Find out about the Washington State Nurses Association and what you need to know as a member

Speak to your WSNA nurse rep and organizer. Save the date: Wednesday, Sept. 29 from 9-10 a.m. Contact your nurse representative or WSNA organizer for the meeting link. This was also sent by email to those who have provided WSNA with their email address.

COVID vaccine mandate effects bargaining is complete

Your WSNA officers, nurse representative, and WSNA attorney bargained the effects of the COVID-19 vaccine mandate. We are pleased to announce that we have a signed agreement. We urge you to read the full agreement. You can read the agreement by following the link in the document library bar above this message.

WSNA has filed a grievance against Fresenius for contract violations regarding pay for some nurses

Article 14 – Wages and Other Compensation; Section 11: An existing nurse’s hourly rate shall not be less than newly hired nurses with comparable or less experience. Note also Section 10: No employee will have their wages reduced as a result of this agreement.

WSNA brought this forward to management at our Sept. 14 Nurse Practice Committee meeting. We are waiting for a response from management for a either a resolution to this problem or for a meeting to pursue the grievance. This grievance will cover “all affected” nurses. Feel free to contact your nurse representative if you feel you may be affected; otherwise, we will keep you informed as this process continues.

Problems with your paychecks

Please be diligent and check your pay stubs immediately to verify the accuracy. If it is not correct, please notify your immediate supervisor within 10 business days of the error, and save all communications, as this preserves your timelines. If not resolved, please notify your WSNA nurse representative immediately so a grievance can be filed in a timely fashion.

Discipline and discharge

You should never receive a disciplinary letter without first having an investigatory meeting. You have rights to a fair investigation and a right to request a union representative to attend the investigatory meeting before any discipline is issued. Call your nurse representative. For more information, read about your Weingarten Rights.

ADOs—Assignment Despite Objection/Online Staffing Complaint form – use it!

If you find yourself in a situation that you believe creates unsafe conditions for patients or for you, complete the Staffing Complaint / ADO (Assignment Despite Objection) form as soon as possible.

By completing the form, you are helping to make the problem known to management, which creates an opportunity for the problem to be addressed. Additionally, you are documenting the facts, which may be helpful to you later if there is a negative outcome.

Types of situations where you should complete a Staffing Complaint / ADO form:

• Charge nurse is unable to perform charge nurse duties, secondary to increased patient care assignment
• Inadequate nurse to patient ratios for patient acuity based on your clinical judgment
• Insufficient support staff requires you to assume additional duties
• You are not trained or experienced in the area assigned
• You have not been oriented to this unit / case load
• Patient care equipment missing or unusable
• Necessary equipment is not available (e.g.: supplies, IVs, medication availability)
• You are not trained or experienced to use equipment in assigned area
• System failure (e.g.: computer, phone, pyxis, call system)
• An assignment poses a serious threat to your health and safety
• An assignment poses a serious threat to the health and safety of a patient under your direct care
• Forced / mandatory overtime
• Missed breaks

If you have reason to complete this form, you first should speak with your manager or charge nurse for that shift in order to try to resolve the concern as quickly as possible. They should escalate in real time if they cannot fully address your concerns. When you complete the online form, you are required to include your manager’s name and email.

The purpose is to ensure your manager is aware of the situation so they can follow up with you and attempt to resolve the problem. This should be a professional conversation and there should be no retaliation or discouragement for completing ADO forms.

After you complete the form a copy of the submitted form immediately goes to you, the WSNA local unit chair, WSNA nurse rep, and your manager. The Nurse Practice Committee will review the complaint at their next meeting. Your ADOs provide valuable data to your union leadership.

WSNA membership - together we are stronger

Our 2019-2022 contract expires in June of 2022. We need to begin thinking about improvements we’d like in our contract. We will need to stand strongly together for management to take our demands seriously. The time is now to pay attention to your contract and become active in your union. You can view the current contract by using the link in the documents bar above.

If you don’t have your current email address, phone number or mailing address provided to WSNA, please update it so you can receive important communications. Send notification to: Membership@wsna.org.

You can find the online membership form on the wsna.org website.

Thank you, 
Janet Stewart, WSNA Nurse Representative
jstewart@wsna.org (206) 735-6484

Zach Seikel, WSNA Organizer
zseikel@wsna.org (206) 659-6713

Suzette Marengo, Local Unit Treasurer
marengosuzette@yahoo.com (253) 301-8745