washington nurse - summer 2011

A Publication of the Washington State Nurses Association Volume 41, No 2 Summer 2011

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Washington State Nurses Association

Leadership Conference 2011

September 25 – 27, 2011 � Campbell's Resort, Chelan, WA � Agenda & Registration on Page 30

The Washington Nurse | Summer 2011 | 3

Contents

– Summer 2011 –

U p F r o nt

5 You Were Represented

5 Calendar

6 In Focus President's Letter

8 District News from KCNA and IENA

11 News Briefs

12 ANA News

W S N A N e W S

14 A Report from the 2011 Convention

14 Resolutions Passed

20 Election Results

L e g i S L At i v e A f fA i r S

21 What Happened During the 2011 Legislative Session

L a b o r r e L at i o n s

24 Cover Story: What Would Florence Do?

27 Skagit Valley RNs Fight Back

28 Rest Breaks Settlement with Evergreen Hospital

29 Report Card on Recent Labor Gains

30 Leadership Conference Agenda & Registration

34 NFN Labor Academy & Assembly

N u r S i N g P r A ct i c e

39 Nursing Practice News Briefs

41 Continuing Competency

M e M b e r N e W S

42 The New Members List

42 Honors & Recognitions

44 Membership News

46 In Memoriam

c o N t i N u i N g e d u c At i o N

48 Online CNE Update

50 Calendar

WWFD?Under the guise of solving these States’ financial woes, workers and their

unions are systematically and intentionally being stripped of not only their hard fought gains in salaries, pensions and benefits, but also of their collective

bargaining rights and in some cases, even their rights to free speech.

What Would Florence Do? page 22

4 | The Washington Nurse | Summer 2011

WAShiNgtoN StAte NuRSeS ASSoCiAtioN

575 Andover Park West, Suite 101, Seattle, WA 98188

206.575.7979 • 206.575.1908 fax • [email protected]

www.wsna.org

The Washington Nurse (ISSN# 0734-5666) newsmaga-zine is published quarterly by the Washington State Nurses Association. It is distributed as a benefit of membership to all WSNA members. A member rate of $10 per year is included in WSNA membership dues. Institutional subscription rate is $30 per year (Canada/Mexico: US $36 per year; Foreign: US $49 per year).

The information in this newsmagazine is for the benefit of WSNA members. WSNA is a multi-purpose, multi-faceted organization. The Washington Nurse provides a forum for members of all specialties and interests to express their opinions. Opinions expressed are the responsibilities of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the officers or membership of WSNA, unless so stated. Copyright 2011, WSNA. No part of this publication may be reproduced without permission.

A d v e r t i s i n g

Information on advertising rates may be obtained on the WSNA website (www.wsna.org) or by contacting the WSNA Business Agent at 206.575.7979. Advertis-ing deadlines are: March 1, June 1, September 1, and December 1. Advertising will be accepted on a first come, first served basis for preferred positions, pending space availability. WSNA reserves the right to reject advertising. Paid advertisements in The Washington Nurse do not necessarily reflect the endorsement of the WSNA Members, Staff or Organization.

C o n t r i b u t o r g u i d e l i n e s

Article ideas and unsolicited manuscripts are wel-come from WSNA members (300 word maximum). Please submit a typed copy and digital copy (Word 97/2003/2007), and include identified relevant photos, a biographical statement, your name, address and credentials. It is not the policy of WSNA to pay for articles or artwork.

A r t i C l e s u b M i s s i o n d e A d l i n e s

Spring ......................................................................... February 15

Summer ................................................................................ May 15

Fall ................................................................................... August 15

Winter ..................................................................... November 15

DesigneD, eDiteD & printeD in the UsA

W S N A B o A R d o f d i R e c t o R S & S t A f f

speciAl projects MAnAgerDarlene Delgado, RN

execUtive ADMinistrAtive AssistAnt to the execUtive Director

Barbara Bergeron

BookkeeperMary Reed

AssistAnt execUtive Director, governMentAl AffAirs AnD operAtions

Anne Tan Piazza

contrAct loBByistTamara Warnke

senior governMentAl AffAirs ADvisorSofia Aragon, JD, BSN, RN

coMMUnicAtions speciAlistLillie Cridland

WeB & coMMUnicAtions speciAlistBen Tilden

operAtions / systeMs ADMinistrAtorDuncan Taylor

MeMBership coorDinAtorMary Peterson

MeMBership processorsPatrick McGrawLouise Hohbach

MeMBership processor / clericAl sUpportKelly King

MeMBership processor / ADMinistrAtive AssistAnt, lABor relAtions

Shastie Parker

ADMinistrAtive AssistAnt, progrAMs & operAtionsHue Tran

coMMUnicAtions processorKathryn MacLeod

receptionist / MAil clerkIrene Mueller

AssistAnt execUtive Director, nUrsing prActice, eDUcAtion & reseArchSally Watkins, PhD, MS, RN

nUrsing prActice & eDUcAtion speciAlistKaren A. Benson, Ph.D., MS, MN, RN

eDUcAtion speciAlistHilke Faber, MN, RN, FAAN

occUpAtionAl & environMentAl heAlth speciAlistKaren R. Bowman, MN, RN, COHN-S

AssistAnt execUtive Director, lABor relAtionsChristine Himmelsbach, MN, RN

senior lABor consUltAntBarbara E. Frye, BSN, RN

AssistAnt Director, lABor relAtionsMargaret Conley, RN, ARNP

generAl / corporAte coUnselTimothy Sears

generAl coUnselLaura Anderson

Michael Sanderson

pArAlegAlMaria Pettit

nUrse representAtivesDebra Bessmer, BSN, RN Sara Frey, JD, BSN, RN

Barbara Friesen, BSN, RN Carmen Garrison BSN, RN

Kathi Landon, RNJudy Marken, BSN, RN

Pat McClure, RNJaclyn Perkins, BSN, RNMichele Rose, BSN, RN

Hanna Welander, BSN, RNHeather Worbets, BSN, RN

Ed Zercher, BSN, RN

nUrse orgAnizersJan Bussert, BSN, RN

Tara Goode, BA, BSN, RN Mara Kieval, BSN, RN

presiDentJulia A. Weinberg, RN, Bow

vice presiDentTim Davis, MN, RN, Mt. Vernon

secretAry / treAsUrerVerlee Sutherlin, MEd, MSN, RN, Nine Mile Falls

Directors-At-lArgeJeanne Avey, RN, LongviewEd Dolle, RN, Port Orchard

Jennifer Graves, RN, MS, ARNP, SeattleJudi M. Lyons, RN, Ellensburg

Pam Pasquale, MN, RN, BC, CNE, Wenatchee

chAir, cABinet on econoMic & generAl WelfAreMartha Avey, RN, CCRN, Spokane

chAir, professionAl nUrsing & heAlth cAre coUncilSharon Bradley, MSN, RN, Spokane

chAir, legislAtive & heAlth policy coUncilSusan E. Jacobson, RN, CCRN, Yakima

execUtive DirectorJudith A. Huntington, MN, RN


You Were Represented

• Alliance of Nurses for Healthy Environments (ANHE) Policy / Advocacy Committee

• American Nurses Association (ANA) Board of Directors

• ANA Dues Evaluation Task Force

• ANA Nursing Practice Network

• ANA Congress on Nursing Practice & Economics

• American Organization of Nurse Executives (AONE) annual conference

• ARNP Coalition Meeting

• Clinical Nurse Specialists Stakeholders

• Collaborative on a Healthy Environment (CHE-WA)

• Department of Health Committee on Healthcare Acquired Infections

• Faculty Compensation Workgroup for Master Plan for Education, WCN

• Health Care Assistant / Medical Assistant Scope of Practice Coalition

• Health Care Access Coalition

• Health Care Without Harm

• Health Coalition for Children & Youth

• Healthy Washington Coalition

• Office of the Insurance Commissioner Health Reform Realization Committee

• King County Nurses Association Annual Meeting

• Mary Mahoney Professional Nursing Organization Annual Meeting

• 2011 National Federation of Nurses (NFN) Labor Academy

• NFN National Executive Board & National Advisory Board

• 2011 NFN National Federation Assembly

• Northwest Organization of Nurse Executives (NWONE) Nursing Education & Practice Commission

• NWONE Spring Conference & Business Meeting

• Nursing Care Quality Assurance Commission Meetings (NCQAC)

• NCQAC Continuing Competency Subcommittee

• NCQAC Nursing Practice Advisory Group for Consistent Standards of Practice Subcommittee

• Nursing Students of Washington State (NSWS) Convention & Board meetings

• Pierce County Health Careers Council

• Pierce County Nurses Association Annual Banquet

• Primary Care Coalition

• Public Health Funding Roundtable

• Puget Sound Health Alliance & Consumer Engagement Team

• Rebuilding Our Economic Future Coalition

• Revenue Coalition

• RWJF “IOM Report on Future of Nursing” WA-NAC planning

• Ruckelshaus Safe Staffing Steering Committee

• Shoreline School of Nursing Centennial Celebration

• Toxic Free Legacy Coalition

• UW School of Nursing Soule Lecture & Nursing Recognition Dinner

• Washington Center for Nursing (WCN) Board

• WCN Faculty Compensation workgroup for Master Plan for Education

• WCN Master Plan Transition to Practice workgroup

• Washington Chapter of Physicians for Social Responsibility

• Washington Health Foundation Board Meeting

• Washington Patient Safety Steering Committee & Medication Safety initiative

• Washington State Labor Council Legislative Labor Caucus

• Washington State Public Health Association Board meeting

• Washington State Safe Patient Handling Steering Committee

• Washington Toxics Coalition

• Washington State Hospital Association (WSHA) Safe Table Learning Collaborative Advisory Committee

• Washington State Nurses Foundation Board of Trustees meeting

• “We Are One” Labor Rally

– July –

28 Board / Cabinet / Councils Orientation - Cedarbrook, SeaTac, WA

29 Board of Directors Meeting - Tukwila, WA

– August –

4-5 NFN Board Meeting - Chicago, IL

11 Dues Structure Task Force - Tukwila, WA

12 Creating a Culture of Safety Workshop - Cedarbrook, SeaTac, WA

13 Nurses Appreciation Night with the Seattle Storm - Key Arena, Seattle, WA

– September –

5 OFFICE CLOSED - Labor Day Observed

14-16 ANA Lobbyists Meeting - Washington, D.C.

