2024 Washington State Nurses Hall of Fame — Q&A with Lynnette Vehrs

What areas of nursing have you loved?

I really loved psychiatric nursing and cardiac intensive care nursing. Before nursing, I had never been present with someone who was dying. It was quite a privilege and a spiritual moment to be at the bedside.

I was a home care nurse for 18 years. This was another area of self-growth. You had to be brave to knock on the door, not knowing what or who was behind it. However, there were some stellar families you would run into.

What was a great career move?

I knew I wanted to get my master’s degree in nursing. I was 50 years old. I picked up one class, statistics, and applied to the master’s program. It was exciting to learn all these things.

At that point, I thought I wanted to go back into bedside nursing or a hospital to become a program manager. But I didn’t. I had a graduate teaching assistant job. I found that I really enjoyed teaching, so I went into teaching. It was another fun job with personal growth. For one day a week for three hours, I taught a class in Leadership and Management. That meant I did public speaking for three hours at a time. Now, that was a challenge!

Why did you want to be president of WSNA?

I was invited to a WSNA convention and listened to Judy Huntington, who was president of WSNA at the time. She had a great deal of energy and was a very good speaker. I thought, “I want to be her. I want to get up to that podium, talk to people, and inspire them to do things that they thought they never could do.”

What was your term like?

I was president of WSNA for four years: 2019–2023. Soon after my first term started, the pandemic came about.

It was very painful to see what was going on with our nurses. I was so proud of our nurses and WSNA for standing up for themselves and the patients, stating that this is what we need for safe patient care. I was in a TV interview with KOMO-TV in Seattle, and a hospital representative of the Washington State Hospital Association minimized the problem at the hospitals. I said it was like a war zone.

How has nursing changed since you started?

We were wearing caps when I first started. It was truly a sexist atmosphere—however, not in the psychiatric unit, but, yes, in the ICU. We had white uniforms and were excited when we could start wearing color in our uniforms. The uniform was a lot about power and telling nurses how we were supposed to be.

I’m so happy we lost the caps and now nurses are wearing scrubs. The other big change is that nurses are more able to speak up if they see something unsafe.

Do you have some memorable WSNA moments to share?

My biggest growth took place in bargaining for a contract and picketing. I was out of my comfort zone and speaking up. I was inspired by the energy and power of being surrounded by fellow colleagues.

On the picket line with Providence VNA, I had to push myself into an uncomfortable situation. I really liked our CEO, the managers, and all the nurses. It wasn’t easy to turn up the anger and resentment. While at the bargaining table, I wanted to be one of the nurses to tell our story. That was cathartic.

Do you have advice for young nurses?

Be honest. Have humility. I remember early on, working in a cardiac unit, another nurse asked me, “Lynnette, did you give this patient their medication?” I said, “I think so.” The nurse said, “You don’t have to lie.” So I said, “I think I forgot.” That one situation I carried through my career. You must tell the truth. You lose credibility and respect if you don’t. Ask for help. Your colleagues need to trust you.

What’s next for you?

I am going to continue fighting for universal healthcare. My husband is also very active in this healthcare system change. We are working to obtain universal healthcare for this state. The federal government is not moving forward, but about 11 states are working on this. Washington [and] Oregon are the closest to attaining universal healthcare, along with California, Colorado, and Massachusetts.

My interest in universal healthcare goes back to being a nurse in a Norwegian hospital for two years and seeing how universal healthcare works there. I will never forget working as a home health nurse and an insurance company called about one of my diabetic patients. They said she had been getting home healthcare for way too long and needed to have her family learn how to change her dressings. She had no family in town. Her consequences were an amputated leg six to eight months later. Many needless events occurred due to various insurance companies calling the shots for a patient care plan. Once again, I must speak out for fairness in the system.