December 16, 2024
November 15, 2024
On Friday, May 20, WSNA Executive Director David Keepnews, PhD, JD, RN, FAAN, was sworn in as a vice-president of the Washington State Labor Council Executive Board.
May 24, 2022
The Washington State Nurses Association was well represented at the Washington State Labor Council, AFL-CIO’s 2022 Committee on Political Education (COPE) Endorsing Convention on Saturday, May 21.
Nurses and other health care workers have long faced systemic challenges in the health care system even before the COVID-19 pandemic, leading to crisis levels of burnout, according to the Surgeon General.
ONA and WSNA stand firm in our resolve that all people deserve access to health care services, when and where they need it, without financial hardship.
May 10, 2022
One week is not long enough to honor our nurses and their life-saving contributions, so Bloodworks Northwest is having a “Thank a Nurse” Blood Drive for the entire month of May.
May 4, 2022
“I encourage all people in our state to join me in honoring the nurses of Washington, especially recognizing the critical and live-saving role that registered nurses have filled around our state, country, and world through the current coronavirus pandemic.”
May 1, 2022
WSNA is pleased to announce the appointment of Katharine Weiss, MPA as WSNA’s Director of Government Affairs.
April 15, 2022
Focusing on blame and punishment solves nothing. It can only discourage reporting and drive errors underground. It not only undermines patient safety; it fosters an environment of fear and lack of respect for health care workers.
April 8, 2022
On April 4, NCQAC reinstated a $50 late fee for all late license renewals and reactivations.
April 4, 2022
The Legislature adjourned Sine Die yesterday, March 10, marking the end of the 2022 Washington State Legislative session. Stay tuned for a full end of session report next, but until then, take a look at some of the major wins of the 2022 session.
March 11, 2022
Today the WA Safe + Healthy coalition released a joint statement on the state Senate failing to pass safe staffing standards for healthcare workers.
March 8, 2022
Yesterday, the Legislature reached the final cutoff for policy bills. All bills that did not make it past this deadline and are not necessary to implement the budget are no longer viable. Unfortunately, WSNA's number one priority, safe staffing legislation, didn't make it past this week's deadlines.
March 5, 2022
The Senate Ways and Means Committee did not pass our safe staffing bill out of committee by the deadline, meaning HB 1868 is very unlikely to pass this legislative cycle. We are deeply disappointed, but this is a delay, not defeat.
March 4, 2022
Both legislative budgets were released this week on Monday. We were excited to see funding for WSNA priorities, including school nurse funding, sexual assault nurse examiner training and workforce development. The Legislature also reached the second policy cutoff of the year on Thursday.
February 25, 2022
On Monday, the Legislature reached the house of origin cutoff. Most of our priority bills made is past this crucial deadline. Because most of our bills started in the House, we will now be working on moving those bills through the Senate.
February 18, 2022
The Office of the Governor is recruiting to fill vacancies on Washington state's Nursing Care Quality Assurance Commission.
On Monday, the Legislature reached fiscal cut off for the house of origin. The rest of the week was spent on the Legislature caucusing and voting bills off the House and Senate floors. We are expecting the safe staffing bill to be voted on by the house any day now.
February 11, 2022
Listen to David discuss his path to WSNA and current issues in nursing like safe staffing in this hourlong conversation.
A review of recent national and Washington State nurse staffing data and survey results indicates that there are enough nurses to safely staff hospitals, but that the quality of jobs is leading many qualified registered nurses to leave their Washington hospital jobs.
February 10, 2022
The Legislature reached major milestone this week. Thursday was the cutoff for policy bills in their house of origin. This means that no new bills will be introduced this session unless they are necessary to implement the budget.
February 4, 2022
Washington State Nursing Commission determines that graduates of five Florida schools do not meet minimum requirements for licensure in the state of Washington.
January 31, 2022
This week the House Labor Committee took executive action on the safe staffing bill, HB 1868. The Senate Labor Committee heard testimony from two WSNA nurses on a bill that would provide COVID-19 hazard pay to hospital-based health care workers. The first cutoff of session is next week on Feb. 3.
January 28, 2022
This week the House Labor Committee heard the safe staffing bill, HB 1868. Check out the WSNA members who testified in support of the bill.
January 21, 2022
WSNA nurses share firsthand accounts of understaffing from the front lines.
January 17, 2022