16 CEARP Committee Meeting - Tukwila, WA

24 Cabinet on Economic and General Welfare Meeting - Chelan, WA

25-27 WSNA Leadership Conference - Chelan, WA

30 Fatigue Webinar

– October –

18 Continued Competency Workshop for PCNA - Jackson Hall, Tacoma, WA

27 ARNP Coalition Meeting

2012 events

January 25-27 NDNQI Conference - Las Vegas, NV

February 13 Nurse Legislative Day - Olympia, WA

March 27 WSNA Hall of Fame - Seattle, WA

Upcoming Events

■ The WSNA staff and elected and appointed leaders represent your interests in a wide variety of meetings, coalitions, conferences and work groups throughout the year, anticipating and responding to the issues the membership has identified as priorities. In addition to many meetings with legislators, regulators, policy makers, other health care and nursing organizations and unions, the following rep-resents a partial listing of the many places and meetings where you were represented during the months of February through July.

“We Are One” Rally

WSNA President Julia Weinberg represents nurses & WSNA at "We Are One" Labor Rally in Olympia.

A huge chanting crowd of more than 7,000 swarmed the

steps of the Washington State Capitol for the “We Are One”

Labor Rally on Friday, April 8th, 2011. WSNA President,

Julia Weinberg, RN addressed the crowd on behalf of all

registered nurses. Julia spoke about the impacts of health care cuts on real people and the

need to close tax loopholes for corporations. The event urged legislators to put people first by

refocusing on creating jobs, demanding that powerful corporations share in the sacrifice as

our nation struggles, and called for an end to the attacks on working people and their unions.


ByJulia Weinberg, RN, WSNA President

“May we each and all of us Nurses be faithful to the end, remembering this, that no one Nurse stands alone.” —Florence Nightingale

This statement is just as true today for nurses and nursing as it was during Flor-

ence Nightingale’s time in the late 1800’s.

As I begin my second term as your WSNA president, I have reflected on the past two years and thought about what the next two will hold. I feel that more than ever right now, nurses must be unified and stand firmly together. We cannot waver from our shared professional values, from the nursing ethics which help center us, and from the professional nursing standards which guide us.

As nurses, we need to speak up and speak out for what we know is right. As the most trusted profession and the largest group of workers in the healthcare indus-try, it is our responsibility to help define and implement health reform. We must lead our profession forward, be engaged in community activities and policy deci-sions, broaden access to healthcare and appropriate providers, while also still doing our jobs to deliver excellent patient care in all settings. Of course, we’re not doing it alone; WSNA is work-ing on the state and national level to make sure that we have a leading voice in reform.

Convention this year was all about buying a ‘Ticket to Tomor-row’ and creating our map for nursing’s future. We need to put nurses in the driver’s seat for healthcare reform and also work towards implementing the vision of the Institute of Medicine

‘Future of Nursing’ report. We now have the research to prove that what nurses do at the bedside, and in all other practice set-tings, really does make a measurable difference in the outcomes for patients. We have outcomes data recognizing the economic value that our profession brings to healthcare. When given the opportunity to practice to our highest level of training, nurses can decrease care costs and improve outcomes for individual patients and also communities, even globally.

Our keynote speakers and break-out sessions helped to inform, educate and inspire us. We need to now take what we learned together and share it with others and put it into practice. It’s time for each of us to be the leaders of the nursing profession.

We were so fortunate to have the Nursing Students of Wash-ington State and many of their members join us at Convention. They too had their business meeting during Convention and elected a new slate of board and committee members. It was exciting for all of us to see their enthusiasm and feel the energy they brought into the room. These soon-to-be-practicing nurses are our future. They are the ones who will to continue to shape and guide our profession long after we’ve retired. If we set the right example now and provide our help and guidance, these young nurses will propel us even further forward towards our shared vision and goals as nurses.

We also can’t forget that each of us has personal rights as workers—rights that need to be defended. Make no mistake, the big statewide labor conflicts we’re seeing across the country are rippling out into our workplaces. For one facility, that may mean that disciplines are on the rise and at another it may be unprecedented takeaways at the bargaining table. We need to stand up for each other and stand together. If we let one nurse or local unit get disrespected or devalued, that will

trickle out from manager to manager and hospital to hospital. It affects us all.

WSNA and the Cabinet on Economic & General Welfare have been hosting “unity” dinners across the state to bring nurses together and build the solidarity and unity we need right now. Our local bargaining units and the district nurses associations have joined in to support these events. Nurses are gathering to talk about the issues they’re experiencing in their workplaces and to hear from WSNA about what’s going on in the state and nation. It has also been our pleasure to welcome Barbara Crane, President of the National Federation of Nurses, to at least four of these dinners so far (and WSNA is planning on doing more in the future).

As President, I have been to many of these events and I really do appreciate being able to listen and talk with so many great nurses. I’m learning about what is important to each of you, and I also get to share what WSNA is working on. Of course, I also remind everyone that each of us has a role and responsibility to help in whatever way we can.

When we all stand together, each doing our part, no matter how big or small, our future is ours for the writing. That tomorrow begins today with WSNA. ■

In Focus

As nurses, we need to speak up

and speak out for what we know is

right. As the most trusted profession

and the largest group of workers

in the healthcare industry, it is our

responsibility to help define and

implement health reform.

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Be prepared for the unexpected.Get a WSNA Emergency Preparedness Kit.


District News

King County Nurses AssociationD I S t R I C t 2

King County Nurses Association cel-ebrated National Nurses Week with its Annual Meeting & Spring Ban-quet, May 12 at Shilshole Bay Beach

Club. The evening was a festive success, with the awarding of the annual Shining Star Award and 11 nursing scholarships as well as the annual KCNA auction (100% of proceeds go to the Scholarship Program). Attendance was in the record-breaking range at 135!

The winner of the 2011 Shining Star Award was Mary Fatica, RN, BSN, nurse recruiter at Public Health-Seattle & King County. Fatica has worked the past 34

years for Public Health, including 18 years in the King County detoxification facility and eight years in the King County jail. For the past 10 years as recruiter, she has been responsible for recruiting and hiring for Community Health Services, and providing outreach to schools and community sites. According to colleagues, Fatica consistently goes beyond the call of duty in her position. Amid state and county budget cuts, she has been a voice of calm and sanity as the workforce has been challenged by layoffs, reductions in force and reallocation of personnel.

KCNA also awarded 11 scholarships of $2,000 each. Recipients this year included: Aleksandra Abney (Bellevue College), Ashley Grieve (University of Washing-ton), Tegan Jones (Seattle Central Com-

Executive Master of Health Administration and Certificate in Medical ManagementDeveloping Leaders, Transforming Health Care

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munity College), Sumi Kim (University of Washington), Staci Nakanishi (Shoreline Community College), Christopher Nel-son (Seattle Central Community College), Kristine Pascual (University of Wash-ington), Hieu Pham (Washington State University), Carol Ridenhour (University of Washington-Bothell), Lan Tran (Bel-levue College), and Maryam Yazdi (Seattle Pacific University).

King County Nurses Association (KCNA) is committed to improving the health of communities in King County. Toward that end, KCNA makes available grants of $500–$1,000 to members for use in community-based projects designed to meet a current health need in King County.

Two types of grants are available: 1. Gen-eral Grant for a community-based health project (examples include health fairs for at-risk families, safety awareness programs, health education at senior centers, etc.), and 2. Elizabeth Thomas Memorial Grant, in special recognition of Ms. Thomas’ work in support of infants, children and families from diverse com-munities (examples include projects that support reduction in infant mortality, enhance health in children and youth, support homeless infants and children, etc.)

To qualify for a grant, the project must: address a current health need in King County; involve at least one KCNA member; demonstrate collaboration with a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization; be implemented within a six-month time fame; and involve nursing students, RNs and other health care professionals, if pos-sible. In addition, those applying for the Thomas Grant must show how their proj-ects will support children and families from diverse communities.

A d v e r t i S e M e N t


Inland Empire Nurses AssociationD I S t R I C t 4

“PtSD/Complex trauma: What is it? Who has it? How well do you know that patient or coworker?”

