Nurses launch poster campaign as effort to recruit healthcare workers
Associations invite politicians to visit nurses on the job
Wednesday May 14, 2008 -- Natalie Miller
The nursing shortage in Ontario is well-known and the Registered Nurses' Association of Ontario (RNAO) and the Registered Practical Nurses' Association of Ontario (RPNAO) are raising public awareness and recruitment efforts during Nursing Week, May 12 to 18.

The faces of nurses will grace billboards and posters throughout the province to draw attention to the role these healthcare providers play.

More than 1,200 posters will be displayed on Toronto transit subway trains and buses, GO trains and billboards.

Advertisements will also be placed in more than 100 Ontario newspapers. The Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care is also on board in support of this campaign.

“The posters feature real nurses who work with people from the cradle to the grave. The message is simple: whether in public health, primary care, hospitals, home care, rehabilitation or palliative care, nursing offers a world of possibilities,” the RNAO says in a news release.

RNAO President Wendy Fucile says “the richness of opportunity within nursing is extraordinary. Throughout my 30-year career, I've worked in several different sectors, and in many roles including staff nurse, senior administrator and teacher. I know first-hand that this is a field that offers endless and amazing opportunities.”

RPNAO Executive Director Dianne Martin says the campaign is also to express appreciation to the nurses currently working in this province.

“We want all nurses to know that the public values the work that you do,” Martin says. "We need you now more than ever to help keep people healthy, and to care for them when they’re sick.”

According to the RNAO, thousands of nurses are eligible to retire in the next decade, leaving Ontario “hard-pressed to meet the public’s healthcare needs unless efforts are made to retain nurses at work and draw more people into the profession.”

The average age of Ontario’s nursing workforce is 45.9 for RNs and 44.9 for RPNs.

As another activity to raise awareness and promote nursing, the nursing associations are inviting politicians to have a first-hand look at what it takes to be a nurse.

Politicians will be visiting hospitals, long-term care homes and home-care settings.

“Politicians will see how public health nurses are building healthy communities; how nurses in long-term care facilities are improving their residents’ quality of life; what RNs in hospitals are doing each day to help those struggling with acute illnesses; and how nurses are able to provide care so that patients can remain at home with their loved ones,” the RNAO states in the release.

To read more about Nursing Week activities, visit the RNAO website.

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