of "access," "appropriateness," "equity" and "efficiency." Building universal prescription drug coverage into Canada's universal health-care system, based on the above principles, is both achievable and financially sustainable.
  • A public body - with federal, provincial and territorial representation - would establish the national formulary for medicines to be covered. This body would negotiate drug pricing and supply contracts for brand-name and generic drugs. Importantly, it would use the combined purchasing power of the program to ensure all Canadians receive the best possible drug prices and thereby coverage of the widest possible range of treatments. To patients, the program would be a natural extension of medicare: when a provider prescribes a covered drug, the patient would have access without financial barriers.
  • To society, universal access to safe and appropriately prescribed drugs and access to dental care will improve population health and reduce demands elsewhere in the health system. The single-payer system will also result in substantially lower medicine costs for Canada. In short, Canada can no longer afford not to have a national pharmacare program and a national dental care program. Disclaimer: The Guelph and Wellington Task Force for Poverty Elimination is a non-partisan organization. However, the poverty task force does have ties with two Guelph federal party candidates. Andrew Seagram, the NDP candidate, is a current member of the task force and Lloyd Longfield, the Liberal candidate, is a past member.
healthcare88

Canada's top doctor says family violence are 'staggering' - Macleans.ca - 0 views

www.macleans.ca/...family-violence-are-staggering

violence women

shared by healthcare88 on 25 Oct 16 - No Cached
  • Report finds that every day, about 230 Canadians reported being victims of family violence
  • October 21, 2016
  • Chief Public Health Officer Dr. Gregory Taylor is pictured during a press conference
  • ...3 more annotations...
  • TORONTO – Physical abuse, sexual abuse, emotional abuse and murder — family violence is a pervasive but often hidden reality within Canadian society, says the country’s top doctor, who calls the scope of the problem “staggering.”
  • In 2014, the latest year for which statistics are available, almost 58,000 girls and women were victims of family violence, said Taylor, Canada’s chief public health officer.
  • Every four days, one woman in Canada was killed by a family member; every six days, a woman was killed by an intimate partner; while a man was murdered by a partner every 23 days.
Heather Farrow

Referendum on agenda; Health coalition to introduce effort to save local hospitals - In... - 0 views

www.fpinfomart.ca/...245347159

Ontario coalition hospital cuts campaign

shared by Heather Farrow on 22 Apr 16 - No Cached
  • Welland Tribune Fri Apr 22 2016
  • A provincewide referendum could make it "politically impossible" to close hospitals, says an Ontario Health Coalition board member. Doug Allan said a referendum the coalition is planning will "make it so that these cuts, and the threatened closure of the Port Colborne hospital, can be stopped - to make it politically impossible for that to happen." Allan, a Toronto area resident, told a group of about 80 people at the Guild Hall in Port Colborne Wednesday night that "saving your hospital will be like a beacon for the rest of the province of what a community can do that stands up for it."
  • Niagara Heath Coalition chair Sue Hotte said details about a referendum will be released during a media conference Monday, but the initiative will include ballot boxes set up in public locations in communities across Ontario, such as businesses, municipal offices and physician clinics and workplaces. Although petitions bearing tens of thousands of signatures submitted to the provincial government in recent years have failed to stop the province's plans for Niagara hospitals, Hotte said the scope of the referendum should allow it to garner far more response. Hotte said it will have a profound impact on the provincial government.
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  • Allan said similar provincewide campaigns have had significant impacts in the past, such as stopping health-care privatization plans. He said the most recent referendum the Ontario coalition organized pertained to allowing private clinics to conduct some hospital surgeries, "and we collected 100,000 votes on an issue that I don't think is quite as well known as the cuts to our hospitals." "This is a much bigger issue, and I think we can get an even bigger vote," Allan said. "We need to collect the votes, send them offto the legislature, we need to do it collectively right across the province and send a very loud message. I think we can send an extremely loud message in Port Colborne because of the circumstances that we're looking at here." The meeting was organized to discuss the provincial government's plans to close hospitals in Port Colborne, Welland and Fort Erie and replace them with a single new hospital in Niagara Falls.
  • Niagara Health System in an e-mail to The Tribune Tuesday said Angela Zangari, executive vice-president and project lead, and NHS president Suzanne Johnston "have been across all NHS sites over the past few weeks sharing the preferred designs for a new south hospital at Lyons Creek and Montrose roads and a new ambulatory care/urgent care and longterm care development in Welland at King and Third streets. "We believe it is important to share information with our staff, many of whom have been engaged in planning activity for the projects. "Dr. Johnston is committed to working with staffto discuss planning on a regular basis. In addition she will be continuing to meet with community leaders to plan forward." At Wednesday' night's coalition meeting, several residents shared concerns about access to health-care services, including Aubrey Foley. "I don't want to offend anyone from Welland, but I live in Port Colborne, my hospital is in Port Colborne and this is where it should remain," the 71-year-old said.
  • He said his city of 19,000 people has a "deplorable walk-in service for health care." "It is not acceptable. There is no reason for it to be the way it is today," he said, while noting Dunnville, a town of 11,000 people, has a "fully functional hospital with free parking." "If Dunnville can do that, we can do this very easily," Foley said. Former mayor and regional councillor Bob Saracino said he will do whatever he can to save the Welland hospital, but the community must also work together to keep the urgent care centre running in Port Colborne. "When it comes to health, we must be one," he said.
  • Saracino said health care "is not a privilege, but it is a fundamental right that we have under the Canada Health Act." While Hotte said she agrees Niagara Falls needs a new hospital, "it should not be at the expense of people in Port Colborne, Welland, Wainfleet, Pelham - over 94,000 people losing access to hospital services." "No way! We need to keep the hospitals open and access to services," Hotte said.
  • About 80 people attend Wednesday night's meeting at Guild Hall about the planned closure of Port Colborne hospital. • Photos By Allan Benner, Tribune Staff / Ontario Health Coalition board member Doug Allan speaks at a meeting to discuss efforts to save Port Colborne hospital.
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