Retention Bonus #

If you were employed as of August 26, 2021, you have received the 1st in your paycheck today. If you did not receive your reten­tion bonus pay, address this with your manager in an email and cc lrobinson@wsna.org I have spoken with Kris Gauntt in HR, and she is aware of some problems with this. It needs to be recti­fied so that you will receive your bonus in March 2021 without a hitch.


Extra Shift Incentive Bonus #

Good news! Kadlec requested to add an additional shift to the LOU.
Immediate imple­men­ta­tion of $240 bonus (12-hour shift), $160 bonus (8‑hour shift), or $120 bonus (6‑hour shift) for nurses who work an incen­tive shift during the period covering August 26, 2021 – December 31, 2021.

Please remember to take of yourself. Often as nurses we start to become part of the ​“work” and feel guilty or neces­sity to work extra or come in on our days off. It is okay to turn off to cut off the contact with work. Dedicate time for you. You deserve it.

Memorandum of Understanding Re: COVID-19 Vaccine #

WSNA negoti­ated with KRMC for an MOU around the impacts of this Vaccine. The signed MOU is on the WSNA website. We are working to protect all repre­sented RNs through these unprece­dented times.

View the MOU

Vaccination mandate deadlines approaching #

Time is running out to meet the Oct. 18 deadline in the Governor’s vacci­na­tion require­ment for health care workers. We encourage you to plan to ensure you meet this require­ment or follow your facility’s process and deadlines for obtaining a medical or religious exemption.

These deadlines vary by the type of vaccine. Please note that Johnson & Johnson one-dose vaccines are in short supply in Washington state and may not be available.

Here are the deadlines you need to know to meet the ​“fully vacci­nated” requirements:

  • Sept. 6 — Last day you can receive the Moderna vaccine and still be fully vacci­nated by Oct. 18 (because of the waiting period). This assumes you will get your second dose exactly four weeks after Sept. 6, which may not be possible.
  • Sept. 13 — Last day you can receive the Pfizer vaccine and still be fully vacci­nated by Oct. 18 (because of the waiting period). This assumes you will get your second dose exactly three weeks after Sept. 13, which may not be possible.
  • Oct 4 - Last day for J&J vaccine (if avail­able) or second shot of Pfizer vaccine or Moderna vaccine (because of the 14-day waiting period to be consid­ered fully vaccinated).
  • Oct 18 — Date by which health care workers are required to be fully vacci­nated under the Governor’s order.

Shift Assignments #

Today, more than any other time in your career you may be wondering about your safety of your patients, your co-workers, and your license.
Here are some useful links to review:
Resource library | Washington State Nurses Associ­a­tion (wsna​.org)
Nursing Workforce – Washington Center for Nursing (wcnursing​.org)
Approved Nursing Programs in Washington State
Accepting Rejecting Assign­ments v12‑1.6 (002).pdf
Depart­ment of Health (wa​.gov) (Patient abandon­ment)
Questions of Assign­ment (wa​.gov)

All of you should become familiar with all NCQAC’s documents. Here is the link:
Practice Infor­ma­tion :: Washington State Depart­ment of Health

Nurses may be told that if they refuse an assign­ment, they may lose their license for abandon­ment of the patients. Abandon­ment occurs only when the nurse willfully leaves an assign­ment, he or she has accepted without trans­fer­ring respon­si­bil­i­ties to appro­priate personnel. The conse­quences if a disci­pli­nary action is taken against an individual’s license range from a letter of repri­mand to license revoca­tion, including proba­tion, limita­tions, or a fine. At no time is revoca­tion of one’s license an automatic conse­quence of disci­pli­nary action. Nurses should always utilize appro­priate judgment when consid­ering the refusal of an assign­ment. A possible alter­na­tive to refusal would be to accept that part of the assign­ment that the nurse feels compe­tent to perform and assist with those activ­i­ties for which the nurse does not feel compe­tent to accept total respon­si­bility and accountability. 

Staffing Complaint Forms/​ADOs #

We encourage RNs to submit ADO/​Staffing Complaint forms anytime your experi­ence short staffing. This estab­lishes patterns and creates trace­able documen­ta­tion of your short staffing, protecting your nursing license along the way. The online link to the Short Staffing/​ADO form can be found below.

Links and conclu­sions: #

Protect your license, file an ADO: https://​www​.wsna​.org/ado
Reasons to file an ADO: https://​www​.wsna​.org/union/ado

If you had Manda­tory Overtime, file an L&I complaint: https://​secure​.lni​.wa​.gov/​w​a​g​e​c​o​mplaint/#/

If you have patient safety concerns, file a DOH Complaint: https://​fortress​.wa​.gov/​d​o​h​/​p​r​o​v​i​d​e​r​c​r​e​d​e​n​t​i​a​l​s​e​a​r​c​h​/​C​o​m​p​l​a​i​n​t​I​n​t​a​k​eForm.aspx

Please contact our WSNA Nurse Repre­sen­ta­tive Laurie Robinson (lrobinson@wsna.org)

Please let our WSNA Organizer Ryan Rosenkranz (R.Rosenkranz@wsna.org) know if you want to be more involved.

If you are not already, please consider becoming a member. It is always a bad time to ask and always impor­tant to join. Get more infor­ma­tion at https://​www​.wsna​.org/​m​e​m​b​e​r​s​h​i​p​/​a​p​p​l​i​c​a​tion/union.


Questions? Contact a local unit officer or Laurie Robinson, RN or submit any additional questions to lrobinson@wsna.org.