PeaceHealth Southwest is continuing their attempts to bully and intimidate nurses who are speaking out about staffing concerns and patient safety.

“Patient advocacy is at the foundation of nursing practice. Our Nursing Code of Ethics calls on us to promote, advocate for, and protect the rights, health, and safety of our patients. WSNA will not allow PeaceHealth to silence the voices of our members. We will defend nurses’ right to speak up for safe patient care!” said David Keepnews, PhD, JD, RN, FAAN, Executive Director of the Washington State Nurses Association.

WSNA has filed an unfair labor practice charge with the National Labor Relations Board against Peace­Health South­west Medical Center in response to management’s attempt to bully and intim­i­date a nurse who spoke out about inade­quate staffing and related problems in the workplace when inter­viewed by the news media about the current staffing crisis.

Patient advocacy cannot stop at the bedside. Our voices must be heard. Nurses will not be bullied into silence about the intol­er­able condi­tions under which so many nurses are currently forced to work.

As WSNA union nurses, we have the right to representation and must stand up for our rights:

Representation Rights

1. The employee must make a clear request for union repre­sen­ta­tion before or during the inter­view. The employee cannot be punished for making this request. (Note: Do not ask the employer,​“do I need union repre­sen­ta­tion?” It is up to you to make the state­ment that you want union repre­sen­ta­tion.) Remember, manage­ment is not an appro­priate repre­sen­ta­tive, so if they offer you the nursing super­visor or someone else to sit with you, that is not adequate.
2. After the employee makes the request, the employer must choose among three options. The employer must either:
   1. Grant the request and delay questioning until the union repre­sen­ta­tive arrives and has a chance to consult privately with the employee; or
   2. Deny the request and end the inter­view immedi­ately; or
   3. Give the employee a choice of 1) having the inter­view without repre­sen­ta­tion, or 2) ending the interview.
3. If the employer denies the request for union repre­sen­ta­tion and continues to ask questions, this is an unfair labor practice and the employee has the right to refuse to answer. The employee cannot be disci­plined for a refusal to answer questions without union representation.

Questions? Contact WSNA Nurse Representative Mara Kieval at mkieval@wsna.org.