Ontario Registered Nurses Association Sets Minimum Standards for Long-Term Care
![](http://www.cpcml.ca/images2020/COVID-19/200518-Mississauga-CamillaCommunityCareCOVID19Memorialcr.JPG)
Memorial established by families of residents
who had died of COVID-19 at the Camilla Care
Community, a long-term care home in
Mississauga.
On June 5, the Registered Nurses Association
of Ontario (RNAO) threw down the gauntlet to
the government of Ontario, setting out
standards of care that the RNAO deems
necessary for residents of long-term care
facilities. RNAO also declared there is no
need to look any further into what is needed
than the dozens of reports that have already
been written over the past 20 years. The RNAO
statement is posted below.
If the Ontario government is serious about
fixing the long-term care (LTC) system, it must
adopt evidenced-based solutions documented in
numerous reports that have examined the sector's
failings.
RNAO today released a list detailing dozens and
dozens of recommendations in the areas of
staffing and funding made in 35 reports as well
as a public inquiry and a coroner's inquest
looking into the problems in LTC over the past
20 years. The recommendations in these reports
call for more staffing in LTC homes, the proper
skill mix of regulated and unregulated staff to
meet the increasing acuteness, and a funding
model that responds to growing needs.
RNAO compiled Long-Term Care Systemic
Failings: Two Decades of Staffing and Funding
Recommendations[1]
because we are among those who have examined
this issue for years. "We implore the Ministry
of Long-Term Care, the Ministry of Health and
the premier to act NOW. It is disheartening,
exhausting and expensive to continue to study
problems that are known and understood and where
the missing factor is the political will to act
decisively rather than, once again, kick the can
down the road with more commissions and more
reports," says Dr. Doris Grinspun, RNAO's CEO.
"Enough of over-studying and under-acting in
this sector -- we know and the government knows
what needs to be done to improve and save the
lives of LTC residents."
"Premier Ford has vowed to fix the system. He
says there will be accountability. However, as
much as I want to believe him, I have heard
heartfelt words from political leaders before.
Accountability begins at the top and must be
delivered with swift actions. Residents living
in long-term care, along with their families,
and staff can't wait any longer for change. No
study and no words will deliver better care for
residents, only better funding and better
staffing will," Grinspun insists.
RNAO has proposed
a staffing formula that builds on earlier
reports and studies and addresses those needs.
It wants each LTC home resident to receive at
least four hours of direct nursing and personal
care per day, based on a skill mix of regulated
and unregulated care providers. Of those four
hours, 0.8 hours (48 minutes per day) should be
provided by a registered nurse (RN), 1 hour (60
minutes per day) by a registered practical nurse
(RPN), and 2.2 hours (132 minutes per day) by an
unregulated personal support worker (PSW). In
addition, each home should have one nurse
practitioner (NP) for every 120 residents as
well as a nurse specializing in infection
prevention and control.
RNAO explains such a formula is necessary
because about 55 per cent of LTC residents are
85 years or older and 90 per cent of all
residents have some form of cognitive
impairment, including dementia. The majority of
residents in LTC also have complex health needs
including chronic conditions such as heart
disease, diabetes or arthritis -- needs that
require the expert care and skill mix NPs, RNs,
RPNs and PSWs provide.
RNAO's President Dr. Angela Cooper Brathwaite
says a critical deadline is looming. "July 31,
2020 is an important date on the government's
calendar. It's the deadline Justice Eileen
Gillese gave the government to table in the
legislature a detailed report on the adequacy of
regulated staffing in LTC. It was a key
recommendation in her report
The Long-Term Care Homes Public Inquiry
(2019)."
"The July 31 government report gives the
opportunity to Premier Ford to demonstrate he
means action. We need to address staffing and
funding issues in LTC immediately. We don't need
more studies, as the list released by RNAO today
demonstrates. Let us get on with improving the
lives of people, in real ways. We owe residents
in LTC a debt of gratitude for the contributions
they have made during their lives. They should
be able to live with dignity, comfort and love,
and they and their staff should be better
equipped and protected, especially when the
second wave of the pandemic hits," adds Dr.
Cooper Brathwaite.
The Registered
Nurses' Association of Ontario (RNAO) is the
professional association representing registered
nurses, nurse practitioners, and nursing
students in Ontario.
Note
1. To view the full
report, click
here.
This article was published in
![](http://cpcml.ca/WF2019/Articles/WFBanner300.jpg)
Number 41 - June 16, 2020
Article Link:
Ontario Registered Nurses Association Sets Minimum Standards for Long-Term Care
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