WSNA is working hard with our partners at UFCW21 and SEIU Healthcare 1199NW to keep our members safe. We reached an agreement this weekend with MultiCare that addresses paid time off during COVID-19 as well as floating within and outside of home facilities.
Our members have been on the front lines of the COVID-19 crisis in the United States. As we work to manage a public health crisis unlike any of us has ever seen, it is our duty to share the key lessons we are learning on the ground.
Press release
Unions representing nurses, health professionals, and health care service and maintenance workers today responded to Gov. Inslee’s emergency declaration on health and safety rules.
Today, ANA Chief Nursing Officer Debbie Hatmaker met with President Donald J. Trump to urge the administration to provide a sufficient supply of appropriate personal protective equipment for nurses and to share the need for creative staffing strategies to sustain the nursing workforce so they can continue to provide care during this pandemic.
You may have to make a decision about accepting an assignment involving abnormally dangerous conditions that pose an imminent risk to your safety and health, and could potentially cause serious injury or death.
We believe that hospitals should provide employees affected by COVID-19 with paid administrative leave but in the absence of those benefits, there are state resources available.
Upcoming performances of "Nightingale: A Musical Regarding the Life & Passion of Miss Florence Nightingale" have been postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The shows will be rescheduled later in 2020.
While an emergency proclamation from the Governor is in effect, a volunteer health practitioner licensed in another state may practice in Washington if they are in good standing in all states of licensure and are registered in the volunteer health practitioner system.
Due to evolving knowledge of COVID-19 and standards regarding PPE usage, and the risk of severe outcomes that immunosuppressed persons face, it is not recommended that healthcare providers care for both COVID-19 patients and immunosuppressed patients at the same time during their shift.
Press release / Statement
As nurses and healthcare workers providing essential care to patients in hospitals, clinics, and housing and shelters across Washington state, we applaud Gov. Jay Inslee and the leaders of King, Pierce and Snohomish Counties for taking the necessary step of limiting large gatherings during this stage of the COVID-19 outbreak.
Due to current social distancing recommendations by CDC and Seattle / King County Public Health related to the ongoing COVID-19 crisis, we will be honoring inductees Aug. 6, 2020.
Washington state’s largest hospital and clinic unions call for the highest possible level of personal protection for caregivers during the COVID-19 outbreak.
Press release / Statement
The CDC has announced new interim recommendations on the use of personal protective equipment (PPE) for situations where adequate supplies are unavailable.
WSNA is continuing our advocacy at the highest state level. We shared your stories and concerns on Saturday in two conference calls with officials from the Washington State Department of Health (DOH). We emphasized that some hospitals appear to not be following any standard protocols (CDC or WHO).
Statement
We are all working together under extraordinary circumstances to deal with this public health crisis in our state.
By Sally Watkins, PhD, RN, Executive Director
Press release / Statement
Leaders of several local and national unions issued a joint statement following the expected guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that will weaken protections for healthcare workers on the frontlines of fighting the coronavirus outbreak.
During this outbreak and every day, our students deserve the security of having a registered professional nurse on campus. Please join us in urging Washington state lawmakers to invest $1.7 million in new funding in the School Nurse Corps during the 2020 legislative session.
Press release / Statement
Nurses are on the frontlines of caring for patients, including those with COVID-19, and nurses represented by the Washington State Nurses Association have been caring for COVID-19 patients here in Washington state. Nurses feel a tremendous professional and ethical calling to care for every patient, and they are doing just that. We do need to ensure, though, that nurses and other health care workers are getting the needed protective equipment to do their jobs safely.
Symptoms of COVID-19 include fever, cough, and shortness of breath. Senior citizens and people with underlying health conditions or compromised immune systems are at increased risk of severe disease.
Press release / Statement
The Washington State Nurses Association (WSNA), Washington State Medical Association (WSMA), and Washington Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics (WCAAP), representing more than 30,000 health professionals in the state, today issued a joint statement on the COVID-19 outbreak.
The Washington Paid Family & Medical Leave program became effective for Washington employees as of the beginning of this year. This state run program is designed to provide paid leave for employees for instances such as the illness or injury of an employee or employee’s family member or parental bonding time with a new child.
This week bills that weren’t considered “necessary to implement the budget” (NTIB) were required to pass out of their fiscal committees by Monday night. Legislators worked the weekend and late on Monday to hear as many bills as possible before the cutoff.
It was a busy week of floor action at the State Capitol. Wednesday night was the House of Origin cutoff which means that all bills not necessary to implement the budget (NTIB) must be voted out of their original legislative chamber or they would no longer be viable. Bills that were voted out prior to cutoff will have hearings in the opposite chambers until the next policy cutoff on Friday, Feb. 28.
Attend your legislators’ Town Hall meetings and advocate for School Nurse Corps funding and other nursing priorities. It’s a great opportunity to hear directly from your legislators.
