In this issue:

• Message from WSNA officers
• WSNA Convention and General Assembly registration now open
• Nominations for WSNA office
• Online education opportunities
• News to know
  • SHMC changes Education Reimbursement Policy
  • ONA Strike January 10, 2025
• Know your contract: Article 1
• Wyatt and All Affected grievance WIN!
• Eveland and All Affected grievance WIN!
• Grievances -- current, settled, and on-going
• WSNA/SHMC committees
• Message from WSNA NR
• WSNA Treasurer’s report

Message from WSNA officers

We believe that by listening to each other and sharing our experiences, we can create a more supportive and inclusive environment for everyone within our bargaining unit, throughout the hospital, and into the community.  Our commitment to this process is unwavering, and we encourage you to engage actively, as your voice is a crucial part of shaping the WSNA SHMC Bargaining Unit’s future. Together, we can continue to build a workplace that not only meets our collective bargaining unit needs but also inspires and motivates all to achieve excellence. – WSNA SHMC Officers

WSNA Convention and General Assembly registration now open

Are you interested in attending WSNA Convention? Hear from some powerful names in nursing nationally. Then, dive into the biggest issues facing nursing today: safe staffing, workplace violence prevention, and health equity. Panels include government officials and top experts who will give you the knowledge and tools to act. Lend your voice to resolutions to make workplaces safer and speak out on the future of WSNA. If you would like to inquire about a potential scholarship reach out to Kitt Ruchert at kruchert@wsna.org.

There are also limited monies available for those who have signed up to attend Lobby Day that is being held February 4, 2025.  Please contact one of your SHMC Officers or your WSNA NR Kitt Ruchert if you have registered and are interested in applying for reimbursement.

Want to hold a WSNA office?  Nominate yourself or a colleague 

Please click the link if interested.  Your voice matters, make it matter more.  Get involved!

WSNA online education

Check out online education available on the WSNA website

On-demand courses from ANA

As a member of WSNA you are also a member of ANA.  Please look at the courses available.

News to know

SHMC notified WSNA at the end of December of a change in Education Policy!

We have been contacted by a few individuals who have already been affected.  We have replied to the email sent and are awaiting a response. We will keep the WSNA liaisons informed of communications.  Please review Article 12.8 of the CBA.

• “Further clarifying our policy to make very clear that certain professional expenses related to caregivers’ existing licensure and position with our facility are not eligible for processing through Guild (our third-party vendor who manages our education benefits program) but are processed through Concur (our expense reimbursement system). To help ensure that the policy is being applied correctly and our facility’s finance team is able to better track costs, those expenses will be submitted and processed through Concur (the process in place before our facility’s transition to Guild). Such expenses include: certification/license prep and/or exam fees for existing licensure/position, certification/license renewal fees, board registration/certification fees, supplemental materials, continuing education credit fees, membership fees, and conference fees. Travel expenses have always and will continue to be processed through Concur. Caregivers should determine with their core leader whether the expense will be approved before submitting to Concur. Please note that any applicable provisions in a Collective Bargaining Agreement will continue to be followed for these types of expenses.” Letter sent via email to WSNA December 20, 2024, from PSHMC.

Please contact your WSNA unit liaison or Kitt Ruchert WSNA NR with any questions or concerns at kruchert@wsna.org.

Doctors, nurses and other frontline caregivers at Oregon Providence facilities are going on strike starting January 10, 2025

“We are nearly 5,000 healthcare professionals calling on Providence Health & Services to come back to the bargaining table and put their patients before profits by offering a fair contract to frontline caregivers. 

The strike will start January 10 and affect Providence St. Vincent, Providence Portland, Providence Milwaukie, Providence Willamette Falls, Providence Newberg, Providence Hood River, Providence Seaside, Providence Medford, and the Providence Women’s Clinic.” Oregon Nurses Association

 Click the link to view ONA website for more information

Review of contract articles 

Starting out the New Year let’s focus on one of the most important articles in the CBA (collective bargaining agreement):

Article 1 – “The main purpose of this Agreement is to facilitate the achievement of the mutual goal of providing improved patient care by fostering and establishing (a) equitable employment conditions, (b) an orderly system of employer-employee relations which will facilitate joint discussions and cooperative solutions to mutual problems, and ( c) mutual respect, trust and professionalism that encourages open communication and allows for patient advocacy and promotion of quality patient care with the support of management.”

