KRONOS and 8-hour shifts UPDATE

Payroll confirmed that there is an issue with the programming for 8 hours shift staff who miss BOTH 15 minute paid breaks. At this time, you MUST complete a Kronos correction form if you miss both breaks. Keep a record for yourself and double check your paystub to ensure you have been paid correctly for both missed breaks. All the powers that be are working to fix this programming issue. Stay tuned for updates.

Contract Corner - Clinics!

Skagit Regional Health (SRH) Hospital and clinic nurses are covered under the WSNA Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA). However, Cascade Hospital nurses are not. Cascade hospital in Arlington is owned by Skagit but the hospital has their own nurse’s union and their own contract.

This means that nurses who are employed at Cascade Hospital cannot just assume Skagit nurses’ roles and duties. A Cascade nurse may work at a WSNA / SRH unit or clinic if they hold a valid position under the WSNA/SRH contract. We do have an MOU in place that allows for floating between the hospitals if the issue falls under the COVID MOU agreement. If it does NOT fall under a COVID-related issue, then the nurse may not just assume and do the work of a SRH/WSNA nurse. They must hold a valid position at Skagit.

Please note this is not unusual. Your neighbors to the north have these same restrictions. Even though the three main facilities that are owned by PeaceHealth are all WSNA hospitals, a nurse must hold a valid position at each facility in order to work or float between them. A nurse employed at St Joseph in Bellingham cannot work at United or Friday Harbor unless they hold a position there.

Questions or concerns should be brought to attention of one of your local unit officers or Sue Dunlap.

COVID update

Things continue to improve with regards to the COVID population in the hospital. At the time of the Nurse Conference Committee (NCC) meeting there were only three COVID-positive patients in house, with one ventilated. Leadership was happy to report 79% of employees had been vaccinated with one shot already and 76% had completed the recommended course. COVID testing is still being completed at Skagit but information on percentage of positivity was not available at the time of the meeting. Daily huddles continue with leadership.

Staffing Committee update

Negotiations update

Thank you to everyone for completing the negotiations survey! Your answers are helping your team target what is truly important to you.

The team is now completely put together and includes all the officers plus two additional negotiating team members. In addition to the officers, please welcome Lacey Bernick from Day Surgery/PACU and DeeAnn Wolf from Surgery. We are excited to include them and welcome their input and expertise and the representation they bring to the table.

We will be having our first day of negotiations on April 12. We will be providing an update to the membership after each negotiations session.

We are actively looking for unit reps! We would love someone on each shift in each department to help us by getting updates being a point person for questions from your co-workers as the updates come out. In this role, you would receive updates in advance of the general membership and with additional details / talking points. In addition, we may ask for your help in distributing stickers or buttons to your co-workers. We will be having virtual update meetings with the unit reps as well to allow for questions and answers. The unit rep is CRITICAL in making sure accurate information is given to nurses from the team and vice versa but involves little time off work hours.

Please help your team and help your co-workers! Volunteer to be a unit rep and email your name, dept. and shift to Sue Dunlap.

Convention:

WSNA convention is virtual this year and coming up in April. We have some amazing sessions planned with CEU as well as some comedy and networking opportunities. And Skagit nurses can attend FOR FREE!

Since the convention will be virtual this year rather than in person, your local unit officers have agreed to sponsor and reimburse every single nurse who wishes to attend and submits a receipt with verification of attendance. You will be issued a full refund upon completion of the convention and receive the associated CEU hours as well. The convention is April 28 – 29 so remember to register and request the time off if you need to.

Liz Rainaud, MSN, RN – Local Unit Chair:
Jessica Googe, RN – Local Unit Secretary
Hannah Guy, BSN RN – Local Unit Treasurer
Kristi Perez, RN CMSRN – Local Unit Grievance Officer
Cheryl Pedersen, RN – Local Unit Grievance Officer
Rachel Yates, RN – Local Unit Co-Membership

Questions? Contact WSNA Nurse Representative Sue Dunlap at sdunlap@wsna.org.