RNAO extends heartfelt congratulations to Mark Carney on being elected prime minister of Canada. Your leadership embodies a hopeful and respectful vision for a sustainable and shared future. We are inspired by your words on April 29 – “Together, we will build a Canada worthy of our values. We will build Canada strong, Canada free, Canada forever.”

Prime Minister Carney, we are eager and ready to work together to transform these words into reality. As registered nurses, nurse practitioners, and nursing students, we are committed to partnering with you to:

• Strengthen our public health-care system, including primary care, pharmacare, and dental care.
• Expand social programs, including child care.
• Massively build affordable and accessible, non-market housing.
• Tackle the climate emergency and accelerate the transition to a decarbonized economy.
• Undertake transformational action on wealth inequality, social inequities, division and intolerance.
• Advance truth and reconciliation.

We are inspired by your commitment to building a better future, and we stand ready to help make this vision a reality.

On behalf of our 54,500 members, we offer our full support for a journey of transformational leadership.

NP Lhamo Dolkar,
RN(EC), MN, CCN
President, RNAO

Dr. Doris Grinspun,
RN, BScN, MSN, PhD, LLD(hon), Dr(hc), DHC, DHC, FAAN, FCAN, O.ONT
CEO, RNAO

For a limited time, RNs and NPs in Ontario can enjoy all the benefits of being an RNAO member for only $100. RNs and NPs working 15 hours or less per week can join for only $87.83. Both memberships include professional liability protection (PLP) – mandatory to practise in Ontario – and are valid until Oct. 31, 2025.

As we wrap up another academic year, we want to help you stay informed, inspired and connected over the summer. For a limited time, undergraduate nursing students and internationally educated nurses (IEN) can join RNAO for FREE, valid through Oct. 31, 2026.  

It’s almost time to celebrate National Nursing Week (May 12-18, 2025)! RNAO and its chapters, regions without chapters and interest groups have an exciting lineup of free events – there is something for every nurse and nursing student! 

This year's theme is Celebrating nursing action & impact. RNAO is proud to recognize all nurses for the quality of care they provide to patients, clients and long-term care residents. From the bedside to the classroom and the boardroom, nurses make Ontario, our country and the world a healthier place.

Help guide the future of your professional association with One member, one vote. Voting opens for all RN and NP members of RNAO on May 13 at 12 p.m. (noon) ET and closes on May 29 at 12 p.m. (noon) ET. 

Results will be announced at RNAO’s 100th Annual General Meeting on May 30. Don’t miss out – register now.

This month, RNAO’s president and CEO were featured in media stories related to a primary care announcement, RNAO’s federal election ad campaign, the launch of a new nursing program, Ontario’s expansion of free trade within Canada and nurses working excessive overtime hours.

Congratulations to all the RNs who are newly registered with the College of Nurses of Ontario (CNO). We’re celebrating with FREE membership to all newly registered RNs. Membership is valid until Oct. 31, 2026.  

You’re eligible if you have:

• graduated from an undergraduate nursing program leading to your initial "RN" registration with the CNO within the past 12 months or plan to graduate in the next three months, or
• satisfied all prerequisites necessary for an internationally educated nurse (IEN) to practise as an RN in Ontario within the past 12 months.

This category includes all the rights and privileges of membership in the regular fee category, including professional liability protection (PLP) – a mandatory requirement to practise in Ontario by the CNO. RNAO thanks Hub International for funding these complimentary memberships. HUB International is RNAO's home and auto insurance partner.

If you are currently an RNAO undergraduate nursing student or IEN associate member and want to upgrade to this category, please email your request to membership@RNAO.ca with the subject heading, “NEW RN MEMBERSHIP UPGRADE” or call RNAO at 1-800-268-7199.

On April 23-24 in Mississauga, RNAO hosted an orientation launch to welcome nine long-term care (LTC) homes and an Indigenous health authority to its world-renowned Best Practice Spotlight Organization® (BPSO®) program. The event featured remarks from RNAO CEO Dr. Doris Grinspun, who is also the founder of the Best Practice Guidelines and BPSO programs, Minister of Long-Term Care and RN Natalia Kusendova-Bashta, as well as presentations from coaches and experienced BPSOs. 