March 10th at Mukogawa Commons, IENA hosted Dinner and a CE workshop titled “PTSD/Complex Trauma: What is it? Who has it? How well do you know that patient or coworker?” Feedback was outstanding, and we are working on our event for next year. If you have ideas about a continuing education event you would like to attend, please email us at [email protected].

Unity DinnerApril 21st was the Unity Dinner at the Davenport Hotel hosted by WSNA. Several IENA board of directors were in attendance and were awed by the dynamic speakers and sense of solidar-ity expressed by our community’s nurses. Stay involved with your Local Unit so that your voice can be heard in your workplace.

Spring Scholarship and Awards GalaApril 26th at Mukogawa Commons, IENA hosted the Spring Scholarship and Awards Gala. Awards and scholar-ships were given to deserving nurses in our community. The 2011 Award Win-ners were Aaron Tosch, RN, Excellence in Nursing Practice; Kathleen Cope, RN, BA, CNSN, Excellence in Nursing Leader-ship; and Anne Bailey, RN, BSN, CCRN, Lifetime Achievement. Two scholar-ships of $1,000 each were granted to Alison Houchin, BSN, RN, FNP-S, and Kathryn Ormsby, RN, MSN. To view photos of the event, please visit us at http://spokanenurses.org.

WSNA ConventionApril 27th – 29th was the WSNA Conven-tion in Seattle. IENA Board members were in attendance, some for the first time! Con-gratulations to Peggy Slider, RN, MSN for receiving the 2011 Marguerite Cobb Public

Health/Community Health Nurse Award. Check our website soon for photos.

Nurses WeekIENA participated in the Pride in Nurs-ing Conference on May 6th. The confer-ence was held at Mukogawa Fort Wright Institute, and WSNA shared our exhibit booth. This event has consistently been well attended with over 200 participants. We were pleased to be involved again this year, celebrating the wonderful work nurses do every day! Did you see our Thank You to Spokane’s nurses in The Inlander? If not, then another Thank You for the wonderful work you do each and every day.

IENA ElectionsIENA Elections will be held in July for the IENA Board of Directors – please join us! Your professional experience is invaluable in promoting the nursing profession and advocating for health and safety in our community. If you are interested in serving, please contact Administrative Secretary JoAnn Kaiser at [email protected].

Legislative ReceptionPlans are underway for our annual Legis-lative Reception this fall. We are looking forward to an exciting evening and the opportunity to speak with local and state legislators about healthcare issues in our communities. The event this year will be October 4th at the Red Lion Hotel at the Park in the Skyline Ballroom. The event will be free, so plan on attending.

Please visit the Inland Empire Nurses Association on Facebook. Find out about upcoming events, read our comments and learn more from our nursing links. Be sure to check the website often for updated information, including educa-tional offerings and community events http://spokanenurses.org. Come and join us!

Lessons Learned: Five Days of Hunger Challenge

As we all know, most nurses have a strong sense of sympathy or empathy for their patients who are facing challenges. But it’s a

special kind of nurse who goes one step further, and decides to try walking a mile or two in their patients’ shoes. Six of this latter type of nurse signed up with King County Nurses Association (KCNA) in March to take the United Way Hunger Challenge. Not only would they spend five days attempting to eat healthily on a mere $7 a day, but they would blog about the experience, too!

the PremiseUnited Way sponsors the Hunger Chal-lenge on an annual basis. Designed to help people understand that living on food stamps isn’t easy, the Challenge requires participants to prepare healthful meals for themselves on just $7 per day (maxi-mum food stamp benefit on Basic Food Program). Other ground rules apply: no free samples or food from family or friends; no using food, spices or condi-ments previously purchased, other than salt and pepper; eat three meals a day and include fresh produce and protein sources each day.

the PlayersOf the many who took the Hunger Chal-lenge in March, at least six were KCNA members. (Also, our Executive Director

District News


me in a personal way of what it means to limit choices … But for those with limited incomes, it’s a full-time reality.”). There were a multitude of practical blog entries

– recipes shared, information about where to find bargains, ideas about making a small amount of food go farther.

From beginning to end, though, the blog-gers had one thing in common (besides spending all their “food stamp” money, that is); they remained open to the expe-rience, and to sharing what they learned along the way. And they all felt they gained a deeper understanding of those among us who live hand to mouth, and sometimes go to bed hungry. Below are a few of the reflections shared in daily blog entries. To access the Hunger Challenge blogs in full, visit the KCNA website at www.kcnurses.org.

Why they took the Challenge“I am taking the Challenge to keep in touch with how many of my clients are living and to remember the days when I strug-gled to make ends meet.”

“I chose to take the Hunger Challenge to bring awareness to the difficulties many people face everyday. It's tough to imag-ine having to choose between paying rent or an electric bill, or feeding yourself or your child.”

“I have witnessed the struggles of home-lessness firsthand from our clients at the clinic over the past two years, and proper nutrition is a constant issue in this com-munity. I wanted to try the Hunger Chal-lenge to further my understanding of how difficult it can be to maintain one's physi-cal health when working with a limited budget.”

What they Learned“I have a lot more empathy for those who have to live this way. But I have also learned that I really don't need everything I think I do. I can live more simply.”

“Planning ahead, foregoing small luxuries… if I can do with less I can certainly afford

to do more for others. Through the lens of this journey I can see that our society values the individual over the needs of the community.”

“Bottom line, though food has a dollar value, it also is entwined with lots of social stuff. With rising costs of food worldwide, leveraging a limited budget will require much skill. Many of my clients have been doing this for years and could probably teach me much about stretching the dol-lar. Now if we could just get organic stuff to be cheaper and fast food to be more nutritious...”

Interested in taking the Challenge next year? Keep an eye on the KCNA website, or that of your local United Way, for more information. Then let us know what les-sons you learn. And remember that no matter how comfortable one might feel today, none of us is without risk. As one of the bloggers put it, “The fact is that many of us, no matter how financially stable, are only a job loss or serious illness away from being in this position.”

District News

Sue Vermeulen took the Challenge, but she didn’t blog about it.) We want to thank them here for their commitment, and com-mend them for their creativity. All six of these nurses are members of the KCNA Neighborhood Health Special Interest Group, which is currently working to address issues of homelessness in King County.

• Joey Shyloski and Diana Woodall are certified rehabilitation nurses at Virginia Mason Medical Center.

• Andrew Grossman is an RN at the Bailey Boushay House (residential care for people with AIDS) and a part-time student in the nurse prac-titioner program at the University of Washington.

• Lara Pomernacki is a nurse at Vir-ginia Mason Medical Center.

• Rachel Allen is a student in the accel-erated Family Nurse Practitioner program at Seattle University.

• Michelle Burton is a nurse case man-ager in the TB Control Program at Public Health-Seattle & King County.

the OutcomeThere were a number of common threads in the participants’ blog entries. Not unex-pectedly, there were occasional feelings of deprivation (“Went to sleep thinking about food. Woke up thinking about food. When we talk about food insecu-rity, I think this is what we mean.”) and philosophical responses to going without (“All of this does make me recognize the difference between what I want and what I need. I am not hungry and I realize that everything I think I want I really don't need, and this applies to everything in my life.”) Blog entries ranged from the humor-ous (Aaron … says he eats his sandwich by 10 a.m., then he doesn't have much left.”) to the poignant (“I’ve known what it’s like to have to make a choice between pay-ing rent, staying warm, keeping lights on or eating. Taking the challenge reminds


Nursing News

UW School of Nursing Holds No. 1 Ranking for Unprecedented 27 Years

the University of Washington School of Nursing again has been ranked first among nursing schools in the country, according to rankings of 464 schools of nursing provided this week by U.S. News & World Report. The School of Nursing has the distinction of holding this

ranking for 27 years without interruption and this year was joined in this top ranking by two privately funded universities, John Hopkins University and the University of Pennsylvania.

Several nursing specialty programs within the school have also held top positions since the U.S. News & World Report began these rankings. Of the eight nursing specialties included in the rankings, the UW School of Nursing this year again received a first-place ranking for the graduate program in community and public health nursing. This program prepares nurses for leadership roles in agencies and programs aimed at promoting and protecting health and preventing disease in vulnerable populations.

Four other specialty options received rankings in the top 10, with adult nurse practitioner and family nurse practitioner specialties ranked No. 2, pediatric nurse practitioner No. 3, and psychiatric/mental health clinical No. 9. The nurse midwifery specialty was ranked 11th among peer programs.

The UW School of Nursing is also consistently among the nation’s top three schools of nursing in funded research, reflecting a strong commitment to finding better ways to improve health and nursing services. The rare com-bination of excellence in both education and research has contributed to a continuous record of exemplary contributions to the health of the people of Washington, the United States and beyond.

New Oral Health Promotion Cards for Nurses & Health Care Professionals

The State Oral Health Program has published a new reference card for health care professionals to pro-mote dental health. Dental caries is the most com-mon chronic disease in the planet, and yet it is largely preventable. Research shows that poor oral health can impact other systemic diseases, such as diabetes, heart disease, and respiratory disease.

For this reason, health care professionals have become more aware of their important role in pro-moting oral health, and consequently general health, among children and adults. It was in response to several requests for basic talking points about oral health that these materials were developed.

