Note: Apologies, it has come to our attention that due to a technical difficulty, our Friday newsletter didn't reach several of your mailboxes. We've sorted that issue out now so you can continue to expect our regular updates! We've also included many of Friday's original updates in our
communication below so you won't miss any important news.
Shout out to all the amazing nurses that are delivering care under immense pressure. We can't thank you enough. As we mentioned last week, we know situation is extremely stressful and has an impact on everyone's well-being. To support your self care through this difficult time, we've pulled together some additional resources:
Remember that you're not alone in dealing with this.
Big White Wall– in partnership with Ontario Telemedicine Network (OTN) - is a provincially funded, safe, online peer-to-peer mental health community that is free and accessible to all health care workers. You can also check out Ten Percent Happier's Coronavirus Sanity Guide that includes links to some meditation exercises to help people remain calm and destress during these
stressful times Or try a new class, with the YMCA's recently launched 60 free online classes
WeRPN Guidance for Foot Care Nurses
We have received several questions from foot care nurses about how to continue care during the COVID-19 pandemic. In response, we have developed this guidance memo.
Key Provincial Updates and Resources for Health Professionals
The Chief Medical Officer of Health also issued a new directive to Long-Term Care Homes and reminded Health Care workers who have travelled to self isolate for 14 days following their return.
In an
effort to enhance the supply of essential PPE, Ontario has launched a websiteto act as a central point for businesses and organizations who can supply emergency products and innovative solutions to support our response to Covid-19. In case you missed it, our CEO also sent members a message yesterday about our ongoing advocacy on PPE.
Ontario has issued a temporary order that would give hospitals the ability to cancel and postpone services to free-up space and valuable staff, identify staffing priorities, and develop, modify and implement redeployment plans. Ontario has announced that some
child care centres will open to enable health care and other frontline workers, including doctors, nurses, paramedics, firefighters, police, and correctional officers.
The Ministry of Health updated their guidance documents for the following sectors
On Friday, the Chief Medical Officer of Health (CMOH) issued a directive to Regulated Health Care Providers regarding the need to ramp down elective surgeries and non-emergent activities in order to preserve system capacity to deal effectively with COVID-19.
Last week, we also saw the Ministry
of the Solicitor General announce a number of new measures to limited the spread of COVID-19 in the Correctional system. For more information, we encourage you to visit the Ministry of Health and Public Health Ontario website
Key Federal Updates The Prime Minister announced that the federal government will spend $192 million on the development and production of vaccines and treatments for COVID-19
We will continue to monitor this situation and keep you updated as more information becomes available. Thank you for the important work that you're doing and the sacrifices you're making to keep Ontarians safe. We appreciate everything that
you're doing each and every day.
Should you have any questions or concerns, please contact Tiff Blair at tblair@werpn.com
Sincerely,
WeRPN Team
WeRPN 5025 Orbitor Drive Building 5, Suite 200 Mississauga, Ontario L4W 4Y5
