Registered nurses push for wage parity in annual ‘Take Your MPP to Work’ event

The Registered Nurses Association of Ontario (RNAO) said it wants better pay for those working in community nursing.

It was one of the messages delivered to provincial politicians Wednesday in a “Take Your MPP to Work” event at London’s InterCommunity Health Centre.

“There’s a lot of burnout in terms of carrying the burden of sometimes big, serious problems like our housing crisis, our opioid poisoning crisis,” said RN Karima Cassidy, who works at the Centre. “We see that day after day, and that can really wear on you.”

According to RNAO Middlesex Elgin Chapter President Janet Hunt, there is a 10 per cent to 15 per cent wage difference between nurses who work in acute care settings like hospitals and those who work in community care settings. The gap is even larger when compared with private clinics. She said the RNAO wants wage parity.

“Let’s face it; we all have mortgages, so people tend to go to the job that is better paying. It would be nice to see community nurses paid what their value is,” she said.

London Fanshawe NDP MPP Teresa Armstrong said if we don’t properly fund the health system now, including at the community care level, then we’ll end up paying more in the long run.

“The work that’s being done in healthcare, when it comes inter-health community centres, is just as valuable, if not more significant to the health of people who are in very vulnerable populations,” she said.

Elgin Middlesex London PC MPP Rob Flack also attended the event.

He said he’s in favour of closing the wage gap.

“Home care, long-term care are every bit as important as acute care, and we need to fix that,” he said. “Our VONs, for instance, why are these nurses paid less? We need to do something more, and I’m going to be advocating for that.”

In addition to wage parity, RNs also want the ability to prescribe some medications. It’s seen as a measure that could help ease the doctor shortage, and help patients where and when they need help, according to Hunt.

“So that these nurses in the community would have more independence in prescribing some small medications that our patients may need,” she said.

There’s currently an RN prescribing bill before the Ontario government.

The government recently expanded the responsibilities of pharmacists to prescribe some medications.