The Oral Health Promotion cards are designed for use in a variety of medical settings for women and children. They may be used by physicians, physi-cian assistants, nurses, midwives, aides, pharmacists, nutritionists, social workers, and other health-related professionals. Soon, cards with messages for adults and seniors will also be available.

❱ Please share these cards with your professional peers, and with your patients and clients. The cards are available online at http://doh.wa.gov/cfh/oralhealth/education/promocards.htm


Nursing News ANA News

RWJF Selects Regional 'Campaign for Action' Coalitions in 10 More States

the Future of Nursing: Campaign for Action, a Robert Wood Johnson Founda-tion initiative designed "to ensure that the healthcare workforce can deliver high quality, patient-centered care to every American," announced the selection of 10 Regional Action Coalitions (RACs).

The Campaign for Action (CFA) is focused on preparing health professionals to lead the change that will improve the healthcare system, according to RWJF. These long-term partnerships have been convened to move key healthcare workforce-related issues forward at the local, state and national levels.

RACs function as a component of the campaign's field operations and are com-prised of diverse groups of stakeholders from a variety of sectors. Their mission is focused on fostering inter-professional collaboration, strengthen nurse education and training, and increase participation of

nurses as leaders. RACs will further CFA by capturing best practices, determining research needs, tracking lessons learned and identifying replicable models.

Long-term partnerships with the RACs have been convened to move key health-care workforce-related issues forward at the local, state and national levels, accord-ing to RWJF.

The following states join the New Jersey, New York, Michigan, Mississippi and Cali-fornia RACs, which initiated their activi-ties last fall: Washington, Idaho, Utah, Colorado, New Mexico, Illinois, Indiana, Louisiana, Virginia and Florida.

❱ Visit http://thefutureofnursing.org/ to learn more about the Campaign for Action's local, state and national efforts.

ANA Offers Online Resources

April 18th marked 10 years since the Needlestick Safety and Prevention Act took effect. Yet too many health care work-ers are still injured by needles and other sharp devices on the job, exposing them to potentially deadly bloodborne pathogens. We can’t afford complacence—not when 80 percent to 90 percent of sharps injuries are preventable, according to the CDC.

National data on sharps injuries are scarce because of a lack of a coordinated reporting system. However, Massachusetts provides a strong indication that renewed efforts are needed to reduce the number of pre-ventable injuries. Massachusetts has had regulations since 2001 requiring that all acute and non-acute care hospitals licensed by the state report sharps injuries annually. The reports show more than 3,000 sharps injuries occurring annually between 2002 and 2008, with 56% involving devices that lacked engineered safety features.

Visit the Safe Needles Save Lives page on ANA’s website at http://bit.ly/Needlestick for a Safe Needles toolkit and other resources on the needlestick law and OSHA’s Bloodborne Pathogens standard, including a video message from ANA President Karen A. Daley, PhD, MPH, RN, FAAN, and a webcast on the status of sharps safety from November 2010.

New Website Provides Straightforward Health Care Reform Information

ANA is one of eight national organiza-tions involved in a coalition effort to pro-vide Americans with straightforward, consumer-focused information about the health care law. The new website, www.HealthCareandYou.org, which went live on March 1, 2011, is a tool for health care professionals and consumers to increase understanding about the Affordable Care Act. ANA President Daley participated in media outreach activities around the launch.

Add Your Photo to ‘The Art of Nursing: A Portrait of Thanks Mosaic Project’

A s the Johnson & Johnson Campaign for Nursing’s Future looks forward to celebrat-ing its 10th anniversary in February 2012, they are taking the opportunity to thank and recognize nurses for their continued dedication and passion with several new

and exciting initiatives.

As part of this effort, the Campaign is launching the Art of Nursing: A Portrait of thanks Mosaic Project to create a visual that depicts the impact nurses have had on the com-munity over the last decade and which becomes a symbol of pride for nurses.

Please join the Campaign by helping us create this historical image of nursing. You must be a nurse to submit a photo for this mosaic. The Campaign would love to as many nurses as possible join in this effort so please help spread the word.

❱ To submit your photo, simply visit http://campaignfornursing.com/portraitofthanks/


ANA News

ANA Urges Support for Home Health Care Legislation

Ensures Better Patient Access to Care, Removes Barriers For Nurses As Qualified Providers

ANA is appealing to lawmakers to support the “Home Health Care Planning Improve-ment Act of 2011” (H.R. 2267, S. 227). This bipartisan legislation, just introduced in late June in the House by Reps. Allyson Schwartz (D-PA) and Greg Walden (R-OR), allows Advanced Practice Registered Nurses (APRNs) to sign home health plans of care and certify Medicare patients for the home health benefit.

APRNs are playing an increasing role in American health care delivery. Medicare has recognized the autonomous practice of APRNs for nearly two decades, and these health care professionals now coordinate the majority of skilled care to home health patients. However, a quirk in Medicare law has kept APRNs from signing home health plans of care and from certifying Medicare patients for the home health benefit. These delays in access to home health services inconvenience patients and their families and can result in increased cost to the Medi-care system when patients are unneces-sarily left in more expensive institutional settings.

The Home Health Care Planning Improve-ment Act would address these problems by specifically allowing APRNs and physician assistants to certify home health services. ANA thanks Representatives Schwartz and Walden for their leadership on H.R. 2267 and urges all members of the House to support APRNs and their home health patients by cosponsoring the Home Health Care Planning Improvement Act (H.R. 2267).

More about ANA’s work on the home health care issue, including the Senate companion bill (S. 227) introduced by Senators Susan Collins (R-ME) and Kent Conrad (D-ND), is online at www.rnaction.org/homehealth.

ANA Testifies on The Clean Air Act and Its Impact on Public Health

ANA joined a group of health care pro-fessionals in June to testify before a Senate panel in support of The Clean

Air Act. Delaware Nurses Association member Sarah Bucic, MSN, RN, was among the panelists invited to provide remarks to the U.S. Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works. Ms. Bucic spoke to lawmakers about the positive impact The Clean Air Act has had on the public health, and the ongoing threat envi-ronmental pollutants pose to public health.

“The bottom line is pollution creates more patients,” Bucic testified. “From a nurs-ing perspective, we are fixed in a state of keeping patients with chronic conditions like asthma and other pulmonary and car-diovascular conditions stabilized, when we all know that prevention is the only real, effective and long-term treatment.”

According to research from the American Lung Association, 154 million people, more than half the nation, endure pollution lev-

els that make the simple act of breathing hazardous to their health. Recently, at least 19 bills have been introduced in both chambers of Congress seeking to prevent the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) from enforcing The Clean Air Act, citing negative impact on businesses and the economy. However, the EPA estimates the economic value of substantial air qual-ity improvements realized by the year 2020 would be almost $2 trillion. A study released in April from Health Care With-out Harm (HCWH), the Alliance of Nurses for Healthy Environments (ANHE), and the National Association of School Nurses (NASN) showed that the direct and indirect costs of treating the estimated 24 million Americans with asthma exceeds $53 billion.

ANA Joins Partnership for Patients

New coalition supports safer, more reliable, less costly care

ANA is proud to join Partnership for Patients, a coalition of hospitals, provid-ers, patient advocates, employers and state and federal officials dedicated to creating a safer, higher quality health care system. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius and Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services Director Donald Berwick announced the partnership at an event in April.

The Partnership for Patients brings together leaders of major hospitals, employers, providers and patient advo-cacy groups, along with state and federal governments, in a shared effort to make hospital care safer, more reliable and less costly. The partnership’s initial goals are to increase efforts to prevent harm to patients in hospitals and to improve the continuity and effectiveness of care during transitions between care settings.

❱ To learn more about ANA’s work on improving quality, please visit www.ncnq.org.


Members Set WSNA's Course for Next Two Years

during the General Assembly of the 2011 Biennial WSNA Convention, members passed four resolutions and one main motion, all with overwhelming support. These resolutions commit WSNA to recruiting nurses and supporting the work of nurses serving on safety committees at their facilities, to conducting more

outreach and education on disaster and emergency preparedness issues, and to educat-ing more nurses about the hazards of working 12 hours shifts and possible alternative ways of scheduling shifts. The main motion recommits WSNA to a 2009 motion on the budget crisis which expresses strong support for key health care safety net programs like the Basic Health Plan and Maternity Support Services.

Main Motion adopted by the 2011 GeneraL asseMbLyThe WSNA General Assembly adopted, by a 2/3 vote, a main motion as follows:

The General Assembly reaffirms the 2009 main motion regarding the Washington State Budget Crisis and requests that the WSNA Board of Directors and Staff to:

1. Continue our support for funding of key health safety net programs such as Basic Health Plan, Apple Health,

Public Health, and Maternal Support Services.

2. Continue efforts to develop com-munications and other strategies to increase awareness of RNs, stake-holders, policy makers and the public of the dangerous impact of the budget cuts,

3. Explore options for closing tax loopholes and increasing revenue especially during this budget crisis to fund essential health care programs,

From April 27th — 29th, nurses took a trip to the

future at the WSNA Biennial Convention. Speakers

and breakout sessions focused on planning for

the future and creating a roadmap for nursing.

Poster sessions, vendors’ booths, socializing and

networking filled the time between events on the

busy schedule. As in previous years, the Nursing

Students of Washington State joined WSNA during

Convention, with students attending education

sessions and also holding their own business

meeting and elections.

