Tens of thousands of internationally educated nurses are currently sitting on the sidelines as hospital emergency rooms in Ontario are near the brink of closure due to staffing shortages. These nurses are being held back by a backlog of nursing registration applications in the province that has been growing for over a decade and has only escalated during the pandemic, according to a recent Registered Nurses’ Association of Ontario (RNAO) report.
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With heat warnings being issued across much of Canada in recent days, first responders say they are concerned about their ability to respond to heat-related emergencies in a timely way amid health systems under the strain of staffing shortages. Ontario paramedics are concerned these problems could be further exacerbated, especially with people avoiding mitigation actions, like visiting a community cooling centre or taking kids to a splash pad, because of recent increases in COVID-19 activity.
With surging demand forcing emergency room closures across the country, front-line physicians say more immediate help is needed before things get worse. Physicians also want policymakers to do more to immediately increase resources not just to emergency departments, but to other areas of health care, such as long-term care and primary care, so people who don’t need to be in an ER can get medical help in a more appropriate venue.
Ontario's top doctor, Dr. Kieran Moore, confirmed the province is in the seventh wave but said the virus is “experiencing a slower trajectory” this time, with the peak expected to be reached in the next two weeks. Moore added that the waves of the pandemic “appear to be coming on an every 90-day basis now” and that his goal is to “prevent any impact of COVID on the healthcare system.”
Amid what many are calling a healthcare crisis, those on the front lines want Canadian premiers, who will gather for their first in-person meeting since 2019, to commit to working collaboratively with the federal government to find tangible solutions. Organizations and individuals are also asking them to develop a national strategy on health human resources.
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