Originally from Arizona, MARGARITA PRENTICE obtained her nursing
education at St. Joseph's Hospital School of Nursing in Phoenix. She also attended
Phoenix College, Youngstown University in Ohio and the University of Washington.
During her nursing career, Margarita has served in almost every capacity from staff
nurse to director of nursing. Margarita was always active in WSNA. As a staff nurse
in the emergency room at Valley General Hospital, Margarita was active in organizing
a WSNA local unit there and in negotiating the first contract. Margarita served
on many WSNA committees and as an ANA delegate for many years. She was elected and
served as first vice president of WSNA from 1968 to 1972. After that office, she
joined the staff of WSNA as the labor organizer and officer for WSNA.
In 1988, Margarita was elected to the House of Representatives, where she served
for 4 years. She was then elected to the State Senate in 1992 and shortly after
arriving, was chosen to serve as the Majority Caucus Vice Chair for two years and
then two years as Chair of the Financial Institutions, Housing and Insurance Committee.
Senator Prentice currently serves as the Chair of the Labor Commerce and Financial
Institutions Committee and is a member of the Education Committee and the Transportation
Committee.
Margarita holds many community and professional memberships including the American
Civil Liberties Union; Amnesty International; Democratic National Committee; Sierra
Club; Audubon Society; and the Humane Society of United States.
Through her sponsorship of various health-related bills, Margarita has used her
nursing background to make a positive impact on the health of the citizens of Washington
State. She has sponsored bills dealing with women's health, advanced practice,
mental health benefits, newborn infant safety, Asian medicine, acupuncture, health
insurance, contraceptive health services, health care financing, health care benefits
for retirees, infant and child products, breast and cervical cancer, community health
center facilities, prescription drug pricing, assistive mobility devices, children
and environmental health, family planning services, colorectal cancer detection
and recognition of National Nurses Week.
Margarita has worked closely with WSNA as well as other specialty nursing associations
to sponsor bills supporting advanced practice nurses. Most recently, Margarita,
along with Representative Eileen Cody in the House, was the prime sponsor of Senate
Bill 6675 – Mandatory Overtime: Dangerous Practice for Patients and Nurses. This
bill was WSNA's top priority for this legislative session. It eventually passed
the Senate and was signed into law by Governor Locke on March 22, 2002.
Well respected by many organizations throughout the state, Margarita has been awarded
Legislator of the Year awards by the Retail Association and Mortgage Brokers Association;
Washington Health Care Association; Washington State Labor Council; Home Health
Care Association; Washington State Dental Hygienists' Association and, of course,
WSNA. The Washington Association of Homes for the Aging awarded Margarita its Distinguished
Service Award. The King County Nurse's Association gave her their "Nurse
of the Year Award" and Valley Medical Center named Margarita a "Champion
of Health Care."
It is clear that Margarita has made many significant, positive impacts in various
areas of health care, nursing practice and working conditions for nurses. Nurses
and the citizens of Washington State truly benefit from Margarita's leadership
and commitment to making a difference.
Inducted 2002