Pre-Convention events started with a

special education session about social networking

and the risks and benefits of online tools like

Facebook and Twitter. This was followed in the

afternoon by the Local Unit Council meeting and

candidate forum. A wine and cheese reception

followed, giving attendees a chance to network

and catch up with friends.

Convention officially kicked off on

Thursday with a welcome from WSNA President

Julia Weinberg and opening remarks from Karen

Ballard, ANA First Vice President. The rest of the

day was dedicated to conducting the official

business of WSNA, including proposed Resolutions

and final nominations for elected offices, during the

General Assembly. The day was closed by Norma

Lang, PhD, RN, FAAN who gave a keynote address

about ‘Translating Research into Practice.’

The second day was packed with education

and speakers. Attendees were able to choose

different breakout sessions throughout the day.

Karen Ballard spoke again towards the end of the

day, emphasizing that each of us has work to do

and must be “the driver.” Convention closed with

a special roundtable dialogue session with each

table developing a list of their recommendations

for WSNA priorities and ideas for actions the next

two years.

As always, there was much to do and

learn, but there was also time to celebrate and

enjoy seeing old friends and meeting new ones.

The highlight of Convention is always the WSNA

Awards Reception celebrating and showcasing

the 2011 WSNA Honorary Recognition Awards and

the Professional Nursing & Health Care Council

Awards recipients. Individuals and organizations

were honored for their significant contributions to

their fellow nurses, to their patients, to the public

and to the nursing profession

Report from 2011 Convention


4. Work with coalition partners on the implementation of federal health care reform and support for these key health safety net programs, and

5. Advocate for health care access for all residents of Washington State.

rationaLe For the Main MotionAs our economy has worsened, the need for public services increases. Yet the bud-get crisis continues to shrink the health care safety net. A poor economy places a greater importance on publicly funded programs.

Washington State is facing a $5.1 billion budget deficit with Health and Human Services sustaining the largest percentage of funding reduction, resulting in severe impact on tens of thousands of people:

• 60,000 people losing their coverage through Basic Health Plan (with 130,000 people on the current wait-ing list for BHP)

• 120,000 people losing adult dental care

• 20,000 people cut from chemical dependency, mental health, and medical services with the elimina-tion of Disability Lifeline (formerly GA-U)

• 16,000+ children could lose Apple Health care coverage

• 80,000 people losing hearing and vision services

• Over 50,000 women with high risk pregnancies losing maternity sup-port services

• 20,000 people losing physical, occu-pational and speech therapy

• 14,000 people losing podiatry ser-vices

• 2,600 people losing hospice care• 71,000 people losing access to inter-

preter services

By denying these services, Washington tax payers stand to experience higher costs due to increased emergency room visits and more expensive treatment of

chronic illness that could have been better managed or prevented. WSNA supports preserving the infrastructure of safety net programs including:

• The Basic Health Plan: With the number of uninsured in Washington at a record high, the BHP is the only affordable option for Washington residents who are self-employed or whose employer does not offer coverage.

• Apple Health for Kids: This program provides health coverage for low income children. Washington has secured millions in new, flexible federal funding because of the state’s leadership in providing health care for children.

• Disability Lifeline: This is the only source of medical care for individu-als who are unable to work and don’t have access to employer based insurance coverage or the individual market.

• Community Health Centers: The community health center model is uniquely designed to address the health care needs of vulnerable and underserved people and communi-ties. They are a cost effective alterna-tive to emergency rooms and a safety net for the uninsured.

• Interpreter Services: Enhancing health care access for 70,000 plus residents in Washington State.

• Public Health: The public health nurses and public health depart-ments are the center of a quality health care system and the most cost effective system for disease preven-tion and health improvement.

• Maternity Support Services: The MSS program connects pregnant women with nursing care and other services with proven results that save money by reducing birth complications and long-term disabilities.

e M e r G e n cy r e s o L Ut i o n 1

sUpport For nUrses coLLecti v e barGain inG and Fre e sp e ech r iGhtsWhereas, recent and continuing legislative actions in several states and in Congress that seek to remove and/or significantly limit the collective bargaining and free speech rights of public employees, includ-ing registered nurses, appears to be devel-oping into a national trend, and

Whereas, in some instances, these actions have circumvented normal legislative and democratic processes, and

Whereas, Registered Nurses bargain not only for wages, but as importantly, for improvements that address both patient safety and workplace safety, and

Whereas, the American Nurses Associa-tion Code of Ethics for Nurses (2001) calls on the nursing profession to promote the health, welfare and safety of all people and to maintain a health care environment and employment conditions that are con-ducive to the provision of quality health care, and

Wh ereas, support for nurses’ rights to advocate through individual or collective action for improved working conditions and optimal patient care is consistent with the values of the profession, and

Whereas, turning back the clock on estab-lished workplace rights will not solve the budget crisis faced by many states, and

Whereas, WSNA is very concerned that this erosion of a balanced system of rights and obligations will impact the current and future rights of nurses – as health care professionals and employees – to advo-cate on behalf of their patients, families, communities, as well as themselves, and

Whereas, WSNA is concerned about politi-cal actions taken to address state budgets that weaken the ability of all registered nurses, including publicly employed reg-

Resolutions & Main Motion


istered nurses, to freely advocate for the best work environment to deliver safe, quality nursing care services,

be it thereFore resoLved That the 2011 WSNA General Assembly requests that the WSNA Board of Directors and Staff take the following actions:

1. The WSNA Board of Directors issue a position statement consistent with WSNA’s long history of advocat-ing on behalf of the economic and general welfare of nurses to support nurses’ right to advocate for work-place conditions that foster safe, quality care for patients,

2. Support nurses in other states in protecting their rights to bargain and advocate for workplace conditions,

3. Educate WSNA members and the public about the impact to patient and nurse safety as it relates to the nurses’ ability to bargain for working conditions, and

4. Work with other unions and coali-tion partners to protect nurses’ rights to bargain and advocate for safe, quality working conditions.

adopted: General Assembly 4/28/11

r e s o L Ut i o n 1

WorkpLace h eaLth & saFety coMMitte e enGaGeMentWhereas, Part of the Mission and Goals of the Washington State Nurses Association (WSNA) is to maintain and strengthen nursing’s role in client advocacy for con-sumer safety and quality health care, and

Whereas, Many of the quality and safety ini-tiatives identified by the National Quality Forum (NQF), the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI), the Joint Commis-sion’s National Patient Safety Goals, and the CMS Never Events are directly related to nursing care activities, and

Whereas, Federal and State regulations and the Joint Commission accreditation program require healthcare institutions to establish facility-based Safety Com-mittees to oversee the safe delivery and quality of patient care, and

Whereas, Registered Nurses, because of their expert knowledge, technical skills and patient care experience have an important role and much to contribute as active members of these facility-based Safety Committees (including, but not limited to facility-based patient safety

edUcation hiGhLiGhts ❱ Skills and Ills of Using

Social Media

❱ ANA – On the Way to Nursing’s Future

❱ translating Research into Practice: Linking Quality, Safety, and Practice

❱ Mapping the Economic Value of Nursing

❱ Using Quality Dashboards to Guide Practice

❱ Illuminating the Pathways towards Nursing’s Future: Panel Presentation

❱ Changing Roles for Nurses in Health Systems and Communities

❱ team-based Healthcare Delivery: Improving Patient Outcomes

❱ Retooling for a New Workforce: What does this Mean for Education, Transition to Practice, and Competencies?

committees, safe-patient handling com-mittees and safe staffing committees), and

Whereas, New evidenced-based research is emerging almost daily that supports the important role that nursing care contrib-utes to the safety and quality of patient outcomes,

be it thereFore resoLved, That WSNA actively encourage, promote, and support WSNA members to actively seek and maintain positions on their workplace safety com-mittees, and

b e it FUrth er resoLv e d That WSNA staff work in collaboration with Local Unit leadership and other WSNA members to identify and develop a roster of registered nurses participating in Health and Safety committees at their place of work, and

be it FUrther resoLved That the WSNA Occu-pational and Environmental Health and Safety Committee (OEHSC) and staff develop strategies to assist WSNA mem-bers who serve on these Safety commit-tees and provide them with additional education, research and networking opportunities and other skills to support their safety committee role, and

be it FUrther resoLved That WSNA members serving on these Committees be encour-aged and supported in taking active leadership roles in improving policies and procedures such as infection control programs, safe patient handling, fatigue reduction, safe staffing, and disaster and emergency preparedness.

contact: Ed Dolle, Chair, Occupational and Environmental Health and Safety Committee ([email protected])

approved: Bylaws / Resolutions Committee 1/21/11

approved: Board of Directors Executive Committee 2/18/11

approved: Board of Directors 3/25/11





d isaster & eMerGency preparednessWhereas, An online survey was sent out to the members of WSNA by the Disaster and Emergency Preparedness Committee in July 2010 to identify nurses responses to a variety of questions regarding their knowledge, experience, and personal/professional preparedness plan to use in an emergency or disaster situation, and

Whereas, Of the nurses surveyed, 89 per-cent were unaware that WSNA has a web page specifically devoted to emergency preparedness / disaster, and

Whereas Of the nurses surveyed, 58 per-cent do not have a personal and/or family disaster preparedness plan in place, and

