The head of the Ontario Nurses Association says Bluewater Health nurses will no longer be forced to wear surgical masks during flu season if they don't get a flu shot.
After 18 days of hearings, arbitrator Jim Hayes struck down a controversial "Vaccinate or Mask" policy introduced at many Ontario hospitals.
ONA President Linda Haslam-Stroud says Bluewater Health was one of the 30 hospitals that was "coercing" nurses into wearing masks if they had not taken the influenza vaccine.
She says this will come as a relief to many nurses.
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Hayes found the policy to be unreasonable, "coercive" and that the unfitted mask was not an effective measure for patient safety.
Haslam-Stroud hopes the remaining 12 hospitals will also read and abide by the decision.