Representatives from the following organizations participated in the two-day event:

• Babcock Community Care Centre (Wardsville)
• Chester Village (Toronto)
• Copernicus Lodge (Toronto)
• H.J. McFarland Memorial Home (Picton)
• IOOF Seniors Home Inc. (Barrie)
• The John M Parrott Centre (Napanee)
• Meighen Health Centre (Toronto)
• North Shore Health Network Long Term Care (Blind River)
• Ritz Lutheran Villa West Perth Village (Mitchell)
• Sioux Lookout First Nations Health Authority (Sioux Lookout) 

For a glimpse of the day, read RNAO’s thread of posts on X.

The Advanced Clinical Practice Fellowship (ACPF) program offers RNs and NPs the opportunity to engage in a focused, self-directed learning experience designed to enhance their clinical expertise, leadership skills, and knowledge in best practice guideline implementation. Participants will receive mentorship from experienced professionals, support from their employing organization and guidance from RNAO. 

This initiative aims to advance nursing knowledge, improve client care and enhance health outcomes across Ontario. 

A new round of ACPFs is now open for proposals. Applications are welcome for fellowships that will take place between Sept. 8, 2025, and Feb. 1, 2026. Fellowships are 450 hours of immersive learning. 

Deadline for proposal submissions: May 23, 2025

RNAO’s annual Take Your MPP To Work (TYMTW) political action event returns during National Nursing Week (May 12-18, 2025) and will continue into the summer months. 

This is a fantastic opportunity to connect with elected officials about your nursing practice and inspire important change. Interested in planning a visit? Contact the executive team of your chapter or region without chapters to put your plan into motion. 

Contact RNAO’s policy team at policy@RNAO.ca with questions.

RNAO’s biggest annual event is coming up May 29-30 at Toronto’s Hilton hotel! Join RNAO’s 100th Annual General Meeting (AGM) to celebrate our profession, as well as the growth and influence of your professional association. The theme fits the occasion: 100 years of action and impact. 

This AGM will feature an interactive history room as well as a time capsule for you to contribute your nursing and RNAO memorabilia. You can also share your nursing story in a video recording – think about a story you’d like to share ahead of AGM. Learn more about the nurses’ stories initiative online. 

View the full agenda online and register for free. Don’t forget to add the President’s Reception to your registration to get the full #RNAOAGM experience. #RNAO100

Members can preview the proposed 2025 resolutions online. 

RNAO recognizes and celebrates members of the 2SLGBTQI+ (Two-Spirit, lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, queer, intersex, and other sexual and gender minorities) community every day and especially during Pride Month which is marked in June.   

We invite everyone to join RNAO and the Rainbow Nursing Interest Group (RNIG) at Toronto’s Pride Parade on Sunday, June 29. For full details and registration, visit the event page. 

Are you in the Hamilton region? Join RNAO's Hamilton Chapter as they come to march in Toronto Pride! 

RNAO will participate in communities across Ontario including Ottawa, Windsor, Sault Ste. Marie, London, Stratford and Milton. 

Need more details? Contact Morgan Hoffarth: mhoffarth@RNAO.ca

Each month, we’ll share a story submitted by an RNAO member about their nursing career. Do you have a nursing story you'd like to share? Email it to mystory@RNAO.ca. Submission guidelines are available online. 

RN Neena Riarh shares her story:

Since the age of 13, I had decided I wanted to be a paediatrician. I loved kids, and I loved science, particularly biology. I got admitted to the Life Science Program at Queen’s University. Two years in, I realized that the long haul of 14 years to become a paediatrician was not for me, specifically since I wanted to have four kids. At this point, I had a crisis. What was I to do? Being a paediatrician was all I had ever thought of. I was admitted to a hospital having experienced a breakdown. 

There, I encountered an incredible nurse. I had been around incredible nurses before, having volunteered at Toronto’s SickKids and other hospitals as a teen. I asked this nurse what she loved about nursing. Her answer made up my mind and I switched into nursing upon being discharged. 

