MEDIA ADVISORY: Area registered practical nurses to speak in Thunder Bay Monday on why 60% of them are considering quitting

Event Information

Begins: 1 May 2023
Location: Thunder Bay, ON

THUNDER BAY, ON –/COMMUNITWIRE/– On Monday, May 1, 2023 – in advance of this year’s nursing week (May 8 -14), registered practical nurses (RPNs) represented by the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) and SEIU Healthcare will hold a media conference in front of the Thunder Bay Regional hospital to urge the Ford government for an urgent nursing retention plan that would help prevent a repeat of last summer’s record emergency room closures.

In the middle of a health care crisis made worse by short staffing, resignations, burnout, violence and dangerous working conditions that are unsafe for patients, Ontario’s registered practical nurses (RPNs) reveal in a new poll the circumstances driving their exit from the frontline.

The poll of more than 1000 registered practical nurses from across the province was conducted by Nanos Research and chronicles the changing high function role of RPNs in the health system over the period when the Ford government unconstitutionally suppressed their wages and presided over a record number of nursing vacancies.

Full results of the poll data are available upon request.

WHO: 
Dave Verch – RPN and 1^st VP CUPE- Ontario Council of Hospital Unions
Jackie Walker – RPN and Nursing Division President, SEIU Healthcare
Local RPNs from Thunder Bay/northern Ontario

WHAT:
Registered practical nurses talk about unsafe working conditions that impact patient care and release a poll of more than 1000 Ontario frontline RPNs that sheds light on Ontario’s nursing crisis.

WHERE:
Front of the Thunder Bay Regional Health Centre – 980 Oliver Road, Thunder Bay

WHEN: 
Monday, May 1 – 11:00 a.m.

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For information, contact:

Stella Yeadon, CUPE Communication, 416-559-9300, syeadon@cupe.ca

Corey Johnson, SEIU Healthcare, 416-529-8909, c.johnson@seiuhealthcare.ca