Call to action: Tell management to act now and retain nurses

Join our WSNA team in demanding management act to retain skilled nurses at our hospital. Oct. 5 was our 6^th session at negotiations. Sadly, they made little progress to address our main concerns related to safe staffing, our personal safety, competitive wages, and unethically charging nurse residents thousands of dollars for leaving units they feel are unsafe. Raise your voice. Sign the petition.

Follow the link https://forms.office.com/r/jsKGiYDpJq

Tell management to do their part to make this a safe place for us to work and a good place for our community to receive care.

Hats Off to Linda Burbank

Linda Burbank wears many hats – nurse, advocate, lawyer, and mom just to name a few. Her work in the community has affected the lives of countless nurses and patients, and she is now shaping the next generation of WSNA leaders.

Linda came to nursing because she wanted to go into a “helping and healing” profession. She has stayed in the field for almost two decades because she shared the values and principles of nursing, and says that at its core, it has kept her in touch with her humanity. Linda chose St. Joes because of the mission-based model and wanted to be close to her community, where she believed she could make the most impact. This dedication to helping others led her to the bargaining team. Linda says that being a part of the team “gives you an opportunity to fight for and represent the interests of nurses…and it helps you understand the value of being united and having a strong union”.

This is Linda’s last round of negotiations, but her impact on St. Joes goes far beyond the bargaining table. She has inspired the nurses around her to advocate for themselves and says that she is “proud to pass the baton to the nurses who will be filling my shoes and continuing to pave the way for our nursing profession.”

If Linda weren’t busy enough bargaining or being a nurse, she continues to advocate for people as a lawyer. Her practice merges her love for law and medicine, and much of her time is spent doing guardianship work in Pierce, King, and Kitsap counties.

We are so grateful to have a nurse like Linda at the table, the bedside, and in the community. Her impact on WSNA is evident by the many members that have been inspired by her advocacy. Linda says it has been an honor to watch nurses grow stronger and become united.

Chelsey Roos: Proof that nurses are DINOmite!

Right after COVID-broke, many nurses, and patients for that matter, were cheered by the vision of a dinosaur among us. Some of you might not know that it was our own Chelsey Roos from Walter SADU, now on our WSNA negotiating team. Back then she was new to the RN Coordinator role, working with specialty areas she had not worked with before.

What struck her was that so many nurses felt isolated but in fact, we shared many of the same struggles. Patients couldn’t have visitors and staff really needed a pick me up. So she made a decision to do something different. Chelsey wanted to lift the spirits of those around her. She slapped on a fanny pack with fun music and a coldpack to stay cool under a dinosaur costume – rounding to bring patients and staff a laugh. She helped bring us together in a time of great struggle.

She was recently featured on Q13 after the last round of negotiations, speaking on behalf of nurses at our hospital. https://www.q13fox.com/news/people-are-running-on-fumes-wa-state-faces-nursing-shortage-among-record-high-covid-hospitalizations

It comes as no surprise that Chelsey is still at it, building solidarity among nurses to make change. When asked about her experience at the informational picket during the last negotiations, here’s what she shared:

“Nurses were so frustrated with management last time. Patients were clearly not their priority. Instead of providing nurses with the tools we needed, they cut. They would tell us they didn’t have money for things to make improvements at the bedside, but then spend money on things that didn’t directly affect patient care. Money was their priority and our feedback landed on deaf ears. So we voted to hold an info picket. I remember there being 200 nurses who came out and each department was represented. It was a powerful moment. Nurses walked and chanted together carrying signs. Our community rallied in support around us.

This time around I want us to remember something from that experience. I want each of you to see yourselves how I see you: skilled, important and in-demand members of the care team. Your clinical experience makes or breaks a patient’s recovery. We need to keep the talented nurses we have at St. Joe’s. But we can’t retain them if management won’t recognize it and do something about it. The only way to make them recognize how invaluable nurses are is by taking action together.

I ask that each of you act with us, your WSNA team. You actions speak louder than words. So let me hear that roaaar! – Chelsey”

In Solidarity Your Negoti­ating Team; Dian Davis, Linda Burbank, Yunna Flenord, Brandon Hardaway, Katy Sargent, Mathew McGuire, Shelly Pollock, Chelsey Roos, Emily D’Anna, Ken Richardson, Sally Budack, Naomi Kincade

Questions? Contact WSNA Nurse Representative Barbara Friesen at bfriesen@wsna.org.