Washington Nurse news briefs — Fall 2024

WSNA has produced a regular print publication since 1929, when we were known as the Washington State Graduate Nurses Association. What was then known as The Bulletin changed its name in 1939 to the Washington State Journal of Nursing, and in 1983, it became the magazine we know today, The Washington Nurse. This award-winning magazine has been a labor of love, and we have been proud to share news, events, victories, challenges, and nursing advancements in it.

In 2024, the world looks very different than it did in 1929 and even 1983. The pace of events is much quicker, and available tools for communicating with our members have expanded vastly.

Producing a hard-copy magazine and mailing it out to our members consumes considerable resources and makes a significant environmental impact, but beyond that, the pace is very slow. The news in a three-times-a-year magazine is generally old and even outdated by the time it reaches you. As proud as we are of our magazine, it is time for a change.

Thus, this issue is the last regular print edition of The Washington Nurse.

Starting in November, WSNA will produce a monthly email newsletter that will enable us to reach you with much more timely and useful information. We still will include more in-depth features, opinions, and other articles, but we believe that this change will make The Washington Nurse even more relevant and useful for our members.

As we make this shift, we also plan to produce an annual print magazine highlighting significant stories from the past year and summarizing WSNA and our members’ accomplishments.

In this issue, we share some of WSNA’s rich history as reflected in our print publications over the years. We hope you enjoy this retrospective.

Look for our first issue of The Washington Nurse email newsletter in November. We are excited about providing more timely updates, engaging with you more interactively, and significantly reducing our environmental impact.

As always, we will be open to feedback as we make this transition. This is, and will remain, your publication, and we want to ensure that it meets our members’ needs.

— Ruth Schubert, WSNA director of communications

Virginia Mason Medical Center plans to close its downtown Seattle birth center and women’s health clinic in November, The Seattle Times reported Oct. 3.

The birth center on First Hill has delivered more than 1,500 babies since it opened under Virginia Mason Franciscan Health in 2020, but the need for critical care has grown, hospital President Monica Hilt said in a written statement. As of Nov. 16, the hospital’s family birth center and women’s health associates clinic will close and Virginia Mason Medical Center will expand its “critical care capacity,” Hilt said.

Virginia Mason Medical Center’s birth center is one of about five total hospital-based labor and delivery units in the city. Its services include prenatal care, labor and delivery care, lactation consultation, and a range of pain management and birthing methods, with care teams of both OB-GYNs and certified nurse midwives.

Obstetric care will still be available at the hospital system’s other hospitals in Burien, Federal Way, Enumclaw, Tacoma, and Silverdale, Hilt said.

WSNA was quoted in the paper.

“WSNA is very concerned for your fellow staff nurses and about this trend in Washington of hospitals closing their labor and delivery services and the impact on the communities they serve,” the state nurses union said in a website post.

In a separate statement sent to The Seattle Times, WSNA leaders added that they would like to see more regulatory oversight before closing a service line.

“We need to ensure that vital services to Washington’s communities are maintained and that workers and communities receive adequate notice when services are to be closed,” the WSNA statement said. “This closing sharply illustrates that need.

Applications for the next cycle of the ANA Innovation Awards close at 9 p.m. PDT  on Nov. 1, 2024.

These awards offer $25,000 for an individual nurse and $50,000 for a nurse-led team. An honorable mention will be selected from each innovation category.

The awards, sponsored by Stryker, a global leader in medical technology, highlight, recognize, and celebrate nurse-led innovations that improve patient safety outcomes. Awards are presented to a nurse and a nurse-led team whose product, program, project, or practice best exemplifies nurse-led innovation in patient safety and/or outcomes.

Gov. Jay Inslee appointed WSNA member Keondra Rustan, PhD, RN, CHSE, CNE, TNCC, as student regent on the University of Washington Board of Regents. Rustan is also president of the Mary Mahoney Professional Nurses Organization, which was founded in 1949 in Washington state to support African-heritage students pursuing a degree in nursing.

Rustan is a second-year student in the psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner Doctor of Nursing Practice program at the University of Washington. Her work focuses on how healthcare systems can be made more accessible to underserved populations, including those with trauma and substance-use disorders.

“As student regent, my priority is to amplify the voices of our diverse student body, ensuring that every decision we make reflects the needs, aspirations, and potential of our community,” she told WSNA. “Together, we can foster a campus where accessibility, equity, innovation, and inclusion aren’t just ideals but lived realities.”

The American Academy of Nursing announced a distinguished cohort of nurse leaders as its 2024 Fellows, including two from Washington state — WSNA members Patsy Maloney, EdD, RN-BC, NEA-BC, CEN, and Jillian Pintye, RN, MPH, PhD.

The inductees will be recognized for their substantial impact on health and healthcare at the Academy’s annual Health Policy Conference Oct. 31–Nov. 2, 2024, 
in Washington, D.C.

Dr. Maloney is a teaching professor at the University of Washington Tacoma and professor emeritus at Pacific Lutheran University, where she directed the Center for Continued Nursing Learning. 
She served in the Army Nurse Corps for over 20 years in various clinical areas and leadership positions. She is past president of the Association for Nursing Professional Development and currently serves as the editor of the Scope and Standards Column for the Journal for Nurses in Professional Development.

“I am passionate about leadership because one nurse only has two hands with limited reach; leadership extends this reach with and through others, allowing us to improve health for those we serve,” she told WSNA.

Dr. Jillian Pintye is the interim associate dean of research and an associate professor at the University of Washington School of Nursing. She holds a joint appointment in the Department of Global Health at UW and is also a research associate with the Botswana Harvard Health Partnership.

“Mentoring the next generation of nurse leaders and scientists is the joy and passion of my career, particularly those who are committed to building a future where health equity is experienced by all,” she told WSNA.

WSNA held a protest in Spokane Sept. 5 over the closure of the Psychiatric Center for Children and Adolescents Providence Health Care at Providence Sacred Heart Medical Center 
in Spokane.

The protest was carried by many local media, including The Spokesman Review.

Providence has not currently provided reasonable alternative options for these young patients, other than to send them across the state or to the only additional location in Spokane — Inland Northwest Behavioral Health.

At this time, however, Inland Northwest Behavioral Health does not provide care to children 12 years of age and younger and will not take adolescents with physical needs, such as chronic medical conditions, chronic behavioral problems, and neurological disorders.

More than 60 people turned out for the rally.

“Our behavioral health system is not accessible. It’s not there for the patients when they need it, and any time we’re closing doors, it really is a travesty for the community,” WSNA President Justin Gill said at the rally.

Providence entered a joint venture with Universal Health Services, a for-profit chain, to open Inland Behavioral Health, in which Providence holds a 20% stake.

WSNA was one of several affiliates to receive the Pride of the Union Award at the AFT Convention in Houston July 21-25. The award recognizes our growth over the past two years. And WSNA’s Labor Executive Council Chair Edna Cortez received a Living the Legacy Award in recognition of her 30 years of service to WSNA, labor, and women’s rights.