Nurses need more protective equipment in COVID-19 fight: Ontario Nurses Association

The Ontario Nurses Association (ONA) is calling on governments to provide more necessary personal protective equipment (PPE) to frontline workers during the COVID-19 pandemic, after hearing from thousands of nurses at two town halls.

Vicki McKenna, the provincial president of the ONA, tells CityNews nursing staff have expressed concern over the level of PPEs they have access to.

“There are nurses that are concerned about the level of protections that they have in their worksites today, and whether there will be enough for when they really need it,” McKenna said. “They are concerned that they have the right equipment when they are caring for people or screening. It’s not clear what is out there, what the protections are in place.”

McKenna tells CityNews the ONA has already starting to hear of healthcare workers who have tested positive for the virus, while others are awaiting test results. It’s unclear how they would have been infected, as the province says it is not tracking data on patient’s jobs, unless necessary.

‘That memory was very raw’: nurses recall SARS

At least half of the nurses currently working in Ontario were also on duty during the SARS crisis, and many remember those who contracted the viral respiratory disease while providing care, including two GTA nurses who later died as a result.

McKenna, who is also a registered nurse, says there were many lessons to be learned, one of them being that those working on the frontlines should speak out when they’re concerned about safety. Though the medical officer of health has established protocols, McKenna says they have concerns based on research that demonstrates the importance of the right level of protective equipment.

The ONA says they aren’t asking for all healthcare workers to be in the full garb of PPEs, but argue that those working in close contact with patients who have been screened for COVID-19 , tested positive or presumed to be infected, should have access to higher levels of respiratory masks.

“This COVID-19 virus is droplet transmission but it can be airborne and can be transmitted that way, and there’s research supporting both sides of it,” McKenna said.

The Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care says that on March 10, the province’s Chief Medical Officer of Health provided an update on the guidelines pertaining to infection prevention and control measures for COVID-19. McKenna says nurses want a higher degree of protection.

At a provincial update Wednesday afternoon, Dr. David Williams was asked about the ONA’s concerns that nurses don’t have the access to proper protective equipment.

“We would ask that they approach the regional table to see about that issue,” Dr.Williams said. “We’ve been trying to work at our regional tables to look at those local needs and see how they can be dealt with.”

The ONA, which represents over 68,000 nurses and healthcare professionals in over 600 locations throughout the province, also adds that for years there’s been a shortage of nursing staff in the province, with hundreds of vacancies up across all healthcare sectors.

Just recently, there’s been a callout for nurses who have left the industry, but still have their license, to get reinstated.