IN THIS UPDATE:

• Contract posted locations
• Ballots to vote for officers
• Committees at United
• Credit for past working experience
• Payroll issues
• WSNA drop in sessions
• Your officers
• From your nurse representative

CONTRACT:

Your new and improved contract is available for you online to view on your United page at www.wsna.org (this page).  Also we are going to provide stickers with the QR code (also shown below) that will take you directly to this page so you are able to pull it up anytime you need to.

You can put these on the back of your WSNA badge buddies to access quickly and easily.  Your badge buddies also have a QR code that connects you to the ADO / Staffing concern form to quickly access and complete when needed.

BALLOTS:

Hopefully everyone received the notification on Facebook about the ballots for selection of your officers.  Please look for those!   They are coming to you via snail mail and the return envelope must be postmarked by January 31.  Please take the time to vote your preferences and participate in the selection of the officers who will represent you to management!

COMMITTEES:

This year promises to be a unique year as we have multiple committees that are established at United.  These are either in the contract or are directed by the law.  Here are your contacts and co-workers who are representing you!

WORKPLACE VIOLENCE

This committee is to respond to complaints and concerns about anything that potentially impacts the safety of the nurses and working staff.  You  may remember that it took a VERY protracted length of time to get the buildout done in the ED to enhance nurse and staff protection.  Look for updates on the great work this committee will do!   And when you see them please extend a thank you for advocating for employee safety on this committee!

Rikkie Meyeres    ACU
Jenny Wieringa   ACU
Madie Livers     ED/FLOAT
Natalie Canniff    ACU
Joshua Estella    ACU
Jason Holz    ER

Did you know the form you fill out to file a staffing complaint is also used for workplace violence?   If you pull up the form and click on the box that says “This is not a staffing concern” that opens up a whole other menu of options that includes violence, equipment error, missing equipment and all other things that happen but definitely impact the work that you all do every day.  Those forms will definitely be routed to this committee!  Again, we will get those QR code stickers to you as soon as they are available!

HEALTH BENEFIT COMMITTEE:

This committee will look at benefit options for employees and help provide input and impact the decisions the organization may make regarding the benefits for all of you.  So please reach out with both good and bad experiences you are having receiving / obtaining care for yourself and your family.

Jen Anderson     ACU
Ashley Wolcott    ACU
Sara Langrock    CM/ ACU
Holly Swanson   ACU

HOSPITAL STAFFING COMMITTEE (formerly known as Safe Staffing Committee)

This is new and improved as a result of the new Washington state law regarding hospitals and staffing committees.  This committee will now include non-nurses as additional members contributing to staffing issues.  This is awesome!  We all know how not having a good C.N.A. working with us impacts the work we do.  This will be an ever-evolving committee as new rules and regulations role out as a result of the new staffing law.  It is absolutely critical to have a representative from every department at the hospital on this committee so if this something you are interested in please reach out to Shawna Smith or Shannon Lauder or myself as your nurse representative Sue Dunlap.  Currently this team has the following members:

Jodi McCabe – ONC
Kathy Corrion – Surgical Services
Katie Owens-Chidester – ED
Jenny Crandell – ACU
Kelsey Sousa – ARC
Shannon Lauder & Shawna Smith – FLOAT
Sarah Langrock – CM

Please look at the aides you work with and get back to Shannon and / or Shawna who you think would be a good fit on this committee.  We are obviously looking for someone who understands the importance of safe staffing and will work with the nurses on issues.

PNAP

This committee will establish the criteria and resources to facilitate the professional nurse advancement program.  This will provide opportunities for advancement, education and of course associated extra pay as applicable.  This is a PeaceHealth program but WSNA has agreed this would provide benefits to both nurses and the organization and we are in support of this.  Currently we have the following nurses on this committee.

Sarah Currie – CM
Jenny Wieringa – ACU
Rebeka Matthews – ACU
Julia Bryan – ACU
Lacen Potter – ACU
Andrew Jackson – Surgical Services
Mel Miller – ACU
Kelsey Sousa – ARC

NOTE:
Important note about the committees.  This is PAID TIME when it occurs on your workday.  Because of that, your MANAGER is responsible for arranging coverage and advocating for your attendance at this meeting.  Your responsibility if you serve on these committees is to make sure your manager and scheduler have those dates and times in advance so they can plan for coverage.  There has been some issues with attendance due to the busy nature of units and not having coverage to permit attendance.  The law is now very clear that this must be provided for all committee team members.  If there are difficulties or challenges, please let your nurse rep Sue know about this asap and include Shawna Smith on the communications.

