MultiCare Good Samaritan nurses need a break — literally

On June 21, 2023, the bargaining unit at MultiCare Good Samaritan Hospital in Puyallup overwhelmingly voted by 95% to strike over staffing and break relief.

The strike never took place because in the early morning hours the next day, a tentative agreement was reached. The hospital agreed that the break “buddy system” (in which nurses covered for colleagues during their breaks—effectively doubling their patient assignments) would not be the primary method of providing break relief effective May 1, 2024. Instead, nurses’ breaks would be covered by break nurses.

Three months after the hospital implemented the break nurse shifts, MultiCare broke the agreement.

In July 2024, nurses started reporting that managers told them that break nurse shifts were not available.

In early August 2024, the hospital’s senior leadership unilaterally paused the allotted hours for break nurses, saying the break nurse hours were a financial hardship, and they needed to reassess the financial impact – a clear violation of the contract. 
The hospital said it would have LPNs from the float pool as break nurses for RNs. However, in certain units, LPNs do not have the requisite skills to cover RNs. Also, the hospital also does not have enough float pool LPNs to satisfy the need for break nurses.

WSNA filed a grievance for breach of contract on Aug. 6, 2024, and has taken several actions to get leadership to take notice, including nurses wearing their WSNA T-shirts and “Break for Safety” buttons in solidarity on Fridays.

Six months later, the issue still has not been resolved. The grievance has advanced through the contractual steps and is on its way to arbitration.

More than 300 nurses signed a petition expressing their frustration. The nurses wrote about how hard it is to work without break nurses. 
They also said MultiCare has broken their trust by not following through with a binding agreement.

Below are some of their statements.

• “More than anything I believed in keeping commitments and showing integrity. This is one of MultiCare’s core values, yet it is not being practiced.

You should never expect something from your employees that you are not willing to display. Your nurses have remained committed and loyal during the most turbulent years healthcare has seen. This is a slap in the face.

It’s not so much the break nurse role itself, though it is extremely important and useful, it’s the fact that MultiCare did not keep its word, did not display integrity. It comes across as not really caring about the employees who are the backbone of the organization. It’s a very bad look for MultiCare, a company I have truly loved working for during my many years of service.”

• “MultiCare, This ER is ranked nationally as one of the busiest ERs in the COUNTRY! Please, please, please give us breaks! We are TIRED. I will be forced to leave this job if I continue to feel this way.”
• “MultiCare continues to fail at following through with providing and incentivizing staff to give breaks in accordance with state law. One would think after multiple lawsuits, costing millions of dollars, MultiCare would have learned a lesson. So much for stewardship or acting in good faith on a contract.”

Nurses have handed out fliers telling the public about this contract violation. They have delivered their petition to hospital leadership with hundreds of comments.

For many nurses at MultiCare Good Samaritan Hospital, the hospital cannot be trusted to follow its stated core values of respect, integrity, stewardship, excellence, collaboration, kindness, and joy.

Bobbi Nodell is the marketing and communications manager for WSNA.