Whereas, Of the nurses surveyed, 89 per-cent are not registered as a volunteer responder with official agencies, such as State of Washington’s Medical Research Corp (MRC), Washington State Health Volunteers in Emergency (WHAVE), American Red Cross (ARC) or other emer-gency agencies, and

Whereas, Of the nurses surveyed, 73 percent felt they need more training in order to be prepared and to be able to respond during an emergency/disaster, and

Whereas, Of the nurses surveyed, 81 percent stated they need more training in natural disaster preparation, especially for earth-quakes;

there Fore, b e it resoLv ed, That WSNA edu-cate nurses using a wide variety of meth-ods, about the WSNA web page specifi-cally devoted to emergency preparedness/disaster, and

be it FUrther resoLved, That WSNA develop and widely disseminate educational infor-mation and CE courses for nurses on how to develop a personal and/or family plan for disasters and emergencies, and

be it FUrther resoLved, That WSNA promote registration as a volunteer responder with an official agency to all registered nurs-ing specialties, via emails, fliers, website, and published links to these organizations, and

b e it resoLv ed That WSNA identify and review educational content of courses in emergency and disaster preparedness/management by other groups, so that WSNA can endorse appropriate offerings that are in line with this strategic objec-tive, and

be it resoLved That WSNA will collaborate and partner with local agencies, such as DOH, MRC, Red Cross, WSHA and nurs-ing organizations, such as the Washing-ton State Emergency Nurses Association to develop awareness of their programs, and the need for nurses to register, and

b e it FU rth e r r esoLv e d That the WSNA Disaster and Emergency Preparedness Committee, a sub-committee of the Pro-fessional Nursing and Health Care Coun-cil, continue its work making recommen-dations to the PNHCC and the Board of Directors as necessary on emergency and disaster preparedness needs and related advances in nursing practice in Wash-ington State.

Submitted on behalf of the WSNA Disaster and Emergency Preparedness Committee

aUthored: Jéaux Rinehart, RN, Chair, Disaster and Emergency Preparedness Committee ([email protected])




adopted: General Assembly 4/28/11 Photos

❚ Evelyn Street and Luella Vig Edwards

❚ Susan M Jacobson, Sally Baque,

and Kathy Ormsby

❚ David Keepnews




tWeLve hoUr sh i FtsWhereas, Twelve (12) hour shifts originated without the benefit of evidence-based research in the early 1980s as a temporary solution to a growing nursing shortage as well as the desire by practicing nurses to address work schedules and quality of life, and

Whereas, Over the past 30 years, twelve hour shifts have been implemented extensively in acute and critical care areas where patient care needs are extremely complex and patients are at a higher risk for complications and are now the norm throughout all patient-care areas rather than the exception, and

Whereas, Nursing is a profession requir-ing continuous high-level critical cogni-tive synthesis and physical exertion and the current demographics show an aging nursing workforce more prone to per-sonal chronic conditions and workplace injury, and

Whereas, All nurses, regardless of age, are affected by fatigue and long shifts, includ-ing mental and physical exhaustion, inju-ries and accidents and difficulty maintain-ing a reasonable work-life balance, and

W h e reas, A growing body of research shows increasing evidence that twelve hour shifts may be a significant contrib-uting cause to nurse fatigue and medical errors and/or nurse injury, and

Whereas, Industries such as railroad, avia-tion, trucking, and medical resident prac-tice have identified long shifts and con-secutive hours worked beyond ten as a source of accidents and error and worker injury resulting in these industries sub-sequently placing restrictions on shift length, consecutive hours of work and the numbers of days worked consecu-tively, and

Whereas, The healthcare industry has been slow to acknowledge the potential danger of long shifts, requiring legislative solu-tions to stop mandatory overtime and other fatigue related causes, and

Whereas A severe nursing shortage is pre-dicted for the upcoming years constituting a need to retain a healthy nursing work-force,

be it th ere Fore resoLv ed, That WSNA con-tinue to provide education to nurses, employers, policy makers and the general public on the topic of twelve hour shifts and the relationship to patient and nurse safety, and

be it FUrther resoLv ed, That nurses partici-pating in staffing committees be encour-aged to explore staffing options to mini-mize the number of twelve hour shifts and number of twelve hour shift days worked in a row, and

be it FUrther resoLved That WSNA continue to broadly disseminate research outcome data associated with twelve hour shifts, and

be it FUrther resoLved, That the WSNA Pro-fessional Nursing and Health Care Coun-cil, the Cabinet on Economic and General Welfare and the Legislative and Health Policy Council begin a collaborative dia-logue to strategize potential solutions that may be needed in contract language, leg-islation, and practice / policy statements supporting the eventual elimination of twelve hour shifts.

contact: Ed Dolle, Chair, Occupational and Environmental Health and Safety Committee ([email protected])





Photos

❚ Peggy Schmidt

❚ LInda Tieman

❚ Peggy Slider



Wsna niGhtinGaLe tribUte 2009 – 2011

Rosemarian "Rosie" Berni. . . . . . . . . . . . Edmonds

Eva Bowen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Spokane

W. Nadine Costanzo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Spokane

Danielle Enyeart . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Longview

Leslie "Michelle" Filipe . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Everett

Nathalie D. Goemaere . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Seattle

Janis Hagey . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Moses Lake

Mary Hampton . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Bellevue

Kimberly S. Hiatt. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Seattle

Betty Jean Larsen Hoffman. . . . . . . . . . . .Tacoma

Steven Craig Miller . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Bow

Barbara Burns McGrath . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Seattle

Patricia J. Mulhern . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Seattle

Ildaura Murillo-Rohde . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Panama

Virginia Ellen Ortega . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Yakima

Elizabeth R. Thomas. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Seattle

Betty Jean Williams. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Seattle

WsnF raises Money For schoLarships & MoreThroughout the two and a half day

Convention, members and guests browsed

the many exhibits and poster sessions and

placed their bids on more than 100 exciting

items donated for the Washington State

Nurses Foundation’s (WSNF) silent auction

and raffle. Items ranged from a weekend

getaway, Nordstrom’s gift card, Seattle

Storm gear, jewelry, wine & cheese baskets,

and a number of handmade scarves.

Thanks to the generosity of the WSNF’s

many donors and friends, the auction and

a special fundraising session at the Awards

reception raised more than $10,195 to

support the WSNF’s nursing scholarships

and mini-grants programs. An additional

$6,050 was raised during the WSNA Awards

Banquet where attendees were asked to

“Stand up for Deo” and donate to the Deo

Little Scholarship Fund.

Wsna honorary recoGnition aWards

Community Partner Recognition

Washington State Department of Health

Marguerite Cobb Public Health / Community Health Nurse

Peggy J. Slider, MN, BSN, PHN

Joanna Boatman Staff Nurse Leadership

Dawn D. Morrell, RN, CCRN

Honorary Recognition

Rosa Franklin, RN

ANA Honorary Membership

Patty Hayes, RN, MN

Special Lifetime Achievement

Beverly Smith

proFessionaL nUrsinG & heaLth care coUnciL aWards

Ethics and Human Rights

Frankie t. Manning, RN

Nurse Educator of the Year

Helen Kuebel, MS, RN

Nurse Leadership and Management

Jean Sullivan, RN

Research

Marie-Annette Brown, PhD, RN, FAAN

Best Practice

Bonnie R. Cary, RN

Recognitions


Election Results

Elections were held by mail ballot following the 2011 Biennial Convention.

Board of DirectorsPresident�

Julia A. Weinberg Dist 16, Bow

Vice-President� Susan E. Jacobson Dist 6, Yakima

sec / t�reasurer Verlee "Vee" Sutherlin Dist 4, Nine Mile Falls

cab chair Kathy Ormsby Dist 4, Spokane

Leg chair Ed Dolle Dist 17, Port Orchard

Pnhcc chair Jeaux Rinehart Dist 2, Seattle

at�-Large Pat Lombard Dist 1, Bellingham

at�-Large Jennifer Graves Dist 2, Seattle

at�-Large Patricia Di Egido tobis Dist 2, Seattle

st�aff nurse Judi M. Lyons Dist 18, Ellensburg

st�aff nurse Ann M. Whitley Dist 6, Yakima

Cabinet on Economic & General WelfarechairPerson

Kathy Ormsby Dist 4, Spokane

Vice-chair Julia Rose Barcott Dist 6, Yakima

sec / t�reasurer Sally Baque Dist 3, Olalla

at�-Large Peggy Slider Dist 4, Spokane

at�-Large Evelyn Street Dist 3, Olympia

at�-Large John tweedy Dist 16, Camano Island

at�-Large Susan M. Jacobson Dist 3, Tacoma

at�-Large Jane Hill-Littlejohn Dist 2, Seattle

at�-Large Melissa Goldberg Dist 98, Ocean Beach

at�-Large Lorraine Bethay Dist 6, Yakima

Professional Nursing & Health Care CouncilFour (4) additional members will be appointed to the PNHCC when the WSNA Board of Directors meets on July 29th.

chairPerson Jeaux Rinehart Dist 2, Seattle

administ�rat�ion Kim Jo Ward Dist 4, Spokane

at�-Large Bonnie B. Sandahl Dist 2, Lynnwood

educat�ion Sarah Bear Dist 16, Mt. Vernon

et�hics & human right�s Antwinett O. Lee Dist 2, Lynnwood

Pract�ice tim Davis Dist 16, Mt. Vernon

research Barbara Innes Dist 2, Seattle

Legislative & Health Policy CouncilThree (3) additional members will be appointed to the Legislative Council when the WSNA Board of Directors meets on July 29th.

chairPerson Ed Dolle Dist 17, Port Orchard

at�-Large Lynnette Vehrs Dist 4, Spokane

at�-Large Lyzz Caley Stewart Dist 4, Spokane

at�-Large Patty Hayes Dist 13, Olympia

Nominations / Search Committee Sally Herman Dist 16, Mt. Vernon Danielle Feist Dist 4, Spokane Kim Armstrong Dist 3, Olalla Muriel G. Softli, Dist 2, Seattle

E&GW Nominating / Search Committee Jon Olson Dist 10, Kelso Betty Blondin Dist 3, Gig Harbor Martha Goodall Dist 4, Mead

WSNA Director on NFN's National Executive Board (2012–2015) Marty Avey Dist 4, Spokane

Note: WSNA Delegates to the ANA House of Delegates will be announced in July when WSNA is notified by ANA about the exact number of representatives each state will bring to the June 2012 ANA House of Delegates .

