Coffee Sip and Chat this Friday, Sept. 1, from noon to 3 p.m. at Lobby Espresso on the 3^rd floor

Come visit your WSNA Nurse Representative and Local Unit Officers for a Free Coffee from noon to 3 p.m. at the 3^rd Floor Lobby Espresso.  The fine folks at this location will be serving up drinks of your choice, compliments of your Local Unit Officers.

We encourage you to come down with an RN colleague and bring any issues or concerns you may have about your working conditions.

See ya on Friday!

On Sept. 6, WSNA will be rounding units for night shift from 2200-midnight with coffee and treats.  We want to say thank you to all of the amazing night shift RNs as well!

Short Staffing Escalation

We have received a number of Staffing Complaint/ADO forms in the past few months.  If you find yourself in a situation where your staffing matrix calls for a higher number of RNs than what is scheduled based on the number of patients or heightened patient acuity, it is important to Fill out a Staffing Complaint form and immediately escalate this up the chain of leadership.

WSNA, along with UWMC Montlake leadership, recently had discussions in our Staffing Committees regarding short staffing and the need for leadership escalation in these situations.

The first person who will likely be aware is the charge nurse.  Be sure to reach out to them first so that they can start working on creative ways to overcome staffing challenges including sending texts out to all available RNs.

The second person you should notify is the unit manager.  This may include email, text or phone call.  Unit managers have mentioned in Staffing Committee discussions that they want to be notified anytime RNs believe a short staffing crisis is not being remedied.

If the manager is not able to work with the charge RN to fix the problem, it is essential to then reach out to the house supervisor.  This person will have a broader view of staffing throughout the house and may be aware of available RNs on other units.

If the house supervisor is not able to assist in bridging the gap in staffing, email CNO Cindy Sayre letting her know the circumstances and the efforts you have made thus far. 

It is as important as ever to fill out Staffing Complaint Forms/ADOs whenever there is a staffing issue.  This may include not having enough RNs or assist staff as well. 

Here is a link to the ADO forms:  https://www.wsna.org/union/ado.

Workplace Violence Committee Member Needed

We currently have one RN on this committee and have a spot for another.  If you are interested in playing a role in making UWMC a safer place to work, this committee meets once a month on the second Thursday.  Members will get paid for time spent in meetings.

If you have an interest in being a member of this committee, please contact WSNA Nurse Representative Ed Zercher at ezercher@wsna.org.

Safe Staffing Committee Members Needed

WSNA is looking for an RN representative from every inpatient and outpatient unit to be a member of this committee.

This committee meets for two hours (from 1 to 3 p.m.) the first Tuesday of every month.

In this committee, we go over the staffing matrix for each unit, proposed changes to staffing along with reviewing the Staffing Complaint Forms for cause and resolution.

Members of this committee are paid for their time spent in meetings.

If you have an interest in being a member of this committee, please contact WSNA Nurse Representative Ed Zercher at ezercher@wsna.org.

Local Unit Officers Election

WSNA has had the wonderful pleasure of having a dedicated group of elected officers representing the hard-working RNs at UWMC.

It is time that we send out ballots for a new set of officers for the next 3 years.

The WSNA positions are Chair, Co-Chair, Secretary, Treasurer and Grievance officer.

Local Unit officers are generally part of the negotiations team for future contracts and attend monthly Conference Committee meetings when we discuss anything related to wages, hours, working conditions along with patient and RN safety happening in the facility.

If you have an interest in being an elected WSNA officer, please contact WSNA Nurse Representative Ed Zercher at ezercher@wsna.org.

Thanks again for all you do in advocating for your patients and your colleagues as a WNSA member!

Your WSNA RN officers at UWMC Montlake:
Teresa Wren L&D- Co Chair twren@hotmail.com
Chris Jakubowski Cardiac Services-Chair chrisjakubowski@comcast.net
Doug Harper NICU-Treasurer douglasharper@me.com
Jan Bower O.R.- Grievance Officer lyubabower@gmail.com
Charles James PACU-Grievance Officer chuckj@msn.com
Edward Zercher WSNA Nurse Representative ezercher@wsna.org