Your WSNA team of registered nurses met with UWMC management and Administration for a 6^th session yesterday, June 8.

WSNA finally received an economic proposal from the employer that included wage increases equal to 5% over the next two years. Unfortunately, they have elected to tie these wage increases to many other takeaways such as multi-campus floating, unilateral changes in shift length, decreased time length in Rest Between Shifts, mandatory call in NICU, MIC and the Emergency Department and others.

Our team will be meeting again with the employer on Thursday June 10 when we plan to offer the employer some aggressive counters.

Stay tuned for all updates at wsna.org.

Your WSNA bargaining team has elected to send a letter to UWMC stakeholders. On Friday June 4, your WSNA team of registered nurses sent a letter to stakeholders including top administration and executive level decision makers. This letter focused on several key factors that we believe are driving these negotiations and therefore should be top priorities for UWMC. They are as follows:

• Living up to the UWMC four pillar goals: Focus on serving the patient and family. Provide the highest quality care. Become the employer of choice. Practice fiscal responsibility.
• Recognizing the clear and present nursing shortage
• Development of recruitment and retention strategies to be put into place
• Establishing wage increases significant enough to address the rising cost of living and to stay competitive with Seattle area hospitals

Your voice should be heard at all levels within the organization. There is no place for the employer to assume that current staffing challenges will just resolve themselves. Its about creating an optimal environment within which to care for patients along with wages to be able to live and work within a reasonable commuting distance.

This messaging to the stakeholders also included the stories that RNs from around UWMC Montlake offered as reasons that addressing the lagging wages and recognizing the personal struggles associated with them is a top priority! Thanks to everyone who took time to submit these heartfelt testimonials. We are stronger together!

DOSH finds UWMC responsible for safety violations:

In what equates to an affirmation of earlier DOSH findings, which include upholding fines imposed, DOSH issued a Corrective Notice of Redetermination last week as part of an attempted appeal by UWMC. This appeal was an attempt by the employer to get out of fines for failing to provide appropriate safety measures for staff as reported in January of this year.

With this win, RNs can claim rightful victory for playing a role in protecting their colleagues. UWMC has the responsibility to provide a workplace free of known health and safety hazards.

WSNA believes that it is prudent for the employer to stop wasting resources on appeals and redirect those resources to protecting their workforce.

ADO Form/Online Staffing Complaint form – Use it!

This online staffing complaint/ADO form was developed by a coalition that included WSNA, other unions and WSHA representatives. Completing the form serves many purposes, including data tracking, bring issues to light, supportive documentation, and discussion tool to make things better. It is not punitive. This form is to be completed for issues including but not limited to:

• The unit is not staffed according to its staffing plan or if mid-shift staffing adjustments are inadequate. (In order to know if your unit is not staffed according to its staffing plan, you must first know what the staffing plan for your unit is. Staffing plans that include nursing and unlicensed staff, are required to be posted on every unit.)
• Missed breaks or earned time denied
• Equipment issues
• Workplace safety concerns
• Concerns with working conditions
• System Failures… If you have reason to complete this form, you first should speak with your manager or charge nurse for that shift to try to resolve the concern as quickly as possible. They should escalate in real time if they cannot fully address your concerns.

When you complete the online form, you are encouraged to include your manager’s name and email.

Find the WSNA online ADO/Staffing Complaint form here: https://www.wsna.org/union/ado

After you complete the form a copy of the submitted form immediately goes to you, the WSNA chair and co-chair, WSNA Rep, staffing committee co-chairs, and your manager, provided you have entered his or her email. The Nurse Staffing Committee will review the complaint at their next meeting if it is a staffing concern. The Nurse Conference Committee will review the complaint at their next meeting if it is of other concern.

Escalation of Staffing Complaints in real time is the Key to resolution.

1. If you are short staffed at the beginning or during a shift, notify your RN3 immediately and request they find staff.
2. If they are unable to assist, notify your manager whether by text or phone no matter what time of day.
3. If your manager does not respond or is unable to immediately resolve the issue, notify your House Supervisor and request staffing assistance.

(This is the escalation tree that was discussed and recommended by Sherri Del Bene and the UWMC Nurse Staffing Committee.)

Without consistent tracking, we are unable to identify the areas of concern and create positive change. Please contact WSNA Nurse Representative Ed Zercher (ezercher@wsna.org) or a member of the bargaining team if you have questions or concerns.

Your WSNA Bargaining Team:
Teresa Wren, MIC
Doug Harper, NICU
Alexandra Mariani, 7NE
Mike Crandall, OR
Charles James, PACU
Erika Speck­hardt, 5SA
Chris Jakubowski, Cardiac Proce­dures
Kaitlyn McDow, 5E