Fight with Erin: Feminist is one F-word we haven’t claimed

We often hear that people love nurses, but they don’t really get how much we know and how our skills make the difference.

The truth is that people see our nursing and health-care work, and by extension us, as menial and in the background, not central to health care.

It’s a tough truth, but one we need to face if we want to change things. 

And, I can tell you firsthand, we do. ONA members and our workforces are changing. We are standing up for ourselves and no longer taking crap from our governments, employers or anyone who tries to put us in our place.  

What is that place anyway? The menial, silent servant who follows the doctor’s orders? The reality is that nurses and health-care professionals are often as marginalized as ever. 

Nurses and health-care workers are the most respected, yet most disrespected professions. 

We are the most respected, yet we are assaulted every day. 

We are most respected, yet our pay is not fair or equal. 

We are the most respected, but we had to beg for PPE during the global pandemic.

We are the most respected, but our government targets us with a wage cut law.

If we are so respected, why are we treated so differently? Male-dominated professions like police or firefighters don’t have to beg for the PPE they need. They didn’t have their wages suppressed by Bill 124. They don’t get told to suck it up if someone assaults them. 

That fact that our professions (and care work in general) are female-dominated seems to matter in how we are treated. And we all face that treatment, regardless of our own gender, though it manifests differently depending on who we are, where we work and other factors.

We all know what it means to be paid poorly, overworked, disrespected, face violence and abuse and then be blamed for it. We know what it means to be told our jobs are a calling and not the hard, complicated work we know them to be. 

Why do we put up with it? Many just leave, retiring early or starting new careers. And many of us are still scared: scared of our colleges, employers, the government. I wonder, if we weren’t scared any more, what would we do? 

There is incredible resistance when nurses and health-care professionals speak up – almost like we are a threat.

In my years as an emerge nurse, charge nurse, mentor, I have stood up dozens – no, maybe hundreds of times. I’ve questioned the doctor’s orders, I’ve demanded respect, and I’ve received it, most of the time.

I know of many members who overcame their fear to question the treatment they faced. We often do it for our patients, willing to be the lone dissenting voice.

Even though it doesn’t feel like it, we all have power. We need to use it, and not just for those we care for. You may feel we don’t have the freedom to express yourself because of the climate of fear and the discrimination we face. 

But I’ve come to realize that if we want to really change things, we have to stop letting this oppressive ideal hold us back. 

We are professionals, even when we fight. Especially when we fight. That fight must include pushing back against the sexism and oppression we face in our work. We have to give ourselves permission to be activists, to be fighters, to be feminists.

Feminist – that’s one F-word we have yet to claim, despite all the clear evidence that shows it’s necessary.

I’m ready to take up this fight. 

Who’s with me?

Fight. That’s what ONA members do. You fight in the streets for causes you shouldn’t have to. You fight for quality care for your patients, residents and clients. You fight for your workplace rights. You fight for respect. As your ONA Provincial President, I'm fighting right alongside you, offering words of inspiration and motivation in your quest for better. Because after all, when we fight together, we are unstoppable.