Level Up LEADERSHIP conference in Wenatchee is in less than 10 days! It is not too late to get a full sponsorship of registration, lodging…do not delay…. mileage and meals are reimbursable through your WSNA officers with the local unit fund process. Contact your WSNA treasurer Crissy Sekine ASAP for April 26-28 at crissysekine.rn@gmail.com Check out the registration link with details and agenda https://www.wsna.org/calendar/event/865479/union-leadership-conference-2026. Registration closes Friday, April 17.

Hospital Staffing Committee (HSC) updates for SSU and NICU!

The HSC met for the regular monthly meeting on April 8. Thanks to the continued work of your WSNA reps for SSU, Maranda and Lakhena, their SSU nurse peers, and collaboration with management, an updated plan was presented and approved by majority vote. Congratulations SSU!

• “When the float pool break nurse was taken away in December, SSU began having difficulty getting our breaks. When our census was low, we would only have 2 nurses and would be told no one could help us with breaks. This went on for weeks with no clear plan. The nurses on SSU consistently marked no break when clocking out and submitted ADOs. A few nurses then attended the monthly HSC meeting where we expressed our concerns. Quickly after we had a meeting with our supervisor and manager where they proposed adjusting our grid to give us additional staff at night to cover breaks. Since we implemented the new grid, we have much more reliably gotten our breaks. ADOs and the HSC meeting are a great way to have your voices heard. If you are frustrated with grid changes, please come to the meeting to advocate for your unit.”  Maranda Nielson, SSU
• NICU nurses and management worked together when it became clear that necessary improvements were required to provide safe patient care and nursing practice, and consistent break relief. The result of these efforts and collaboration between the NICU nurses and management will be a benefit for all. Way to go NICU!
• IMPORTANT process regarding resolution of ADOs: We learned there is an ADO response tip sheet to assist nurses in responding to their manager as to whether the nurse who submitted the ADO believes the ADO is resolved or not. The HSC voting members utilize the clinical opinion of the nurse who submitted the ADO to determine whether the committee members resolve the ADO. Please respond to the manager’s email indicating your response or use the link provided by them to input your response to the HSC ADO system.

BREAKS GRIEVANCE

We filed this grievance on April 10 on behalf of all affected Overlake RNs.

• We knew that implementation of the break relief role nurse per article 10.7.1 would take time for the employer to implement, though this language has been in place since Summer of 2024. We saw that break buddies continued to be used while we discussed the barriers to implementation where no break relief float pool position nurse was utilized per article 10.7. As Overlake communicated active preparation for the break relief role per your WSNA union contract at HSC and Conference Committee for over a year, we had great hope.
• We communicated with nurses In November of 2025 that the med-surg-tele and CCU units 2026 staffing plans were presented to the HSC. Despite intense preparation for voting to approve plans that did not pull the break relief role from the staffing grid, the plans were approved by a slim majority that do pull from the grid. This was devastating, demoralizing to the nurses in the affected units and the HSC WSNA nurses. Exercising reasonable patience and understanding had not paid off. As the hospital grapples with various organizational challenges, and the “2-month trial” that was agreed to in February may not have even started yet in some units, we have learned that consistent break relief in alignment with the contract is still not occurring.
• Your current contract expires in April 2027. With this in mind, it is crucial to support this grievance, your contract, your patients, yourselves, and your peers in the following ways:

1. Sign up for your breaks if that is the method on your unit. Alert the charge or supervisor/manager if it is foreseeable you may not get to take it in that time frame. If an adjustment can be made for you to get your break, super! But no chance exists if you do not simply alert your chain of command.
2. When asked to sign off if you did or did not get your break, the charge nurse is not pressuring you to sign that a break has been taken. They are the messenger with that sign off list. In no way should a nurse sign that they have or have not gotten their break if it is not accurate.
3. Finally, when you clock out and UKG prompts your attestation regarding breaks, ALWAYS attest accurately 100%. If nurses do not attest accurately, it provides unreliable data that is reported to the DOH, which is now required since January 2026.

As your WSNA staff and local unit leaders know and communicate, following the above may seem unnatural and even provoke anxiety, fear. Why? Because the culture of missing breaks has been so enmeshed in our nursing history. We MUST break the cycle that actually fosters the continued denial and minimizing of your rights to breaks. Overlake has communicated support for nurses to receive consistent breaks. Remember, if those missed breaks are not documented, it masks the scale of the problem and where it is occurring. Who suffers? Your practice, your patients, yourself, your peers, your employer.

How can every nurse support the improvements sought at the HSC? Glad you asked!

• Talk with the HSC rep in your unit/department.
• Participate in unit-based staffing committee if there is one in your unit or provide the necessary input to support their efforts, which is intended to support the HSC efforts.
• And…..this communication would not be complete without a reminder to quickly and easily raise any staffing concern with your charge, supervisor and file an online assignment despite objection form (ADO). If it is resolved on your shift, awesome! But it may take hours or most of your shift to accomplish this. So, when in doubt, fill an ADO out. If you find yourself in a situation that you believe creates unsafe conditions for patients or for you, complete the Staffing Complaint /ADO form as soon as possible.

By completing the form, you are helping to make the problem known to management, which creates an opportunity for the problem to be addressed. Additionally, you are documenting the facts, which may be helpful to you later if there is a negative outcome. Remember, when in doubt, fill an ADO out, including how many of each type of nursing staff are required and how many there actually are. Save it as an icon on your phone 😊Follow the prompts in the online form and check each field that applies in your clinical opinion https://www.wsna.org/union/ado.

Save the date for Nurses Week happenings from your WSNA officers, including May 13.

11 am-1 pm Insight room in PACCAR and 530-7:30 pm Vision in PACCAR. More yummy, fun details to come!

In solidarity,
Your local unit officers
Chris Birchem, chair OSS
Heidi Scharnitzke, secretary LnD
Crissy Sekine, treasurer IMI
Brandon Yokoyama, membership ED
Michael Golembo, membership IMI

Find your WSNA Contract and Leadership and Nurse Rep Tara Barnes contacts here: https://www.wsna.org/union/overlake-hospital-medical-center

Follow us on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/wsna_overlake/