Kronos Overpayment

You may remember the 2022 Kronos cyberattack that left health systems across the country scrambling to manually track employee hours. As a result, some nurses at St. Joe’s were overpaid. For the past three years, WSNA has explored every possible path to resolve this without placing financial burden on nurses. Unfortunately, the employer is now moving forward with collecting those overpayments.

If you received an overpayment, you should have been contacted via email with repayment instructions, including options for a payment plan. If you have questions about your specific situation, please speak directly with your manager. For broader concerns—or if you believe the repayment amount is inaccurate—contact your WSNA nurse representative.

Med-Surg Virtual Townhall – July 23 at 1730

Calling all med-surg nurses! We want to hear from you. Join us on Tuesday, July 23 at 1730 for a virtual townhall meeting. This is your opportunity to share what's working, what’s not, and how we can help improve conditions on your unit. Bring your ideas—and bring a coworker. You can join by following this link.

Call Committee Launched

Thanks to strong contract language won at the bargaining table, we secured key improvements for nurses who take call— including incentives for open shifts, clearer definitions of mandatory call, and more equitable distribution across units. But we know every unit is different.

That’s why we negotiated an MOU to form a Call Committee—a collaborative group that will allow units to tailor call scheduling practices to fit their unique needs. The committee will consist of six RNs from call-eligible units and the WSNA nurse representative.

If you take call and are interested in joining the committee, reach out to your nurse rep or a local unit officer. You can read the full MOU by visiting the St. Joe’s WSNA page.

Hospital Staffing Committee Update

The Hospital Staffing Committee met on Monday, July 14 and reviewed proposed staffing plans for med-surg, ICU, wound care, critical care, and more. Plans for med-surg, ICU, and wound care were not approved.

The primary concern? Break buddies. We cannot approve plans that rely on break buddy coverage unless it’s clearly stated and justified in the plan. As HSC members, we have a legal and contractual duty to ensure every staffing plan has a clear path to compliance with Washington state law. If a plan cannot meet that standard, we will not approve it—and when we report noncompliance to the state, we will explain exactly why.

Stay tuned for more HSC updates and how you can get involved in staffing advocacy.

New WSNA Nurse Representative for St. Joe’s

WSNA Nurse Representative Jared Richardson will be transitioning to represent nurses at Tacoma General as they prepare for upcoming negotiations. Jared will continue supporting the St. Joe’s Hospital Staffing Committee through the current review cycle to ensure continuity.

We are excited to welcome Janet Stewart as our new nurse rep at St. Joe’s. Janet worked in the ICU at St. Joe’s for 24 years and served as both a local unit officer and bargaining team member. Over the last 4 years she has represented the nurses at Good Samaritan hospital including through the groundbreaking negotiation campaign of 2022. She brings deep experience and a strong commitment to nurse advocacy, and we know she will continue the fight for safer working conditions and fair treatment for every nurse at St. Joe’s.

You can reach Janet at JStewart@WSNA.org.