Write an open letter to a media outlet, in order to advocate for better benefits for nurses in Ontario, Canada, comparing the benefits to British Columbia.
Include: Introduction, body and conclusion
My outline:
Topic: Nurses in Ontario should be entitled to free massages
Introduction:
Nurses in Ontario are overworked as there is a staffing crisis (Carayon & Gurses, 2018). Due to this, nurses are under much more physical and mental stress because they must tend to more patients
Nurses are also underpaid in Ontario in comparison to provinces out West such as Alberta and British Columbia
Thus, nurses in Ontario should be entitled to free massages to better their own health
Body
In British Columbia, nurses receive free massages
Due to these two challenges that nurses face, offering free massages may be a big benefit and increase physical and mental health for nurses in Ontario
As students, we are taught all these tricks to prevent back pain, however, working a 12-hour shift with these tips may still cause pain and massages would be a great relief
Massages have many benefits: lower stress, better sleep, boost immunity, improve blood pressure, reduce pain and stiffness (Conrad, 2022) which are all factors that nurses would benefit from a long shift
Firefighters receive free massages in Ontario
Closing
It is important to get this message across to the public and to bigger administrations to make this change.
Nurses care for the population, so the population should care for the nurses as well in return
All provinces across Canada should have equal benefits for healthcare nurses
Audience:
Primary – College of Nurses (CNO), Canadian Nurses Association (CNA) Federal and Ontario government
Secondary – Nurses, nursing students, citizens
Dissemination: School forum, newspapers, online articles
References
Carayon, P., & Gurses, A. P. (2018, April). Nursing workload and patient safety—a human factors engineering perspective. Nih.gov; Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (US). https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK2657/
Conrad, I. (2022, March 22). Benefits of massage therapy. Mayo Clinic Health System. https://www.mayoclinichealthsystem.org/hometown-health/speaking-of-health/benefits-of-massage-therapy
Dogra, A. (2023, April 28). Nurse Average Salary in Canada in 2024. Kochiva. https://kochiva.com/blog/nurse-salary-in-canada/#:~:text=According%20to%20the%20latest%20reports
Duong, D., & Vogel, L. (2023). Overworked health workers are “past the point of exhaustion.” CMAJ, 195(8), E309–E310. https://doi.org/10.1503/cmaj.1096042
