Practical nurses seek bigger role

Ontario’s registered practical nurses are not being used to the best of their abilities, the Ontario Council of Hospital Unions argued here Monday.
The OCHU claims that if the province’s RPNs are allowed to put all of their training to use, the apparent nursing shortage and hospital funding crisis will be avoided.
“We’re saying that basically we think we have found the solution to the nursing shortage,” said OCHU president Michael Hurley.
RPNs from three district hospitals–La Verendrye, Emo, and Rainy River–gathered with union leaders Monday morning at La Place Rendez-Vous to outline what they claim is an unfair situation.
“It’s no secret there’s a nurse shortage in Ontario. In Fort Frances, they have six nurse vacancies and they’re not sure they can fill them,” said Hurley.
He noted that rather than lose acute care beds to Thunder Bay, RPNs could be hired–at lower salaries–or let on-staff RPNs handle more of the tasks they’ve been trained for.
“There are certainly some, but not all hospitals allow the RPNs to fulfill all their roles,” Hurley said. “That would free up the registered nurses for more acute care.”
With a salary difference of nearly $30,000, Hurley said hospital funding problems also would be addressed. “We’re looking at saving [the province] in the area of $300 million a year,” he said.
The RPNs at Monday’s press conference outlined a list of roles they’re trained to take on but which they have not been able to put to use at local hospitals.
“I think it was originally a lack of training, they were trained on-the-job,” noted Carol Hyatt, an RPN at La Verendrye and president of CUPE Local #795.
All RPNs now must take an 18-month course to qualify for the position.
“If you compare the skills list for RNs and RPNs you’ll find a significant overlap,” noted Hurley.
The OCHU’s announcement, being made at communities across the province, follows a survey by the organization of more than 2,000 RPNs issued to determine the use of their skills and time in Ontario’s hospitals.
The OCHU said the survey indicated that RPNs are not being taken advantage of to the full extent of their abilities.
“We’re hoping that we can encourage people in the media and people in the community to ask questions about this,” said Hurley.
“We’re going to the Ontario Hospital Association, we’re going to be up front with this and if the hospitals aren’t going to listen, we will go to the minister of health and say ‘Look, we not only have a problem, I think we have a solution here,’” he added.