Nurse turnover at SJMC is, for lack of a better word, obscene, and incredibly costly.According to WSNA membership data, SJMC turned over 276 nurses in 2017, and 248 in 2018. This comes out to a turnover rate of 24.2% and 20.9% each year, respectively – rates much higher than national averages.
Why nurses demand and deserve better than what St. Joseph Medical Center-Tacoma has offered.
You voted and the results are in. Here are the people who will serve in elected positions during WSNA's 2019-2021 biennium.
The memorial service for Beverly Smith is set for Saturday, August 10th at 10am at Holy Rosary Catholic Church. 4139 42nd Ave SW, Seattle, WA 98116.
Learn about the people who are running for elected office during WSNA's 2019-2021 biennium.
MaryAnn Thimmes, 90, of Vancouver, Washington, died on May 3, 2019. MaryAnn was a dedicated nurse who demonstrated the importance of high personal and professional standards, her desire to make a positive difference in the lives of others, her commitment to volunteerism, and the caring role of the nurse in every area of life.
Press release
The state Department of Labor and Industries on April 11 cited and fined St. Joseph Medical Center Tacoma for safety violations related to a series of attacks on nurses at the hospital. L&I’s Division of Occupational Safety and Health launched an investigation at the request of WSNA after a patient in the psychiatric unit assaulted numerous nurses in October 2018.
As nurses across the country unite and advocate for their profession, St. Joseph’s Tacoma nurses are doing the same for themselves and their patients as they fight the good fight for safe staffing – and against incredibly unsafe, management mandated “alternative staffing.”
As nurses around the country watch to see if Washington’s legislature will pass urgently needed breaks and overtime protections, we are reminded of the power nurses have owning our profession.
In perhaps one of the most demeaning statements on the nursing profession since Joy Behar’s 2015 “doctor’s stethoscope” comments on The View, Washington State Senator Maureen Walsh proclaimed on the Senate floor that Critical Access Hospital nurses should be exempt from protections in mandatory overtime because they sit around and play cards most of the day.
Margarita López Prentice, former state legislator, longtime WSNA member and inductee in the Washington State Nurses Hall of Fame, passed away quietly in her sleep of natural causes at her home in Bryn Mawr-Skyway, Washington on April 2, 2019. She was 88 years old.
Trade in your scrubs for your favorite Mariners gear during Nurses Appreciation Night, May 16.
Join us Wednesday, May 15 for Nurses Appreciation Night!
Ms. Smith was actively involved with WSNA for more than 55 years, and was a highly respected leader, speaker and mentor to generations of Washington nurses. She was 92.
On Tuesday, the Senate released its budget.
The week started off with a flurry of activity as the House of Representatives released its biennial budget on Monday.
Our bills continue to move through the legislative process – and this week one of those bills was highlighted on TVW’s Legislative Review.
Press release
After seven months and 12 bargaining sessions, WSNA and St. Joe’s still haven’t reached a contract agreement that ensures safe staffing, safe nurses and safe patients. The registered nurses at St. Joe’s are taking their concerns about nurse staffing and safe patient care to the community they serve.
Press release
WSNA-represented registered nurses at St. Joseph Medical Center in Tacoma have been in contract negotiations for seven months. WSNA and St. Joe’s have held 12 negotiating sessions to date, the last two with a federal mediator. The 13thsession is scheduled for March 22.
We are officially halfway through the 2019 legislative session!
Active in professional nursing activities and associations throughout her career, Betty served on the Washington State Board of Nursing, the Board of Directors of the Washington State Nurses Association, and the Inland Empire Nurses Association. In 1996, Betty was inducted into the Washington State Nurses Hall of Fame.
It is irrefutable that when nurses do not get their breaks, patient care suffers. If you think nurses receiving the rest breaks they are entitled to is important to patient care, please: take action and send a note to your senator.
Congratulations for the recent union representation election win!
On Thursday, nurses from around the state converged in Olympia for WSNA Lobby Day.