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Registration now open for the 2024 Union Leadership Conferencereserve your spot today!

Officers

Chair

Lovella Flores

509-460-1264

Email

Co-Chair

Marisela Aguilar

509-305-1975

Email

Secretary

Lori Riojas

509-781-0108

Email

Treasurer

Vacant

Grievance Officer

Janice Schell

509-439-9288

Email

Membership Officer

Cheryl Bofman


WSNA staff contact

Latest update

Winter Newsletter 2024

Contract Negotiations

The current contract expires November 30, 2024.  This survey is our first step in our preparation for contract negotiations. Your input is critical in determining the priorities as we head to the bargaining table. It is vital that we know your issues and concerns prior to the start of the negotiations.

Take a moment to complete this survey now. The power of representation comes from the willingness of registered nurses to come together; our strength is in unity!

Please provide us with your current contact information. WSNA and your negotiating team members will not share this information with anyone. It is only collected so that we may contact you if we have questions about issues and so that we may share important information with you regarding negotiations, so be sure to give your personal E-mail address (Do not give your work email address). WSNA needs this survey information no later than May 1, 2024.

Additionally, we would like you to consider participating in bargaining. Training will be provided.        

Champions of Change – 2024 Union Leadership Conference

Don’t miss WSNA’s labor training event at Campbell’s Resort in Chelan April 28-30

Join nurses from around the state as we convene to build stronger local units, become more effective leaders, learn more about the national and state labor scenes, celebrate our successes, and strategize for what’s coming next.

If you are interested in attending, there are scholarships available. Please contact an Officer!

2024 Union Leadership Conference
WSNA 2024 Union Leadership Conference. April 28 - 30 , 2024. Campbell's Resort, Chelan WA.
www.eventbrite.com

Investigatory Meetings

 If you are notified by you manager that you must attend an investigatory meeting, please invoke your Weingarten Rights (On the other side of your badge buddy) You have the right to have your Grievance Officer (Janice Schell) or your Nurse Representative (Laurie Robinson) to attend. If there is an outcome meeting with any disciplinary action, a grievance may be filed, it MUST be done so within 18 days.

What Is an ADO? Assignment Despite Objection

This is a nurse's tool to identify a workplace issue regarding adherence to Staffing/Breaks/Overtime protection Laws.

ADO Form/Online Staffing Complaint form

Use it!

ADO no caption

This online staffing complaint/ADO form was developed by a coalition that included WSNA, other unions and WSHA representatives. Completing the form serves many purposes, including data tracking, bringing issues to light, supportive documentation, and discussion tool to make things better. It is not punitive. ALL STAFFING PLANS MUST BE POSTED ON UNIT
This form is to be completed for issues including but not limited to:

  • The unit is not staffed according to its staffing plan or if mid-shift staffing adjust­ments are inadequate.
  • Missed breaks or earned time denied.
  • Equipment issues
  • Workplace safety concerns
  • Concerns with working conditions
  • System Failures
  • Holding patients
  • Patient safety concerns
  • Workplace Violence

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 encouraged to include your manager’s name and email.

After you complete the form a copy of the submitted form immedi­ately goes to you, the WSNA chair and co-chair, WSNA Rep, staffing committee co-chairs, and your manager, provided you have entered his or her email. The Nurse Staffing Committee will review the complaint at their next meeting if it is a staffing concern.

Find the staffing complaint form at wsna.org/ado or use the QR.

COVID related illness

If you are filing an L&I claim for COVID, ensure that you have a confirming test from your physician or ARNP as well as a letter documenting the likelihood of the illness being related to the workplace.

Can COVID-19 ever be allowed as a work-related condition?

Presumptive coverage for COVID-19 health care and frontline workers ended when both the state and federal emergencies ended.

Claims for COVID-19 falling outside the presumptive coverage will be considered under standard occupational disease criteria.

Once a claim is allowed, workers are eligible for medical and disability benefits.

The insurer (L&I or a self-insured business) will pay for treatment of COVID-19.

Appropriate, medically required testing would also be covered. This is a time-limited benefit, and no benefits would be paid after the worker tests negative for COVID-19 or the quarantine period has ended, unless the worker develops the disease.

Compensation for allowed claims.

For health care and frontline workers who contract the disease, temporary wage replacement, or time-loss benefits, begins the day after the earliest of the following:

  • The first missed workday due to symptoms.
  • The day the worker was quarantined by a medical provider or public health official.
  • The day the worker received a positive test result confirming contraction of the infectious or contagious disease.

For other allowed claims, time-loss payments for lost wages during a quarantine period may be available for up to 14 days; however, the first 3 days are not paid unless the worker is medically required to remain off work on the 14th day following exposure. The CDC indicates that COVID-19 symptoms may appear anywhere from 2 to 14 days after exposure.

If you have any questions, comments, or concerns, please reach out to:
Lovella Flores-Chair
Marisela Aguilar-Co Chair
Cheryl Bofman- Membership Officer
Lori Rojas-Secretary
Janice Schell- Grievance Officer
Ryan Rosenkranz- Nurse Organizer 206-867-4627 or rrosenkranz@wsna.org
Laurie Robinson-Nurse Rep 206-620-4136 or lrobinson@wsna.org

Resources and tools

Document unsafe conditions

If you find yourself in a situation that you believe creates unsafe conditions for patients or for you, you should complete a Staffing Complaint / ADO Form as soon as possible.

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

WSNA also uses your ADO forms to track the problems occurring in your facility. When you and your coworkers take the important step of filling out an ADO form, you are helping to identify whether there is a pattern of unsafe conditions for you or your patients at your facilities. This information is used by your conference committee, staffing committee, and WSNA labor staff to improve your working conditions.

Learn more

Representation rights

As a union member, you have the right to have a representative present in any meetings with management that could potentially lead to disciplinary action against you.

If called into a meeting with management, read the following to management when the meeting begins:

If this discussion could in any way lead to my being disciplined or terminated, I respectfully request that my union representative be present at this meeting. Without representation present, I choose not to participate in this discussion.

Find out more about this crucial right and how to exercise it to ensure your fair treatment and protection.

Learn more

Continuing education offerings

Enhance your professional competency with WSNA's free online courses.

Earn CNE contact hours through topics like Cultural Humility, Telehealth Assessment, Workplace Violence Prevention, and more. Convenient and self-paced, our courses provide practical knowledge for your daily work. Expand your skills and stay up-to-date with the latest nursing practices.

Visit cne.wsna.org to access our courses and earn CNE contact hours.

Visit cne.wsna.org