Happy Nurses Week!

This week, we celebrate us. We celebrate the care we provide, the strength we carry, and the relentless commitment we show every day—not just to our patients, but to each other. We honor our work as both a calling and a fight: for safe staffing, fair treatment, and evidence-based practice rooted in equity and respect.

We’ve weathered crisis together. From the trauma of COVID to the daily strain of working short-staffed, we’ve stood strong—even when it hurt. Through it all, we’ve remained the most trusted profession in the country because of nurses like you. You show up. You speak up. You never give less than your best.

This year, we’re excited to celebrate Nurses Week with daily drawings and prizes!

• Every day, 10 nurses (5 day shift, 5 night shift) will receive a $10 Starbucks gift card.
• One nurse from each shift will also win their choice of item from the brand-new WSNA Store.
• And one lucky nurse will win the full prize package: a $10 Starbucks card, their WSNA Store pick, and $125 to Blazing Onion Burger Co.

Winners will be notified by email. You can browse the WSNA store here.

St. Joe’s Nurses Lead at WSNA Convention

We’re proud to announce that two of our own were honored at the 2025 WSNA Convention for their outstanding contributions to nursing and workplace justice.

Kathleen Jabasa (Main OR) received the Health Equity Award for leading the charge to end the discriminatory practice of undervaluing international nursing experience. Because of her work at the bargaining table, nurses now receive full credit for their professional experience—no matter where it was earned. Many have already been re-stepped, and other hospitals are following St. Joe’s lead. Watch Kat receive her award by clicking here.

Katy Heffernan (Cath Lab) received the Joanna Boatman Staff Nurse Leadership Award for her courageous leadership in ending unsafe and illegal mandatory overtime in the Cath and EP Labs. Katy helped lead the first unit-specific strike notice in Washington state (and potentially the country)—a move that resulted in the highest call pay incentives in Washington. Her work pushed the employer to the table, and across the finish line.

These nurses embody what it means to fight for equity, safety, and respect. We’re proud to stand alongside them.

Hospital Staffing Committee Updates

Starting this July, staffing plan compliance reporting goes live—and with it, a new Kronos prompt will ask whether your break was given by a break buddy. We’ve heard management calling these “peer breaks” or “neighbor breaks,” but let’s be clear: if someone with a patient assignment gives your break, that’s a break buddy, and it violates the staffing plan.

Every time that happens, report it. It matters. Compliance with the staffing plan is our right, and we each play a role in holding management accountable.

Thank you to everyone who continues to submit ADOs. We review them monthly at the HSC, and even though we can’t get to every single one in the meeting, each one requires action under the Safe Staffing Law. The more we document, the more pressure we apply for real change.

What’s Ahead

There’s more to come. This year we’re rolling out:

• A Juneteenth celebration,
• Investments in a stronger Unit Rep system, and
• Clinical grouping-specific town halls designed to hear your voice and take action.

Stay tuned for updates—and as always, stay connected.

Thank you for everything you do. Together, we’re advancing the profession, raising standards, and fighting for a better future.