ONA Celebrates Nursing Week 2024
April 15, 2024
During Nursing Week, we celebrate the dedication, expertise, and achievements of registered nurses (RNs), registered practical nurses (RPNs) and nurse practitioners (NPs.) This year, Nursing Week is May 6-12.
Our 2024 Nursing Week theme is "We are not an option. We are a necessity. / Nous ne sommes pas une option. Nous sommes une nécessité."
We know the vital role nurses play in our health-care system, and the risks we all face if we don’t address the need to recruit and retain these highly skilled professionals.
We persist in the face of attacks on our health-care system and our profession. We take on challenges and shortcomings in every sector and still provide safe and quality care for our patients, residents, and clients every day.
This Nursing Week, we demand respect and recognition for Ontario's irreplaceable and invaluable nurses.
Indigenous Nurses Day
During Nursing Week we celebrate Indigenous Nurses Day. Indigenous Nurses Day highlights the achievements of Canada’s First Nations, Inuit and Métis nurses and recognizes their invaluable work improving the health and well-being of Canadians.
Edith Anderson Monture was the first Indigenous registered nurse in Canada. Born in 1890 in Six Nations of the Grand River, the Mohawk woman struggled to be accepted to a Canadian nursing school as First Nations faced involuntary enfranchisement (loss of Indian status) for pursuing higher education. Instead, she studied in New York, where she completed her degree in 1914. She worked as a public health nurse and volunteered for duty as a nursing sister in World War I, eventually returning to Six Nations where she continued to work as a nurse and midwife until the 1960s. Monture is considered a pioneer in Indigenous healthcare in Canada.
Supporting access to high-quality health care for all means supporting and recognizing the unique experiences of the First Nations, Inuit and Métis nurses in our union. ONA strives to create space and support for our Indigenous members through the Members of Indigenous Descent Caucus Group, which meets at our Human Rights and Equity Caucus each year.
