Thank you to all the nurses, providers and members of the community for their show of support for our nurses at the CMC Board meeting last night. This picture was taken before the room filled up. We had 30 nurses, doctors, and community members in the room and 43 on the zoom call. It was a visual that the Board members noticed. One of the board members remarked that obviously we mean business.

YES WE DO!

After Katrina Rostedt, WSNA Local Unit Officer, spoke to the Board, we gave the petition to them. We had 52 signatures on the petition. There are currently 43 nurses employed. That’s impressive.

Katrina’s presentation was professional and passionate. It took a lot of guts to stand up for her colleagues and the community you all care for. The support of those who took the time to attend the meeting spoke volumes. Katrina introduced herself as a “member of the community for 26 years, a patient of CMC, a registered nurse who is employed by CMC, and a member of the WSNA and a Local Unit leader.” She went on to say, “I am here today to advocate for the nurses, the patient care team, and the community we serve.”

She addressed the following:

• We are concerned that there has been no consistent leadership for a decade, stating, “I have worked under 9 DNS (Director of Nursing Services) in 10 years.
• We are concerned that the Executive Team has hired inexperienced nurses in our leadership team.
• We are concerned that the executive team removed the nurse educator position and assigned 4 hours of education co-ordination a week.
• We are outraged that the executive team has hired a DNS and clinical nurse manager with a total of 5 years of nursing experience between the 2 of them. These new nurses, that we care about, have been put in a risky situation along with our community.
• Again! We are concerned with the lack of nursing leadership at the executive level. Not one of the 5 members is a nurse. This is out of compliance with WAC 246-320-136 1a, at the very top of the code.
• These decisions demonstrate the lack of understanding the executive team has regarding the role of nursing to keep our community safe and healthy.

Questions to the board:

• Why did a highly qualified, well-respected DNS with excellent leadership skills leave abruptly?
• Why did a highly qualified, well-respected nurse of 24 years’ experience with CNO level of understanding leave abruptly 2 weeks?
• What was the interview and hiring process for the DNS, Clinical Nurse Manager, and Nurse Educator?

Thank you for showing your support!

Watch this page for more information and further actions. We care about this hospital and the community we serve.

In solidarity,
Carmen Garrison and Shawn Mork