STRONG WORK!

Let’s highlight some recent arbitration decisions!

Wyatt and All Affected – Denial of Float Pool Premiums. Grievance # 23-03-0055

As many nurses recall, in our last negotiations, a float pool premium was bargained and obtained for all of the nurses working in the float pool. What we didn’t expect was, management to change their tune on how it was applied after the contract was ratified. What we found was, management was only applying the premium to hours the float pool RN was to work within their FTE and per their supervisor. Only shifts the supervisor entered into the system, became eligible for the float pool premium. Shifts picked up in addition to the nurses FTE were not paid the premium, meaning any shifts from IRC, or Kronos etc. Because of this, WSNA filed a grievance immediately and argued with management’s application of the language was not the true intent of the parties at the bargaining table. Oct 8, 2024, an arbitration was held, which would render a final and binding decision to the application of the language. Then on Dec 16, 2024, the award came. The SHMC nurses of WSNA WON! The arbitrators award as of Dec 16, 2024, will require SHMC to back pay all impacted RNs, and immediately change how they apply float pool premium going forward. This means, float pool premium will be applied to all assigned shifts in addition to FTE, to include those shifts from IRC and Kronos.

Eveland and All Affected – Date of Hire being Wrong in Genesis Grievance #23-12-0278

On Dec 21, 2023, a grievance was filed because nurses noticed their date of hire was wrong in Genesis. Concerned this would impact contractual benefits such as PTO accruals, WSNA swiftly filed a grievance on behalf of Jessica Eveland and all affected to remedy the matter. HR quickly told us they were aware of the issue and were taking measures to fix it. However, the grievance remained, and WSNA along with the Local Unit Officers held steadfast addressing the issue and ensuring the problem would be fixed properly. As a result, and after 11 months of persistent follow ups, we are happy to report that all nurse’s date of hire should be accurate in Genesis. This also means PTO accruals should be accurate as well.

YOUR TASK – Check your PTO levels to ensure accuracy. If they are not correct, reach out to your Nurse Representative at kruchert@wsna.org

Upcoming arbitrations

Our work is not done! Other upcoming arbitrations for 2025 are:

• Teo – Bereavement Leave Issue. Jan 22, 2025.
• King, and All Affected– PTO accrual according to Years of Service Issue. April 17, 2025.
• Richter, and All Affected- Supplemental Appendix A. Application of availability issue. Aug 5, 2025.
• Geertsen (Davis), and All Affected. ICU in patients in the PACU. Sept 19, 2025.
• Taylor, and All Affected. Rest and Meal Breaks issue. Advanced to arbitration Dec 16, 2024. Date TBD.

Grievances currently in progress are:

• Davies and All Affected. Rest Between Shifts denial of pay. This grievance is currently at Step 4
• Gomez and All Affected, Shift Differential and Weekend Differential Issue. This grievance is currently at Step 3.
• Johnson and All Affected, Shift Differential Issue. This grievance is currently at Step 3
• Walter and All Affected, NICU Resident and Fellow Nurses being taken off orientation for holidays and then being placed back on orientation after holidays.  This grievance is at step 2
• Krajicek and All Affected, Scheduling Pattern Changes. This grievance is currently at Step 2
• Benefield and All Affected, Positions Posting.  This grievance is awaiting step 1 meeting.
• Smyly and All Affected, Changes in working conditions. This grievance is currently at Step 2.
• Nazzaro and All Affected, WPV zero tolerance. This grievance is at Step 2 but is currently in abeyance due to WPV Committee and Management actively collaborating.
• Patchen and All Affected, 3S Kronos Self Scheduling. This grievance has been placed in abeyance. In December, The WSNA 3S bargaining team met with Management with a Demand to Bargain a MOU.  We are awaiting the response from management to the proposal provided to them.