Committee Appointments to Councils and CommitteesThe WSNA Board of Directors will make additional appointments to the WSNA Councils and also appoint

WSNA Committees on July 29th. Appointments are for two years, beginning August 1, 2011.


Legislative Affairs

pUbLic heaLth FUndinG• Local public health funding administered by the Department of Health sustained

a 6.5% cut by the Governor. The legislature cut an additional $10 million to flexible funds.

• Maternity Support Services (MSS) provides healthcare to women at highest risk for poor pregnancy outcomes like low birth weight and prematurity. To avoid complete elimination by March 1st, as proposed in the Governor’s budget, WSNA advocated to maintain funding by organizing public health nurses Karson Bennett, Bobbi Merriman-McClain, and Darla Mosse to testify in support of MSS. WSNA also worked with key legislators to develop ways to effectively spend reduced MSS dol-lars. In the end, MSS was not eliminated, but sustained a 30%, $26 million reduction.

• the Basic Health Plan (BHP) is the only option for low-income adults without access to employer-provided health insurance who cannot can afford private insurance. Proposed for elimination by the Governor, WSNA’s support of House Bills 1544 and 1312 to continue state funding assured some BHP enrollees coverage under a federal waiver until 2014 when implementation of the health insurance exchange will provide more options. Unfortunately, the final budget cuts BHP by $202.5 million and shrinks BHP to 34,000 enrollees by 2013. Now 150,000 people on the waiting list no longer have access to this program.

• Apple Health for Kids provides health insurance and preventative coverage for low-income children. When the Governor and Legislature both proposed cuts that would impact the most vulnerable among enrolled children, WSNA supported House Bill 2003 which implemented new changes such as making sure additional premiums are placed on children who could most afford it. As a result, cuts to the program were reduced to $1.6 million.

Other priority health programs that escaped elimination but still took drastic cuts include Disability Lifeline—the only source of medical care for individuals whose dis-ability prevents them from working—which was cut by $116 million, and interpreter services for Medicaid patients—a requirement of federal law—was cut by $16 million with a new delivery system.

nUrsinG edUcation• Next to healthcare, higher education saw the greatest reductions. Cuts to institu-

tions of higher education totaled $535 million.

• Students will experience higher tuition costs and scarce financial aid. All higher education institutions will raise tuition by at least 11-16%. Health professions schol-arships will not be available in 2011-2013 (saving the state $7.6 million); state need grants for low-income students are maintained by shifting funds from other finan-cial aid sources; and the state committed to matching private contributions to the Opportunity Scholarship Program for low to middle-income students pursuing a baccalaureate degree in high demand fields, such as nursing.

• WSNA worked to maintain community colleges' ability to increase nursing faculty funding using funds gained from salary and benefits costs savings resulting from faculty turn-over.

A ballooning budget defi-cit and the 2010 elec-tions overshadowed every decision the Leg-

islature made this year. Add-ing to cuts made since 2009, the state budget deficit grew from 4.6 billion in December to 5.1 billion in March. To put this in perspective, if we eliminated all of the state’s four-year and com-munity and technical colleges, it would only save about 3 billion dollars.

the legislature preserved

priority health services,

but not without severe cuts.

During the Regular Session and Special Session, WSNA worked to preserve essential government services in health and education. WSNA not only advocated to maintain these ser-vices, but also to generate new revenue or revenue sources to make up for budget gaps.


biLLs Wsna advocated Forshb 1304 (Jinkins) Concerning the Administration of Drugs by Healthcare Assis-tants Legislation passed in 2009 intended to allow only HCA categories C and E to administer certain over the counter drugs and diagnostic agents. A technical error gave all HCAs this ability and SHB 1304 corrects this error.

sb 5005 (Keiser) Concerning Exemptions from Immunization Washington State has the highest immunization exemption rates in the nation, endangering everyone in our communities from vaccine-preventable diseases. This legislation requires parents to consult with a health care provider, (which includes nurse practitioners), about the risks and benefits of immunization when considering exempting their child from vaccination requirements.

sb 5594 (Kohl-Welles) Regulating the Handling of Hazardous Drugs This legislation requires the Department of Labor and Industries and Department of Health to establish regulations for the handling of antineoplastics and other hazardous drugs by health care personnel. Such drugs are linked to higher rates of illness and disease among nurses who are exposed to them on the job.

hb 5394 (Keiser) Primary Care Health Homes and Chronic Care Management outlines incentives to promote health homes in programs paid for with state funds such as Medicaid and the Basic Health Plan. ARNPs are defined as primary care providers and RNs as part of the health home team.

sb 5445 (Keiser) Establishing a Health Benefit Exchange An operational exchange will be established in Washington State by 2014 as required by the federal health reform law.

sb 1058 (Keiser) Including Wound Care Management in Occupational therapy estab-lishes educational and training requirements, as well as provider oversight for safe patient care.

hb 1493 (Pedersen) Providing transparency to the Health Professions Disciplinary Process revises the Uniform Disciplinary Act. Disciplining authorities such as the Nursing Care Quality Assurance Commission must promptly respond to inquiries regarding the status of a complaint against a provider, and provide a copy of the status of the complaint to both those making the inquiry and providers.

hb 1290 (Green) Concerning Mandatory Overtime for Certain Health Care Employees allows employees of the Depart of Corrections to catch up with the private sector and be protected from mandatory overtime.

hb 1220 (Rolfes) Regulating Insurance Rates requires insurance companies make public information about how they will spend dollars from raised premiums, for instance: how much will go to providing healthcare versus administration costs.

Legislative Affairs

other biLLs oF notehb 2069 (Cody) Concerning Hospital Pay-ments In the 2010 session, the Legislature

passed HB 2956, (Hospital Safety Net Assess-

ment), a bill imposing assessments (or tax) on

most hospitals in order to increase the amount

of federal match funds received. Proceeds are

deposited in the Hospital Safety Net Assess-

ment Fund, to be used for increases in hospital

payments. Inpatient and outpatient payment

rates were restored to June 30, 2009 levels;

some hospitals received a 13 percent increase in

rates for non-psychiatric inpatient services, and

a 36.83 percent increase in rates for outpatient

services; and $49 million per biennium from

the Fund is used to pay hospitals, rather than

general fund state dollars.

With HB 2069, the inpatient rate increase is

decreased from 13% to 3.96% and the outpa-

tient rate increase is decreased from 36.83%

to $27.25%. It also permits $200 million to be

expended from the Fund in lieu of State General

Fund payments to hospitals during 2011-13. The

bill has passed the legislature and is awaiting

the Governor’s signature.

sb 5960 (Keiser) Concerning Medicaid Fraud This bill would add to current state

Medicaid fraud law and establishes the Medic-

aid Fraud False Claims Act which would allow

the Attorney General to bring civil actions for

certain violations of fraud and false claims pro-

visions, and establishes civil penalties between

$5,000-$10,000, and awards of treble damages

for violations. It also establishes a right for pri-

vate citizens to receive 15 to 25 percent of the

proceeds from any successful action or settle-

ment achieved by the Attorney General under

the Act based upon information provided by

the private citizen (qui tam). Medicaid theft is

established as a class B felony with a fine up to

$50,000. SB 5960 passed the Senate and the

House Ways & Means Committee but died on

the House floor calendar.


sb 5307 (Kilmer) Concerning Evaluating Military training and Experience towards Licensing Requirements in Medical Professions establishes for certain health profes-sions the ability to apply military experience towards health professions training. This bill does not apply to Registered Nurses.

sb 5636 University Center of North Puget Sound Managed by WSU, the University Center of North Puget Sound will provide baccalaureate and graduate degrees, includ-ing nursing degrees, for North King, Snohomish, Island, and Skagit counties.

sb 5073 (Kohl-Welles) Concerning the Medical Use of Cannabis establishes a regula-tory system for producing, processing, and dispensing cannabis intended for medical use; establishes protections from criminal liability and arrest from qualifying patients, designated providers, health care professionals, licensed producers, licensed proces-sors, and licensed dispensers; and establishes a voluntary registry in which qualifying patients and designated providers may enroll and receive protection from arrest and prosecution. Governor Gregoire vetoed several sections, citing risk of federal pros-ecution of state employees. Therefore, the Departments of Health and Department of Agriculture will not be licensing commercial businesses that produce, process, or dispense cannabis. Furthermore, DOH will not be licensing dispensaries. ■

Legislative Affairs

Bobbi Merriman-McClain (left) and Karson Bennett (right) from Public Health - Seattle & King County visit Olympia with Sofia Aragon, WSNA Senior Governmental Affairs Advisor, to testify on the impact of cuts to Maternity Support Services.

