Remember to vote
A friendly reminder from the WSNA-PAC Board that Washington state’s Primary Election is Tuesday, August 6 – no postage is required to mail your ballot! The WSNA-PAC has endorsed candidates in two special election legislative races.
News
Interview with Matthew McGuire, St. Joe’s RN, on why he has “no reservations” recommending the TA
Bargaining team member Matthew McGuire: "This TA gives us a strong contract that I have no reservations recommending."
Sometimes walking is the last option to improve patient care
St. Joseph’s-Tacoma nurses and others consider their options in light of administrative inaction.
Cutting corners on RN benefits and working conditions proves costly for St. Joseph Medical Center-Tacoma
Nurse turnover at SJMC is, for lack of a better word, obscene, and incredibly costly.According to WSNA membership data, SJMC turned over 276 nurses in 2017, and 248 in 2018. This comes out to a turnover rate of 24.2% and 20.9% each year, respectively – rates much higher than national averages.
Member post: SJMC nurses demand better
Why nurses demand and deserve better than what St. Joseph Medical Center-Tacoma has offered.
When you’re there in body, but not in mind
Presenteeism is when someone is physically at work, but not fully engaged or performing. As nurses, we have a lot going on both at work and outside of work, and these things (like our work environment and our own health and well-being) can affect our ability to be fully present at work.
Election results
You voted and the results are in. Here are the people who will serve in elected positions during WSNA's 2019-2021 biennium.
Research exploring nursing delegation
Nurse delegation, unlike general delegation, is a specific process within nursing under the Washington Administrative Codes. It is focused on assigning care tasks to be performed by long-term care workers within certain settings, under the management of a registered nurse, called a nurse delegator.
New nursing workforce data sheds a light on supply and demand in an increasingly changing health care landscape
The Washington Center for Nursing, the state’s nursing workforce center, has released several new reports that give insight into the changing nursing workforce in the state.
Incident (occurrence) reporting: a cornerstone for safety and quality improvement
Incident reporting is a powerful source of information. When used effectively, it provides a factual description of an adverse event or near miss that supports learning, safety and improved care quality. Most health care entities utilize an electronic incident reporting system to identify opportunities for improvement.
Incrementalism: bad or good?
What is incrementalism? Merriam-Webster defines it as a policy or advocacy of a policy of political or social change by degrees: gradualism. Why do we as nurses need to be aware of incrementalism? Because it’s a double-edged sword and it can cut deep.
Washington nurses support MNA as it pickets for safety
Minnesota nurses, 4 years after passing a comprehensive workplace violence law and 3 years after obtaining security guards in the ED, are on the picket lines at Children’s, United, Methodist, North Memorial, Healtheast, Fairview, and Abbott-Northwestern hospitals. They’re asking their employers for paid time off after incidents of violence occur, and before workers compensation coverage kicks in.
Can a nurse walk off the job to protest unsafe working conditions?
As a general matter, the law does not afford employees the right to walk off the job because of unsafe conditions in the workplace. However, a situation may arise in which a nurse is confronted with an immediate choice between not performing an assignment or being subjected to a real risk of serious injury or death arising from a hazardous workplace condition.
On-the-job injury: What you need to know
Each employer has a duty to provide a workplace that is free of known dangers that may harm employees. Like all workers, you have the right to working conditions that are free of known health and safety hazards.
Beverly Smith memorial service August 10
The memorial service for Beverly Smith is set for Saturday, August 10th at 10am at Holy Rosary Catholic Church. 4139 42nd Ave SW, Seattle, WA 98116.
Candidate profiles and statements for 2019 WSNA elections
Learn about the people who are running for elected office during WSNA's 2019-2021 biennium.
Governor Inslee proclaims May 6-12 Nurses Week in Washington state
Washington Governor Jay Inslee has proclaimed May 6-12 Nurses Week in our state! The theme for this year’s National Nurses Week is 4 Million Reasons to Celebrate—a nod to nurses’ sheer numbers. Here in Washington state, we have more than 100,000 reasons to celebrate!
Hear all about it – latest report on Rest Break Settlement implementation
The latest report on the Rest Break settlement with St. Joseph Medical Center - Tacoma
State cites and fines St. Joseph Medical Center Tacoma for serious safety violations
The state Department of Labor and Industries on April 11 cited and fined St. Joseph Medical Center Tacoma for safety violations related to a series of attacks on nurses at the hospital. L&I’s Division of Occupational Safety and Health launched an investigation at the request of WSNA after a patient in the psychiatric unit assaulted numerous nurses in October 2018.
St. Joseph’s Tacoma nurses fight for themselves and their patients
As nurses across the country unite and advocate for their profession, St. Joseph’s Tacoma nurses are doing the same for themselves and their patients as they fight the good fight for safe staffing – and against incredibly unsafe, management mandated “alternative staffing.”
It's on us to continue #BeyondTheCards
The collective voice of 4 million nurses have spoken, and they have been heard: the Washington state breaks and overtime protections bill has passed, without the bad amendments, and is on its way to the Governor. But we are not finished. We invite you to join us in our Facebook group #Beyondthecards in order to continue the momentum and nurse advocacy that has sustained the passage of our breaks and overtime protections bill.
It’s about nurses’ voices
As nurses around the country watch to see if Washington’s legislature will pass urgently needed breaks and overtime protections, we are reminded of the power nurses have owning our profession.
Senator states that nurses “probably play cards for a considerable amount of the day” in amending rest breaks bill
In perhaps one of the most demeaning statements on the nursing profession since Joy Behar’s 2015 “doctor’s stethoscope” comments on The View, Washington State Senator Maureen Walsh proclaimed on the Senate floor that Critical Access Hospital nurses should be exempt from protections in mandatory overtime because they sit around and play cards most of the day.
Margarita López Prentice, RN 1931 - 2019
Margarita López Prentice, former state legislator, longtime WSNA member and inductee in the Washington State Nurses Hall of Fame, passed away quietly in her sleep of natural causes at her home in Bryn Mawr-Skyway, Washington on April 2, 2019. She was 88 years old.