It was the best decision I ever made and I have never looked back! For my placements at Queen’s, I had told my story above and they matched me with only paediatric placements. Having placements in paediatric outpatient and inpatient units and in the community in the Healthy Babies, Healthy Children program in public health. I even did an international placement in Barbados on the obstetrics floor in a hospital. This solidified that being a paediatric nurse is what I wanted to be. 

Starting my career at SickKids (hospital) as a young BScN grad at the age of 24, I worked on a high acuity respirology floor. It was very stressful and we had codes very frequently, but I learned all the clinical skills I ever needed in the one year I was there. I left, having wanted to experience travel nursing for the longest time. 

Travel nursing took me to New Mexico where I worked on an inpatient paediatric floor with an aboriginal population. I encountered fetal alcohol spectrum disorders and abuse cases. My charting on a patient here actually landed in court as it was so detailed the prosecutor stated. Next, I sent to San Diego, California where I worked in a state-run facility for abused and neglected kids aged 0-18. My clinical skills helped send two children to the hospital, one with meningitis and the other with tuberculosis. 

After returning from travel nursing, I enrolled in a Master’s of Nursing Administration Program at the University of Toronto. Here, I learned broad picture and theoretical framework thinking. I also gained recognition of areas of nursing I had never considered, which was public health. I did a placement at Toronto Public Health in the family health division where I supported the policy creation banishing corporal punishment in Toronto. 

After marriage, I also worked in Michigan, in a private paediatric hospital. Here I was faced with patients having to pay for every item used. I also faced a caseload of 10-14 patients to one RN. I left as I told the manager that patient safety was at risk having such a high ratio. 

Upon my return to Toronto, I landed a role at Toronto Public Health. Public health has been my passion for the next decade and more. I have worked in five of the largest public health units (Peel, York, Halton, Toronto and Wellington-Dufferin Guelph). I’ve been a public health nurse in school health, Healthy Babies and Healthy Children and then a manager in school health, school immunization and the COVID-19 vaccination paediatric clinics. 

Throughout my career, I’ve maintained my passion for child health. I’ve held every role possible in nursing and have even been a professor in a Bachelor of Nursing program. I’ve worked in inpatient, outpatient, public health and travel nursing fields. And now I’ve come full circle, after 15 organizations, working as a senior clinical manager at SickKids. Here we are working hard to move the surgical waitlist down after years of delays due to COVID. I have an incredible team of hardworking, motivated and absolutely awe-inspiring nurses. 

My nursing career has been absolutely incredible. I went back to working at the hospital after I heard in the media that droves of nurses, and especially young nurses, were leaving the profession. I came back to inspire the next generation of nurses and to say, being a nurse is the best career in the world. 

P.S. I’ve also been a panel member and facilitator for the RNAO Leadership Series for emerging leaders! I want to give back to the next generation of nurse leaders!

Nurses’ voices matter. RNAO encourages all its members to find opportunities to speak with reporters about the topics that matter most to nursing, health and health care. 

This month, RNAO members were featured in the following stories:

• RN Daria Juüdi-Hope, Kingston Whig-Standard: NDP's Juudi-Hope felt campaign 'went well' despite result
• NP Jennifer Stinson, CHCH: Toronto nurse practitioner researching and treating pain in kids wins Gairdner Award
• RN Erin McLean, Lanark-Leeds Today: What’s good in Lanark-Leeds? Public health talks vaccinations
• RN Martha Faulkner, Peterborough Examiner: Peterborough high schools pilot health unit's drug prevention project
  
• RNs Breanna Barker and Ola Abanta Thomas Obewu, Healthy Debate: Changes to the Canada Health Act could help address Ontario’s health system issues. Will the province be on board?
  

Want to speak with reporters? Complete RNAO’s survey and our communications team will connect with you.

Did you know you can easily download your RNAO membership receipts on MyRNAO? Watch RNAO’s short video on how to retrieve your receipts. 

We hope you enjoyed reading this newsletter. Please take a few moments to share your feedback so we can continue to enhance your experience.