We have been able to settle a few grievances with management that involved incorrect step placement, tenure date correction, position postings, termination, and discipline without just cause.

We are currently working on further grievances that include disciplines without just cause.  Since these grievances affect individuals, they are not list with name and grievance. These include supplemental attendance, absenteeism, education compliance (RQI), and clocking out for breaks in the Kronos system during times when work was documented as being performed.

Please reach out to Kitt Ruchert WSNA NR with questions or concerns.

Investigatory Meetings

As a reminder, if your manager asks to speak to you, you are able and should ask if this conversation could lead to discipline. It is important to request a union representation if the meeting could lead to discipline.

If you are in a conversation with your manager that appears to be leading to discipline.  Request a union representative at that time and do not answer any further questions until you have secured a representative.

You need to make an explicit request for union representation. You cannot be penalized for making this request. Also note you have 10 days to schedule this meeting.  We recommend that you schedule this meeting as soon as possible. If a union representative is not available at the date and times provided, please contact Kitt Ruchert WSNA NR at 206-809-5036 (work cell phone number) or email kruchert@wsna.org.

If you need union representation, please contact via voice-tell. 

Please view the link above for more information.

Committee Corner 

Most of these committees meet monthly with additional meetings if necessary and provide an opportunity to collaborate with management to discuss issues that impact the Collective Bargaining Unit.

Conference Committee

SHMC Officer and management meet monthly to discuss issues that deal with the CBA and various other topics that impact the CBU.

Staffing Committee

The members of this committee usually meet monthly to review the unsafe staffing forms and discuss issues surrounding staffing.  The last few months have been filled with several ad hoc meetings.

The Staffing Charter that was due in July.  The committee approved the charter during December’s meeting.  The issue was and is the language of having 50% management and 50% WSNA Nurses along with +1 which is a staff member from UFCW.  WSNA and UFCW have a collaborative relationship with common goals.  This structure gives pause because it could lead to a scenario where management and nursing are not in agreement and the +1 staff member on the committee would be the vote that makes the decision. The concern has been raised several times during the months prior to approval.  There have been several remedies to this dilemma presented to the committee and management has yet not been agreeable.  We continue to ask for fairer representation from the members of UFCW to be allowed to increase their voice and to not make decisions based off the +1 members. This charter is approved yearly.  This committee is committed to continuing this discussion.

SHMC Staffing matrices are being posted on the DOH website.  New staffing matrices will be distributed after they are laminated. Please use the new staffing matrices as your guidelines and remove any old matrices from your unit.

Nurse Practice Committee

This committee deals with practice issues.  We will have an update for the next newsletter about the work being done in this committee.

 WPV Committee

“I am excited to join the team.  Verbal abuse is not really appreciated as abuse, but sometimes it’s scarier and more traumatic than physical abuse.  ‘Altered Mental Status’ is NOT an excuse for abusive behavior, IT STILL HURTS!” Alice Beckham, RN, BSN, SCRN – 8S Neuro Med/Surg

“Workplace Violence Prevention often focuses on physical assault; however verbal abuse constitutes a significant and often overlooked form of workplace violence.  I am excited to be a part of the WPV Committee, which is committed to raising awareness of these often-unaddressed issues to foster a safer environment for both the patients and staff.” Julie Anti, RN – Adult Psych/ED

Please welcome new members: Julie Anti and Alice Beckham.

They are joining WPV committee members: Maurya Robinson, RN -- CARA, Beth Ehring, BSN, RN – Mother/Baby, Jennifer Britton, RN -- ED, and Cheri Dolan, RN – 5N.

We are excited at the opportunities this committee brings to collaborate with management to improve the prevention and response to WPV.  Please document incidents using the WPV form.  If you have questions or concerns, contact a committee member or Kitt Ruchert, WSNA NR.

Please know that this will be one of the priorities when we go to Olympia for Lobby Day on February 4, 2025.  WSNA has multiple educational opportunities surrounding WPV.

