Premier meets with York University nursing students.
Premier Dalton McGuinty met with York University nursing students on Monday.
Staff photo/DAN PEARCE
To kick-start National Nursing Week and highlight the province's announcement to introduce another 14 nurse practitioner-led clinics in Ontario, Premier Dalton McGuinty dropped in on a group of nursing students at York University Monday, May 10.In a room set up like a hospital or clinic, McGuinty went from bed to bed chatting with students practicing different medical procedures before sitting down for a round-table discussion with undergraduate nursing students and graduate students in the nurse practitioner program. Nurse practitioners are able to treat common illnesses and injuries and order lab tests, X-rays and other diagnostic tests. They can also refer patients to specialists. The government announced Monday it is accepting applications to create 14 more nurse practitioner-led clinics, with a goal of having 25 such clinics by 2012. The first 11 clinics are scheduled to begin opening this month.It was a folksy McGuinty who sat down with students to discuss nursing issues."I want to take this opportunity to thank you for pursuing with passion a career in nursing," he said. "Yours is a calling."McGuinty, who studied biology and once fancied a career in medicine, praised nurses for their compassion as well as their knowledge and skills, pointing out nursing has evolved considerably since 1949 when his mother graduated as a nurse.He got a laugh when he repeated a story his mother had told him about a colleague being ordered to write out 500 lines when she failed to cut up a patient's grapefruit properly.McGuinty said his government has increased the ranks of nursing students entering the profession. For example, last year, 2,910 students graduated from Ontario nursing programs, up from 1,647 graduates in 2005.He also stressed the need to rein in health care costs while continuing to provide quality care. Twenty years ago, 32 cents of every dollar the province spent on services went to health care. That is up to 46 cents today and threatens to hit 70 cents in 12 years in response to the aging population if something isn't done. Nurse practitioner-led clinics and the province's proposed and controversial prescription drug reforms will help keep a lid on health care costs, McGuinty said.Meanwhile, students shared their stories about why they are studying nursing."Nursing chose me," said Crystal Van Leeuwen, who decided on her career while holding a girl infected with HIV during a trip to a Thailand clinic.Deana Ruddell Thomson said she was a retail manager in Walkerton when the tainted water tragedy struck a decade ago."I felt helpless watching friends and family becoming ill and I didn't have any power," she said.Thomas McCormick said he will be working on a placement in Toronto before heading to Northern Ontario to help more remote communities.Several international students told McGuinty how thrilled they were to be able to study nursing in Ontario.The premier told the students that they have chosen an important career."You can really sense the passion and idealism here. It is a privilege to work as a nurse and to lay hands on another person," he said."Nurses give expression to that noble spirit everywhere. We know it is right to care for people."