Join us on May 6 for a burrito brunch.  We will be at the helipad behind the ED near Sutch Park from 0600-1100.  There will be breakfast and regular burritos, drinks and a raffle.

LPN Experience

We recognize this has been a long process, but we are close. The history in which this came about is that Kadlec let the Conference Committee know that they were considering bringing LPNs back to Kadlec.  We asked about recognition of experience. Kadlec told us that all new employees are recognizing the LPN experience. Because of this, we wanted the nurses currently employed at Kadle, who have LPN experience, to be counted. The employer offered WSNA to sign an LOU (Letter of Understanding) The problem we found with this is that the employer would not consider the grievance process for any nurses who disputed their years of recognition. At this time we have looked at the RNs who have LPN experience and submitted to HR for review. If there are no disputes, we can sign this LOU. If there are any disputes, we will have to go back to the drawing board.

New appointment

We are giving a shout out to Anita Dennis PACU RN and Grievance Officer as she has been appointed to the WSNA Board of Directors. CONGRATULATIONS!

The Board has many respon­si­bil­i­ties, including ensuring the prior­i­ties adopted by the WSNA General Assembly are incor­po­rated in the strategic plan for each biennium. The Board also approves the budget for WSNA and appoints and reviews the execu­tive director. Board members act as ambas­sadors for WSNA, repre­senting the associ­a­tion to the member­ship and other organi­za­tions as appropriate.

The chairs of the Labor Executive Council, the Legisla­tive and Health Policy Council, and Profes­sional Nursing and Health Care Council are elected separately and serve as full members of the Board by virtue of their offices. Two of the director-at-large positions must be filled by non-manage­rial, non-super­vi­sory, direct patient care providers repre­sented by WSNA for collec­tive bargaining.

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- KCHO, Brent Knutzen-CCU, Nikki May-CCU, Kaitlyn Myers -Educator and Tim Davis-PAU
 
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 to you, we want to know.

If there is any patient harm or safety concern, this includes staff safety, please file a QRR in addition to an ADO.

The committee to review or in the process of reviewing:
February: 9
March: 17
April: 13

Open positions:
February: 77
March: Data not presented by HR
April: 67 (2 are externs)

• PACU holding patients while waiting for a bed assignment when the bed and or nurse should have been ensured prior to the surgery.
• Ongoing issues are the Co-Caring Model pilot on the Surgical unit. The nurses from both Surgical and Resource have completed a survey that has been given to Kirk Harper to be added to the Staffing Committee minutes. The nurses have articulated their concern to provide safe patient care with a 6:1 ratio.
• Buddy Breaks are occurring are not safe staffing.

Conference Committee

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

• Projected call in Cath Lab Pre/Post- The employer states there is no projected call at the time. They are looking at expanding hours.
• Cath Lab Pre/Post using the lead nurse rather than using premium shift coverage.
• 9RP nurse assignment to care for ventilated patients.
• 4 RP Co-Caring Model.
• Per Diem scheduling- The employer is holding hard on the expectation that the per diem nurse assign themselves to open shifts, not offering the nurse’s availability. We continue to have discussion on this as not every department requires this. Further, at KCHO nurses who need a day off are not being allowed to have a per diem nurse work take the shift, some managers are not accepting a shift as one of the six shifts in a rolling quarter that is exchanged with a FT or PT nurse or if it was worked on another unit.
• Precepting students- continued issues related to nurses being assigned multiple students.
• Lactation Spaces by Department: Employer states they are not developing additional spaces.

Stay Safe

Areas of concern that we would like nurses to be alerted.

1. Privacy and HIPAA: Do not view ANY patient data unless you have been assigned to the patient or providing care that has been directed or requested of you. This could be establishing an IV on a patient that you are not assigned to. This could also be a patient assigned to a colleague who you are watching during a break.
2. Timecard: Make sure your timecard is correct. If you are using PTO or PTO/Safe Sick and using your phone to document the time, do not sign the attestation until you review for correctness.
3. BUDDY BREAKS: These violate the staffing plans and are unsafe. We ask that you file an ADO for all times that you are expected by your unit to BUDDY BREAK to ensure breaks and meals for you and your co-workers.

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 so within 14 days.

Grievances

Currently there are 10 active grievances. Our Grievance Officer, Anita Dennis, PACU RN attends investigatory meetings and grievance meetings whenever possible. Her work is imperative in seeking out information related to what we are seeing as current problems. Some issues are only in one unit and others are throughout the facility. If we are able to resolve this through discussion at the Conference Committee this alleviates the need for the grievance process.

• RNs experiencing retaliation, harassment, subjected to counseling/coaching and discipline after advocating for bargaining unit RNs, safety, and the CBA.
• December 20, 2023, WSNA was notified via email by HR that the hire dates of nurses in Genesis was not correct and as a result some nurses were either negatively impacted or positively impacted by PTO accrual rates.
• BSN Pay- failure to retro for nurses who did not receive the information on education upload in the employee portal. Please check to ensure you are receiving your education and or certification premium.
• There are 7 disciplinary grievances.

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 at rrosenkranz@wsna.org or 206-867-4627.

Local Unit Officers

We need two office positions to be filled. Grievance Officer and Member at Large.  This is a great opportunity to help your entire bargaining unit. The Grievance Officer role will be to help process grievances, represent during investigatory meetings, attend Conference and Staffing Committee meetings. The Member at Large role is to help onboard new RNs during new employment orientation.

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
Anita Dennis (PAU) Grievance Officer  
Cell: 509-781-3011 ardennis@rocketmail.com
Zak Mendoza (ICU) Member At Large
Cell: 509-551-5264 zmendoza0716@gmail.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!