The Future of Healthcare in Canada: The Influence and Role of Nurses and Their Professional Groups in the Recommendations in the Romanow Report.

The Future of Healthcare in Canada: The Influence and Role of Nurses and Their Professional Groups in the Recommendations in the Romanow Report.

This is a 21 page paper discussing how nursing as a professional group may influence the changes and recommendations in the Romanow report for the future of health care in Canada. On November 28, 2002, Roy Romanow and the Commission on the Future of Health Care in Canada released its final report. This report highlights recommendations in key areas in health care including Medicare; issues in primary health care; prevention and promotion; key measurement tools through the development of the Health Council of Canada; innovation and delivery through information technology; access for rural and remote communities; homecare; prescription drugs; and, Aboriginal health among many other factors and includes funding commitments for these recommendations. The nursing associations across Canada including representatives from the Registered Nurses Association of Ontario (RNAO) and the Canadian Federation of Nurses’ Unions (CFNU) have supported the Romanow Report as a “remarkable blueprint for building Medicare’s second generation and strengthening the public’s access to nurses” as well as the reforms which “will shorten waiting time and improve care” overall. The professional nursing groups have an active interest in all aspects of the Romanow report which not only broadens the roles and responsibilities of the nurses in Canada but increases the number of programs which will be affiliated with nursing. Most important in regards to nurses’ roles in the recommendations of the report are those which relate to measurement outcomes from an administrative and informative approach; those which relate to various commitments to innovations within the industry and primary care access; homecare access; and the new legislation proposed in regards to the entire health human resources. Bibliography lists 17 sources.