2021 to 2023 biennial report
This story appears in the Spring-Summer 2023 print issue of The Washington Nurse.
Dear WSNA members,
Between 2021 and 2023, WSNA helped our nurses feel their power and stand up for respect and better working conditions.
In this biennial report, we are proud to share with you some of our greatest accomplishments of the past two years.
We shepherded our nurses through the pandemic into a world where they have a stronger voice. We helped nurses bargain for and win historic contracts with the support of nurse bargaining teams, our Cabinet, our team of organizers, nurse representatives, labor counsel, strategic research, and communications.
We poured our energy into efforts to win safe staffing in our state. With dozens of members, we met with over 100 state legislators.
We also witnessed hundreds of nursing students learn how to advocate for the profession, and we conducted student debt clinics for working nurses to access loan forgiveness programs.
We rallied to honor the contributions of a home-health nurse killed on the job and reached out to family, colleagues, and the community. We held our first in-person event since the pandemic — our Hall of Fame — to honor nurses in the state who have made a lifetime contribution to nursing.
And we were a valued resource to reporters. WSNA received incredible press coverage from all corners of the state on how nurses are coping and how to make things better.
We also provided real-life data on the state’s nurse staffing crisis to the media, including the Seattle Times, which issued an op-ed in November 2022 saying, “WA lawmakers should heed nurses’ warning they are staffed too thin.”
These achievements belong to all of us — our members, staff, and the many volunteer leaders who have stepped up to make a difference for our association and the nursing profession.
This biennial report looks at how we progressed toward five strategic goals: