April 11, 2025
April 7, 2025
Nurses are on the frontlines of caring for patients, including those with COVID-19, and nurses represented by the Washington State Nurses Association have been caring for COVID-19 patients here in Washington state. Nurses feel a tremendous professional and ethical calling to care for every patient, and they are doing just that. We…
March 3, 2020
Symptoms of COVID-19 include fever, cough, and shortness of breath. Senior citizens and people with underlying health conditions or compromised immune systems are at increased risk of severe disease.
The Washington State Nurses Association (WSNA), Washington State Medical Association (WSMA), and Washington Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics (WCAAP), representing more than 30,000 health professionals in the state, today issued a joint statement on the COVID-19 outbreak.
March 2, 2020
The Washington Paid Family & Medical Leave program became effective for Washington employees as of the beginning of this year. This state run program is designed to provide paid leave for employees for instances such as the illness or injury of an employee or employee’s family member or parental bonding time with a new child.
February 29, 2020
This week bills that weren’t considered “necessary to implement the budget” (NTIB) were required to pass out of their fiscal committees by Monday night. Legislators worked the weekend and late on Monday to hear as many bills as possible before the cutoff.
February 21, 2020
It was a busy week of floor action at the State Capitol. Wednesday night was the House of Origin cutoff which means that all bills not necessary to implement the budget (NTIB) must be voted out of their original legislative chamber or they would no longer be viable. Bills that were voted out prior to cutoff will have hearings in the…
Attend your legislators’ Town Hall meetings and advocate for School Nurse Corps funding and other nursing priorities. It’s a great opportunity to hear directly from your legislators.
The Washington State Nurses Association is committed to supporting nurses and reducing barriers to licensure, especially for military spouses and partners. However, WSNA does not support the NLC.
February 19, 2020
What a week! WSNA nurses were at the Capitol this week – advocating for nursing priorities and working families. On Thursday, nurses from around the state joined WSNA’s Lobby Day and spoke with their legislators on our priority issues.
February 7, 2020
Around the state, more than 800 qualified nursing school applicants are turned away each year. The primary reason? Vacant faculty positions mean there are not enough nurse educators to teach the courses, even though programs have available student slots.
February 4, 2020
To activate nurses, the Alliance of Nurses for Healthy Environments and Health Care Without Harm launched the Nurses Climate Challenge in May 2018, a national campaign to educate health professionals on climate and health. We are aiming to educate 50,000 health professionals by 2022.
January 31, 2020
Professional activism is the engagement of skilled and competent professionals utilizing strategic campaigning to achieve a goal. In nursing, it is nurses coming together to assess a need and identify the problem, design and implement a plan to address the issue, evaluate that plan, and repeat until the problem is solved.
January 30, 2020
As the investigation into 2019 novel coronavirus continues, the Washington State Department of Health is sharing important data points to help the public understand and track the progress and the work being done statewide.
January 27, 2020
It was a busy week of hearings in Olympia, with WSNA weighing in on many bills. We continued meeting with legislators about our priority issues, including funding for the School Nurse Corps. This week we are highlighting movement on our policy priority related to the need for a more uniform, but also community-based, response system…
January 24, 2020
If you have questions about what is happening in Washington state, how the virus is spread, what to do if you have symptoms, and need a phone number or website for additional information, read more.
January 22, 2020
2020 Legislative Session Week 1 update The 2020 legislative session kicked off on Monday. It’s the second year of the biennium which means that it is a “short” 60-day session. New House Speaker Laurie Jinkins was sworn in on Monday – she is the first woman and first out lesbian Speaker of House. She is a strong advocate for access…
January 21, 2020
Some say you must earn accolades for your accomplishments, be highly educated or hold a formal title. I disagree with all the above being a requirement to call yourself a leader. I say it matters more what you do.ws
January 2, 2020
The Future of Nursing report in 2010 gave states a set of goals to aim for as they developed their nursing workforce. Now, almost a decade later, how is the state of Washington measuring up?
December 16, 2019
It was June 1944, the country was at war, and Marge Batey was graduating from St. Patrick’s Academy in Sidney, Nebraska. The boys from her high school class were heading into the military, off to the battlefields of World War II. Batey was heading to the Sacred Heart School of Nursing in Spokane.
November 27, 2019
A friendly reminder from the WSNA-PAC Board that today, Tuesday, November 5, is Election Day – no postage is required to mail your ballot!
November 5, 2019
Vaping products present a serious public health risk, and we commend the Governor for taking immediate action and a multi-pronged approach.
September 27, 2019
Attend an event in our Fall Leadership Series. Learn what you can do as a nurse to ensure successful implementation of new laws aimed at preventing workplace violence and protecting overtime and breaks for healthcare professionals.
September 16, 2019
Naloxone, a medication that can reverse an opioid overdose, will be available at pharmacies throughout Washington after Dr. Kathy Lofy, state health officer, signed a statewide standing order on Aug. 28.
September 5, 2019
The Department of Health and the Nursing Care Quality Assurance Commission are working with the Washington Traffic Safety Commission to help spread the word about impaired driving from prescription and nonprescription drugs.
August 21, 2019