All the committee members will be easily located on your intranet email.  In addition, WSNA will work on posting these members and contact information online if you forget.  However, you are also welcome and invited to pop a quick text message or email to your nurse rep Sue who will find this out for you.

NURSE CONFERENCE COMMITTEE

Your elected officers meet with leadership and management every other month to openly dialogue about issues and other items that affect all of you.  Nothing is off the table for discussion!   If you have any questions or concerns or even rumors (yes, we have an agenda item that says rumor control) then please get this to any of your officers and Sue your nurse rep.  We will be providing an update after each NCC meeting to all of you so that you are in the know about what is going on hospital wide.  Our next meeting is scheduled for Feb 22!

CREDIT FOR PAST WORKING EXPERIENCE

You have probably heard that WSNA advocated for year-to-year parity at the negotiations table.   This would eliminate any partial credits for those who worked in SNF or other locations that PeaceHealth deemed only worthy of partial credit.  This was rejected by management at the table.  However, they did agree to review those who would like this and provide an opportunity for nurses to present the clinical components of their various experiences to validate credit for work experience.

Those NURSES who would like this REVIEW and provide an opportunity for nurses to present the clinical components of their various experiences to validate credit for work experience.  THIS REVIEW PROVIDES AN OPPORTUNITY TO ADVOCATE FOR STEP PLACEMENT AND PAY THAT ALIGNS WITH YOUR WORK EXPERIENCE. Here’s the details:

1. All requests to have years of experience REVIEWED must be received by HR no later than March 31, 2024.
2. Please email Tracie Skrinde with your request and an UPDATED copy of your curriculum vitae or resume.  Please cc Shawna Smith and Sue Dunlap on this communication so we can follow up as well.
3. WHEN UPDATING your resume / CV PLEASE INCLUDE all work experience as a nurse including time as a manager which typically does not qualify for step placement.

PAYROLL ISSUES

We have a bunch of new agreements in place regarding your pay.  And we all know you practically need an advanced degree in hieroglyphics interpretation to be able to read the pay stubs that are provided to you.  This has proven to be a challenge and as a result, Sara Langrock has agreed to be point person on this project.  Sara will be meeting with HR on a biweekly basis to coincide with pay periods and walking through any nurse’s concern regarding their pay.  Please bring your concern and/or question to Sara directly via email.  Contact information for all your officers is provided below and on your United page on the WSNA website, the names of officers contain a hyperlink to directly email them from that page.

To summarize:
Any pay issues noted on your paystub please direct your question or concern to Sara Langrock along with a copy of your recent paystub and details of the issue.

WSNA DROP IN SESSIONS

Stay tuned for information on this.  Your nurse rep will hold these drop-in sessions monthly and all nurses are welcome to just stop by.  I would love to say hello, provide information, hear your concerns, and provide some swag.  😊 Location and dates and times still to be determined.  I would love to meet and chat with you all even just for a few minutes!

YOUR OFFICERS

Many of your elected officers for the last term are wanting to continue in their role.  Negotiations were tough this year and they had to fight long and hard to get the wins we have now.  Please take a moment to email, drop off a card or say a heartfelt thank you to the officers who are stepping down, they are so deeply appreciated and have been such a valued member of our WSNA Officer team.  It has been such a privilege to work with all these officers. The officers who are not continuing in their role this new term are shown in bold.  You have the best representation you could ever hope for!

FROM YOUR NURSE REPRESENTATIVE:

 I am back after a protracted period of time, and I am so happy to be back!  2023 was an extremely challenging year.  However, 2024 promises to be incredible!  Please feel free to stop by my drop in sessions – I am an open book and happy to share if you have questions.  My WSNA co-workers stepped up and covered for me and I am so appreciative that I work with such a great team – we are really like a family and I know you all can relate to that in some way.

I am here for all of you!   Please feel free to text, call or email me at any time!

WSNA Nurse Representative Sue Dunlap
sdunlap@wsna.org (206) 575-7979 x 3005