NURSES BRUNCH
May 11
6 a.m. until noon
Columbia Rooms I, II, III

Convention

FREE SCHOLARSHIPS! The Washington State Nurses Convention is May 17-19 at the Greater Tacoma Convention Center!We will gather together at the airy, modern Greater Tacoma Convention Center for three days of education, inspiration, and celebration. This is a time to network, connect, and gather strength from one another. Nurses have emerged from the pandemic more powerful than ever and it’s our time to harness that power.

An impressive lineup of local and national speakers will address topics like speaking up for yourself and your patients, ending structural ableism, leadership in extraordinary times, self-care, creating a future you want, and promoting diversity, equity and inclusion.

Your Local Unit Officers are offering three scholarship vouchers to attend. See the link below for all of the information. If you are able to attend and are a member in good standing, please reach out to Meri Bukovinsky for a voucher.

Washington State Nurses Convention - WSNA

Legislature

Two very important SB are making their way through this session. Safe Staffing and Expanded PTSD compensation. WSNA website has a weekly update for those not following directly.

WSNA's update from Olympia and the 2023 legislative session - WSNA

• Safe Staffing SB 5236
• Expanded workers compensation for nurses with PTSD SB 5454

Staffing Committee

This meeting meets monthly and is co-chaired by Meri Bukovinsky and Kirk Harper. It is mandated by law and described within the collective bargaining agreement. (See 15.3-15.3 in the Collective Bargaining Agreement)

The Staff nurse committee members:
Meri Bukovinsky-CDU, Jamie Woodall-FSED, Anita Dennis-PAU, Melissa Morris-ED, FESD, KCHO, Christina Rodriguez-Resource, Brent Knutzen-CCU, Nikki May-CCU and Kaitlyn Meyers-Resource.

This committee reviews Assignment Despite Objection (ADOs) submissions. Every time a nurse submits, it is sent to WSNA and Nurse Rep. It then is emailed to Kirk Harper, Meri Bukovinsky, and the unit manager. It is the responsibility of the manager to have a verbal conversation about the ADO as well as submit a written response to the nurse and the committee. If this is not happening for you, we want to know.

If there is any patient harm or safety concern, this includes staff safety, please file a QRR.

The committee reviewed ADOs from the following units:

February: Peds-1, 3OP-1, ICU-1, CL-1, 8RP-1, ED-5 and BC-6
March: FSED-1, CL-1, SUR-3, BC-5, ED-7 and PAU-10

The committee reports current positions:

February open positions: 126

March open positions: 95

Conference Committee

This committee meets monthly with the officers, Kirk Harper, Toby Sutton HR. The many topics that we have been discussing:

• Lactation- Need more spaces or need to improve the current spaces.
• Scheduling workgroups- Has your unit formulated a group? Speak up if you are having issues.
• Incentive shift renewal-We are waiting for the employer to notify us if this will continue.
• OR-Cath lab hybrid cases- OR crew coming to CL for cases under CL cost center.
• Foreign RN experience adjustment step- Currently, no RNs have identified as meeting criteria.
• LPN RN experience Value r/t step placement-The employer is considering recognizing.

Domestic Violence Evidence kit collections-Expected SANE premium in review

Investigatory Meetings

If you are notified by you manager that you must attend an investigatory meeting, please invoke your Weingarten Rights (On the other side of your badge buddy) You have the right to have your grievance officer (Anita Dennis) or your nurse representative (Laurie Robinson) to attend. If there is an outcome meeting with any corrective action, a grievance may be filed, It MUST be done within 14 days.

Grievances

Currently there are 12 active grievances.

Rate of Pay/Wage Step placement-Review of service hours and the inability for Per Diem RNs to view lifetime hours.
Rate of Accrual- Check your accrual, we are concerned this is happening to more RNs.

Education/Certification premium- Pay missed related to Genesis. Certification uploading issue.

Holiday pay- Nurses noticed pay on holiday is drastically less that one year ago. Possible FSLA computation with Genesis.

Unit Reps

We are still looking for Unit Reps. The training is free. If you are interested in keeping your unit quickly informed sign up for a class today!

If you have questions, contact Ryan Rosenkranz, our nurse organizer, rrosenkranz@wsna.org or 206-867-4627.

Member at Large

We are currently recruiting for a second Officer for this position. What does this position entail? New RN orientation, attend committee meetings and other local unit duties. This is an excellent position to get involved in your local unit WSNA leadership.

For any questions or concerns please contact one of the Officers or Nurse Rep:

Meri Bukovinsky (CDU) Chair
Cell: 208-739-3439 hart.meri@gmail.com

Jamie Woodall (FSED) Co-Chair
Cell: 509-572-1091 jamie.orr237@gmail.com

Vanessa Douglas (ICU) Secretary/Treasurer
Cell: 352-682-0342 vanessa.p.douglas@gmail.com

Yaamen Aldaas (9 RP) Member at Large
Cell: 509-771-0326 yaamen.aldaas@gmail.com

Anita Dennis (PAU) Grievance Officer
Cell: 509-781-3011 ardennis@rocketmail.com

Laurie Robinson Nurse Representative
Cell: 206-620-4136
lrobinson@wsna.org

WSNA Membership

If you are not a WSNA member please consider completing a membership application today! Just click on the link!

YOU ARE WSNA!