Meet your new officers

Please welcome two new officers to the team that is committed to every nurse at Skagit!

I’m Miranda Setty, but often go by my nickname, Randi. I’ve been with Skagit Valley Regional Health since March of 2021. I work in the Mt. Vernon Family medicine clinic as a triage nurse. I graduated from Skagit Valley College in 2016 and completed my BSN from WGU in 2020. I worked in the ED from 2016 to 2020.

I decided to become a union officer to fight for my fellow nurses. WSNA had my back when I needed help and now I want to give back to those that do so much for others.

My name is Abu Cameron. I became a nurse and joined the Union in 2008. I started in the PCU, then CCU and became a member of the float pool since 2014. I haven't previously been very involved with the union, but during the past year or so I have become more engaged and have truly discovered the value of adequate Union representation and would like to contribute where I am able. The grievance officer role can be very important as they can help represent nurses, ensure that they are treated fairly and have a voice in official proceedings.

REMINDER: You can email any of the officers directly from your Skagit local unit page on the wsna.org website.

Staffing

Your staffing committee continues to meet although there has not been much progress made on resolutions for the staffing issues affecting Skagit. WSNA has filed a complaint with the Department of Health on this important issue and we understand the complaint has been accepted and an investigation is forthcoming. In addition, however, it has been made crystal clear that QMM submissions are not being shared with officers or WSNA as this is internal only. Which means the only record that the nurse has that they reported anything unsafe is the online staffing concern ADO form. Hospital internal forms are not discoverable, but your WSNA concern form is. All nurses are bound by their license to report unsafe situations and completing these online forms will ensure that you are protecting your hard-earned nursing license and that you exercised due diligence by reporting the unsafe situation. Completion of hospital forms is definitely necessary to help the hospital effect change, but it will not serve to protect your nurses license. The online form can be completed at home on your phone or computer and is found at www.wsna.org/ado or by scanning the below QR code. We have stickers with the QR code that can be placed on the back of your badges to allow for easy and quick access – please let us know if you would like one.

Retention bonuses

You may have received a notification from CEO Brian Ivie outlining discussions about retention bonuses. We are entering into discussions about this and will keep you posted. Your WSNA officers raised the question and asked for management’s consideration at the most recent conference committee meeting. The officers are very pleased it was well received and that management is reaching out to discuss further.

Contract

Many people are asking why the new contract isn't available or where to find it. Unfortunately, the new contract cannot be posted until all the signatures are obtained from the people who negotiated the agreement. WSNA has just received the signed copies from Skagit’s legal counsel and will work to get our own signatures and post the final contract as quickly as possible. However, your officers have a “redline” version they can access to determine if there are questions or concerns about any changes. Please reach out to one of your officers with any questions or for other assistance. And, stay tuned as we will update everyone as soon as it is available online.

NSC - Nurse Staffing Committee

The nurse staffing committee is a paid-time committee that is mandated by law to determine unit staffing plans and address staffing concern forms. By law the committee must be comprised of 50% nurses from the bedside. Ideally, we would love to have a representative from every department. The committee at Skagit is going through some growing pains with the advent of the pandemic and staffing crises as well as new leadership.

Please email your nurse representative if you are interested in advocating for better staffing on your unit and would like to participate in this committee. In addition, WSNA has alerted management that they need to portray the importance of this committee and that it is a leadership priority as well as a priority for the nurses. That means, leadership needs to take an active role in ensuring that nurses are relieved to attend and provided the opportunity to make substantial changes and impact on staffing. This is a work in progress.

Also, if you would like to attend a staffing committee meeting and speak to a concern you have submitted, please let your nurse o-chair, Liz Rainaud, know and she will help to accommodate that.

NCC - Nurse Conference Committee

This is a regular contractual committee that occurs every other month with upper management and leadership also known as the labor management committee. We discuss and bring forward concerns from all of you for some quite energetic discussion and hopefully resolutions. We had a particularly eventful meeting this past week where we learned about the proposed changes to the family birth center nurses as well as the urgent care nurses. Management has indicated they are implementing mandatory call in the FBC and that will include the per diem nurses. This constitutes a significant change in working conditions for that department and is a subject of mandatory bargaining. Leadership cannot unilaterally implement changes without entering into collaboration with your union – WSNA. They did implement this without our input or discussion and WSNA issued a cease-and-desist letter to leadership for this particular issue. In addition, and similarly there is a notion to expand the hours of operation for the urgent care clinics which greatly impacts the nurses who work there. Again, this is an issue that needs to be brought to the union prior to implementing any change.

Your takeaway?

Any changes that the employer makes that impacts the hours, wages and working condition of nurses covered by the contract must be bargained with the union. It is completely appropriate to ask your manager if presented with some upcoming changes if they have already discussed this with the union. However, we will also state that when we are approached and discussion has occurred prior to implementation, we will likely have already notified the nurses affected and it will not come as some huge shock to learn of the intent. Please notify one of your officers or your nurse rep if changes are planned or implemented and you have concerns. We are here to advocate for all of you.

What is a ULP?

ULP is the abbreviation for unfair labor practice. WSNA has filed a ULP against Skagit for behavior demonstrated by a manager against one of your nurse members. It is your right to engage in concerted organizing effort such as wearing your WSNA pins, posting your car signs etc. If you are at work and it is permitted to discuss the Seahawks game or your private activities on the weekend, it is permitted to discuss the union. If your break room contains items that are not work related i.e., girl scout cookie sales etc. then it is permitted to have union material such as flyers etc. present. At no time is retaliation or intimidation tolerated. Please note, however, that any union related activities must not interfere with job performance or patient care. Please do not hesitate to reach out to an officer or your nurse rep if you encounter any pushback from leadership related to union activities or issues.

Are you new to Skagit?

We have been planning and hope to regularly have coffee times with all new hires. You are invited to a coffee treat paid for by your local Skagit unit and have one on one time with your assigned WSNA organizer and your nurse rep. We have topics that include critical items in your contract to be aware of (hard to stick up for your rights if you don’t know what they are) as well as other topics such as how to read your vey complicated pay stub. Please watch for those announcements and take advantage of attending. All are welcome!

Stay tuned for additional updates and events. And as always, please contact one of us for any concerns or questions. Your WSNA officers and staff are here for you.

In solidarity,
Liz Rainaud, RNC, Chair ~ Jessica Goosge, RN, Co-Chair ~ Miranda Setty, BSN, RN, ENP-C, CCTN, Secretary ~ Rachel Yates, RN, Treasurer ~ Cheryl Pedersen, RN, Grievance Officer ~ Abubaker Cameron, RN, Grievance Officer ~ Hannah Guy, BSN, RN, Membership Officer

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