Thunder Bay visit by Registered Nurses’ Association of Ontario produced new ideas, says CEO

Representatives of the Registered Nurses’ Association of Ontario (RNAO) visited Thunder Bay this week as part of their annual fall tour.

The tour involved visits to Saint Joseph’s Care Group and Confederation College, interacting with registered nurses, nurse practitioners, nursing students, and others in the field.

“I was thrilled to see the tremendous work that they have done,” says RNAO CEO Doris Grinspun.

Grinspun was shown how nurses in Thunder Bay are adhering to the RNAO’s award-winning Best Practice Guidelines, which are evidence-based practices put forward for use by workers in the field.

Grinspun was most impressed by a new program at St. Joseph’s meant to help integrate internationally educated nurses into Thunder Bay.

“They help them to get housing, which they have arranged in advance for the first six months, and then they walk them through the system,” Grinspun says. “And of course, the goal is that they will stay working at St. Joseph’s, right?”

Grinspun expects the program to be a success, which is important in a field where staff retention and burnout are major issues.

At Confederation College, Grinspun took the opportunity to question nurses on those subjects.

“I was thrilled to hear that many of them want to stay forever in nursing,” Grinspun says. “Do they want changes and improvements and better staffing and compensation, et cetera, absolutely, yes. But they are enamoured with the profession.”

Grinspun says she left Thunder Bay with plenty of new ideas for updating the RNAO’s Best Practice Guidelines.