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Lynnette Vehrs

2024 Inductee
Lynnette Vehrs consistently demonstrates to nurses, nursing students, and government officials how nurses can be engaged in the legislative process, and that our voices are important.

Lynnette Vehrs has a special gift for making people feel calm and bringing both sides together. Vehrs said she honed her de-escalation skills working in psychiatric medicine. 

As president of WSNA from 2019-2023, Vehrs guided WSNA through the pandemic and reached out to as many nurses as she could. Her calm, practical demeanor kept the plight of nurses in the forefront of the public as WSNA fought for more protections. She would tell reporters in her sweet way that hospitals are not being staffed in a safe way, and she quoted a nurse who said they felt they were are at an Army base going into battle hoping they don’t get sick and die.

She also advanced the development of WSNA’s regional associations and spearheaded the transition to a new WSNA executive director.

Serving as president is the culmination of decades of service at all levels. She was on the WSNA board of directors and then president of the Inland Empire Nurses Association. She also served for many years on WSNA’s Legislative and Health Policy Council, including serving as chair.

Lynnette Vehrs has been a nurse for 46 years, even working in an intensive care unit in Lillehammer, Norway, for two years. She spent 18 years as a visiting nurse with the Providence Visiting Nurses Association, where she witnessed how insurance denials affected her patients. This led to her passion for universal healthcare.

After getting her master’s degree in nursing, Vehrs became a teacher. With her career experience, she taught the signs and symptoms of illnesses, leadership skills, and universal healthcare.

It may come as no surprise that Vehrs was a cheerleader through junior high and high school. She brought that enthusiasm and support to nurses whether at work or in the classroom. And she became a role model for nurses when she ran for the state legislature as a Democrat from a conservative district. Although she did not win, she is now fighting for universal healthcare in the state.

Vehrs consistently demonstrates to nurses, nursing students, and government officials how nurses can be engaged in the legislative process, and that our voices are important.