Farewell

Arna Robins has graduated and is now a Nurse Practitioner! She will be leaving us to advance her nursing career in her new role. Arna has been such a welcome addition to both Peace Island and to her WSNA officers’ leadership team. She will be sorely missed but we wish her all the very best in her future endeavors! Please wish her well and say a Thank you to her for all she has done and will continue to do, we all know she will excel in this new role.

ULP

What is a ULP? ULP is an abbreviation for Unfair Labor Practice. We are fortunate at the local level to have great leadership who regularly engages with the staff and officers at Peace Island. However, PeaceHealth corporate implemented their own vaccine mandate with requirements that were not in alignment with the governor’s proclamation and were unilaterally implemented without consultation with WSNA. This has affected roughly 214 nurses across PeaceHealth Washington facilities. There are also repercussions against non WSNA caregivers equally affected by the mandate throughout PeaceHealth Facilities. In addition, there are impacts in the states of Oregon and Alaska. This has led to an unprecedented uniting of the various unions and organizations representing all these caregivers. WSNA together with SEIU, ONA as well as the Alaska Nurses association have all filed ULP charges against PeaceHealth corporate. The ULP (currently under review) is made complicated by the multiple organizations on the same issue. Things do move slowly within the legal world, but we will keep you all apprised of developments as they arise.

Staffing committee update (NSC)

The staffing committee continues to meet and has great robust discussion about the staffing challenges faced at Peace Island. One of the tasks the committee has is to prepare and review biannually a staffing plan for each department. These plans are created in collaboration with management to reflect the needs of the department. Currently, oncology has a plan ready to go that they are all happy with however there have been some changes proposed to the ED, surgical services, and the clinic staffing. As you know, these areas face variable workloads and patient acuity and need frequent adjusting which hopefully the new proposals will help to address and alleviate some of the work burdens felt by all especially through this pandemic. Please stay tuned – once the plans are finalized, we will provide the information on the changes and what they will mean to all you at the bedside.

Nurse conference committee (NCC)

Our labor – management meeting (called NCC) is continuing to be held every other month and prn to address concerns face by all nurse at Peace Island. These include any issues with equipment, updates on safety and staffing and anything else that impacts the wages, hours and working conditions of caregivers. Anything that affects any one of these areas are subject to mandatory bargaining with WSNA.

This month we discussed the upcoming flu clinic and the impact on the clinic staffing especially as the dedicated Covid nurse who was a traveler will not be renewing her contract. Leadership has plans to supplement and is actively recruiting for positions.

COVID testing in the ED

Currently, the testing samples are being collected at the clinic and the lab is running those tests. Apparently, there can intermittently be issues with the supply chain regarding the reagent used for those tests. They are working hard to ensure the supply lines remain current and thus ensuring adequate testing supplies however, the ED staff may be asked to do the longer three-day results testing should a shortage occur with regards to this reagent. Leadership will keep the staff informed about this.

Central Clinic call bank

A phone call center is handling inquiry phone calls for appointments for the clinic currently and they are physically located in Bellingham. The call center has experienced some significant growing pains and clinic staff have been hearing complaints from patients regarding wait times and ability to get the appointments they want. Leadership is tracking these and working to resolve actively with the call center. Processes have been developed and ongoing adjustments are being made to meet the needs of caregiver, providers, and patients alike. Clinic staff have noted some improvement already so while patience is prescribed, please note issues, and get those to leadership so they can address in a timely manner with the affected parties.

Vaccinations

Just a couple of items here. First, if any caregiver wants the third Pfizer booster shot, please let leadership know as they are hoping to be able to accommodate those administrations at the hospital. Several staff have already booked appointments through other means to acquire this booster i.e., health department or private appointment. At this time, we are still waiting for recommendations to be finalized on the J&J and the Moderna vaccines.

Flu shots are also being provided as it is that time of year again. Please note: At this time Flu shots are not mandatory, and you may apply for and/or utilize the exemptions noted in the documents provided by HR.

What’s the difference? COVID vaccination is now a law per the governor’s mandate, but flu vaccinations are not.

Patient care and sitter needs

Discussion was held about the sitter requirements and the needs of the high-risk patient population we serve. This has been one factor in prompting a look at the staffing matrix plans. There are restrictions in place for use of visitors or volunteers as sitters because of covid. In the meantime, however, leadership has reassured staff to call the admin on call who can jump in and help with resources to obtain additional help. Use your chain of command! In addition, leadership is looking at acquiring a second tele-sitter which may help to relieve some of the care burden as well.

Education

There are some exciting caregiver education sessions planned for upcoming education days. Including some fun activities like mock codes. Clinic has secured an educator for front and back-office caregivers and will be working to provide support in training. ED and inpatient staff will have basic skills day in December so stay tuned for that. In addition, look to have training next April to include those skills that are not encountered frequently like chest tube placement/management and childbirth. The hospital has also acquired “job aides” that are kits that caregiver staff can “play” with to familiarize with processes and procedures and equipment. The kits also include “just in time” cards that walk through the process for staff to review … “just in time”. Look for those and “play” away!

A recent tabletop simulation was completed as a result of the threat situation encountered by the clinic staff. This simulation was related to an active shooter, and they were able to coordinate with local EMS and island air and law enforcement. Emergency management is working with staff to improve the emergency response facility wide.

Leadership has indicated a great commitment to ongoing education and train for the Peace Island caregivers and this is greatly appreciated! Ongoing training is a big job satisfier.

Staffing Concern/ADO forms

We do have sticker sheets with a QR code that links to the online WSNA ADO form to fill out. They can be placed on the back of your badge buddies and accessed by your smart phone anywhere to complete and submit. We do want to call out that submission of incident forms on your Safe 2 Share website is extremely important to prompt rapid correction and resolution to situations encountered. However, those forms are the property of PeaceHealth and are not subject according to the RCW to discovery for legal purposes. We all know as professional nurses we have an obligation to report unsafe situations or potentially unsafe situations, and this is a responsibility we have because we hold an RN license. Your online ADO submission form is discoverable and is evidence you complied with your responsibility and submitted a report. This is important especially since the incident forms are not discoverable.

The forms are found at www.wsna.org/ado and are reviewed at ether the staffing committee or the conference committee. If you need QR code stickers, please let one of your officers know or your nurse rep Sue Dunlap.

In solidarity,
Melissa Aylward, ChairLarry Wall, Co-Chair
Elizabeth Schaltenbrand, Secretary
Julie Bielau, Treasurer
Suzanne Cochran, Grievance Officer
Auralee Jameson, Grievance Officer
Arna Robins, Grievance Officer
Cari Williams, Grievance Officer