Please use the links below to learn more..

https://www.wsna.org/nursing-practice/workplace-violence

https://cne.wsna.org/courses/to-report-or-not-to-report-module

https://cne.wsna.org/products/digital_downloads/new-digital-download

https://cne.wsna.org/bundles/workplace-violence

Safety Committee

WSNA is waiting for this committee meeting to be scheduled by SHMC and the two nurses who were elected to be invited to attend.  We will keep you informed when this committee is meeting again.

Message from your WSNA Nurse Representative

Hi Everyone,

I want you all to know these last 5 months have been a learning experience for me.  I am excited for the upcoming year.  I want to recognize the hard work of the SHMC WSNA Officers and the Committee Members. The amount of time and effort these nurses volunteer is beyond impressive.  Although the Conference Committee, the Staffing Committee, and NEO meeting provide some compensation, the preparation time is not compensated.  The other committees and activities performed are all done with hours volunteered.

The officers and committee members have done tremendous work in 2024, and the work continues into 2025.  I want to take a moment to thank them for their hard work and to acknowledge that none of the accomplishments could be possible without the strength of the SHMC CBU.

Our Collective Bargaining Agreement expires in December 2025.  You can anticipate a bargaining survey mid to late Spring with bargaining starting in the Fall.  It is important to provide the SHMC Officers and the appointed bargaining team members with the information necessary to make decisions as to what priorities will be taken to the table.

We are looking for more unit liaisons/stewards.  The tasks asked of liaisons now may be to pass along information to your unit, to be a resource/guide for your unit, update bulletin boards on your units, and/or be available at activities such as Sip N Chats … etc.

Depending upon units size we would like to have at least 2 WSNA Liaisons/Stewards for each shift. Please contact me, the SHMC officers, or a committee member if you are interested.

Please don’t hesitate to contact me with any questions or concerns.  I have provided my email and cell phone at the end of this message. You may leave text messages at any time, and we can arrange a date and time to talk if needed. My phone is silent when I am not available.  My goal is to respond within 48 – 72 hours.  Please, if you have not heard from me by that time frame, reach out to me again and/or one of the officers.

We are looking forward to hearing from you.

In Solidarity,

Kitt Ruchert, BSN, RN
WSNA Nursing Representative
kruchert@wsna.org
206-809-5036, cellphone

WSNA Treasurer’s report from Maurya Robinson, RN, CARA unit

Hi WSNA bargaining unit nurses did you know that 4% of the dues paid to WSNA each month, are returned to the local unit in the form of a Local Unit Fund account held by the WSNA Officers to support the activities of the local unit. The WSNA Labor Executive Committee (formally known as the Cabinet) has indicated the funds can be used by members to promote membership, educational activities, contract administration, internal communications engage in public relations activities, support their officers and negotiating team.

If you are interested in obtaining reimbursement for a WSNA activity of the local unit, contact a local unit officer, or your Nurse Rep to find out how.

Funds Status: as of October 2024

• Total Local Unit Funds amount = $88,817.66
• Incoming dues each month = $5,000 on average
• Ongoing Local Unit Expenses =
  • Voice Tel - $25.90/month
  • Storage Unit - $107/month
  • Labor Council Dues = $227.50/month
  • Spokane Alliance Dues = $800/year
  • $100/per NEO (WSNA New Hire Presentation) to WSNA Officer (NEOs occur 2x a month)

To see a full breakdown of deposits and usage, Use the links to view the full report.

We are WSNA – You are WSNA – Get Involved!

Whether you’re interested in leadership roles or simply want to lend a helping hand, there are numerous opportunities to make a meaningful impact.

As a liaison/shop steward, you can connect with members, organize events, and help facilitate communication within the BU.

Being part of WSNA State Office allows you to contribute to decision making process and helps to shape the future direction of WSNA at a state and national level.

Additionally, you can join committees or volunteer for special projects that align with your skills and interests.  By getting more involved, you’ll not only enhance your personal and professional growth but also build lasting relationships and create memorable experiences. Embrace the chance to make a difference and have a great time doing it!