SAVE THE DATE FOR

NURSELEGISLATIVEDAY!

FEBRUARY 13, 2012OLYMPIA, WA

GET CNE CONTACT HOURS

THAT COUNT TOWARD

WASHINGTON STATE’S NEW

“CONTINUING COMPETENCY”

REQUIREMENTS FOR

RELICENSURE

LEARN HOW YOU CAN BEAN ADVOCATE FOR YOUR PATIENTS AND YOUR COMMUNITY AT THESTATE LEVEL

MEET WITH YOUR STATELEGISLATORS

GET ENGAGED AND GET ACTIVE

HEAR ABOUT WSNA’S LEGISLATIVE

PRIORITIES FOR 2012

ATTEND HEARINGS


Cover Story

No system can endure that does not march!

— Florence Nightingale “Sick Nursing and Health Nursing,” Chicago, IL, 1893

...And march we must! Or retreat we shall. There is no bunker; there are no sidelines for nursing today. The government and corporate America are at war against escalating health care costs… Remember Scutari. We must organize, unite, and go on the offensive.

— Margretta M. Styles from ANA President’s Speech, Louisville, KY, 1988

Make no mistake about it, we are in one of the most danger-ous transformational periods in the history of labor and healthcare in the United States. All across the country, in more than 26 states, the rights of public employees—

including registered nurses—are under attack. Under the guise of solving these States’ financial woes, workers and their unions are systematically and intentionally being stripped of not only their hard fought gains in salaries, pensions and benefits, but also of their collective bargaining rights and in some cases, even

their rights to free speech. In some states, the reach goes even further. Here are a few examples:

• Wiscons in: The governor, Scott Walker, insisted on legisla-tion revoking the collective bargaining rights of public employees—even after they agreed to the financial conces-sions he demanded to balance the state's budget.

• neW J ersey: The State Assembly just passed a bill that strips 500,000 public workers of their right to collectively bar-gain over their health care.

• Maine: Governor LaPage ordered state workers to remove labor murals depicting labor history from the state depart-ment of labor building, contending that allowing the work to remain in the state labor department building sent a message that government is biased in favor of organized labor. Most recently, he signed legislation that loosens child labor restrictions and is now trying to remove monies from the state pension funds for the general fund.

• Mich iGan: Governor Snyder got the State House and Senate to pass bills giving him "Emergency Management" powers including the ability to appoint a corporation or a CEO who can dissolve town governments or school boards, fire

What Would Florence Do?Responding to Attacks on Public Employees and Collective Bargaining Rights ❱ By Judy Huntington, MN, RN


elected officials, nullify any local law, and run the local governmental entity. That company then has the power to immediately declare all collective bargaining contracts null and void. And he is now using that law. Emergency managers are overseeing the Detroit schools and the city of Benton Harbor. Recall efforts are underway to try to remove the Governor from office.

• oh io: Governor Kasich signed into law S-5, a bill that stripped public employees—including 3,500 RNs repre-sented by the Ohio Nurses Association—of their collective bargaining rights, and lawmakers are now trying to shred the state's minimum wage requirements.

Not since the 1950s and the days of Senator Joseph McCarthy (R-WI), have we seen such wanton, wide-spread and unjust vilification of unions and select groups of citizens. The collapse of the housing market, widespread bank failures, the costly Wall Street bailouts and the budget shortfalls in our State govern-ments are not the fault of our hard-working teachers, firefighters, nurses and other public employees. How is it that we (and we are all in this together) are now to blame for the financial ills of this country? How is it that we should endure not only unpaid furloughs, across-the-board salary cuts, and lack of respect at the bargaining table, while millions of dollars of corporate tax breaks go unchallenged and unchanged? And how does taking away workers' rights to negotiate for a fair and just contract, or—in the case of nurses—the right to advocate for safe patient staffing and other health and safety measures fix these financial prob-lems? How do any of these changes solve or correct the financial misdeeds caused by others who are not held accountable? The answer is simple – they don’t. But this is what is happening... This is not about budgets and finances—it is about political ideals and breaking unions! We have to stop it now! It’s time for nurses to stand up, speak out and yes, if necessary, march!

Leah Curtin, in a March 2011 blog post for American Nurse Today entitled “…And now shall we have class war in the USA” (http://goo.gl/Gc72y), may have said it best:

“Unions were the drivers for wage-and-hours laws, child labor restrictions, abolishing sweatshops and raising concerns that eventually led to federal laws governing safety in the workplace. And for their trouble, union members were beaten, jailed and even killed. Unions in nursing – whether or not you are or ever have been a union member, helped raise your salary, get you paid vacations, helped get you benefits like health”... “Unions—public or private—are not the enemy. Unions—public or private—did not cause globalization, they are not the source of new ‘labor saving’ technologies that cost jobs,

and certainly unions did not cause the Wall Street wrong-doing that led to the current recession (nor of the government bail-outs that saved corporations and banks from their own greed).”

I urge each of you to read carefully and fully embrace the WSNA Emergency Resolution: “Support for Nurses Collective Bargain-ing and Free Speech Rights” (see page 15); the ANA Statement on “Registered Nurses Rights as Public Employees to Advocate for Themselves and Their Patients” (see box on opposite page) and the recent NFN Resolution: “Support for Nurses and Other Workers Collective Bargaining and Free Speech Rights” (page 36).

Nurses—as the mostly highly respected group of professionals in the eyes of the public—need to step up and take the lead in our communities: at town meetings, at the bargaining table, on the picket lines, in political forums and in the legislature. We must stand together in unity of purpose and together, demand that any proposal to take away workers collective bargaining rights be stopped.

As Gretta Styles further admonished us in 1988, “The realiza-tion is palpable and intense in each of us that we must organize, unite, close ranks, go on the offensive; in short, we advance or we retreat. There is no third choice! There will be no moratorium on this frenetic battlefield while we debate or decide or falter or divide. We must march, and march together and emerge trium-phant; or we shall fall scattered to our knees while lost opportu-nity passes us by... No system can endure that does not march!”

I challenge and encourage all nurses to become engaged in this fight—after all, that's what Florence would do! ■

Judy Huntington, MN, RN is the Executive Director of the Washington State Nurses Association.

Cover Story


Labor Relations

Skagit Valley Hospital RNs Fight Back!During recent contract negotiations, nurses at Skagit Valley Hospital were under attack. Management proposed sweeping language changes and dras-tic pay cuts, demonstrating that they simply did not respect or value their nurses. WSNA and the Skagit Valley Local Unit fought back and stood up for a fair contract, rallying nurses and the community as a whole. As a result of this strength and unity, management came through with a fair proposal that will be voted on soon by the unit.

Hospital Board MeetingOver 60 nurses turned out for the Skagit Valley Hospital Board of Com-missioners meeting on Friday, May 27th. The room was overflowing with nurses wearing 'WSNA blue.' David Hari, a registered nurse at Skagit Valley Hospital and member of the contract negotiating team, spoke at the beginning of the meeting to update Commissioners on negotiations and the impact on RNs.

David explained, "I truly enjoy my job and love feeling like I’m making a positive impact in this community. But I also need to feel like this hospital is a partner with me and values the skill and expertise I bring to my work. The unprecedented take-aways that the administration has proposed are troubling to me as an employee, as a nurse, and also as one of the taxpayers who funds this hospital. I urge you, in your roles as stewards of this hospital, to please take an active role in this issue. The nurses and the community need you to advocate for a fair contract that ensures we can continue serv-ing the health care needs of Skagit Valley."

Support & Strength at Unity RallyOn June 2nd, over 250 people showed up at the Skagit County Courthouse to support Skagit Valley RNs. Community members, other labor organizations,

ANA Statement on Registered Nurses’ Rights as Public Employees to Advocate for themselves and Patients

The American Nurses Association (ANA), the largest

professional nurses’ organization in the United States,

stands with its member state nurses associations that

advocate for the health care rights of all and the rights

of registered nurses employed by the state or local

government agencies to negotiate on issues related

to working conditions.

The Code of Ethics for Nurses (2001) calls on the

nursing profession to promote the health, welfare

and safety of all people and to maintain a health care

environment and employment conditions that are

conducive to the provision of quality health care. Sup-

port for nurses’ rights to advocate through individual

or collective action for improved working conditions

and optimal patient care is consistent with the values

of the profession. Central to this commitment is a

well-established system of checks and balances. It is

this system that must be preserved. Turning back the

clock on established workplace rights will not solve

the budget crisis faced by many states. ANA is very

concerned that this erosion of a balanced system of

rights and obligations will impact the current and

future rights of nurses—as health care profession-

als and employees—to advocate on behalf of their

patients, families, communities, as well as themselves.

ANA recognizes that the nation and states have

to make difficult budget choices at this time. ANA

encourages elected officials to be cautious about

budget decisions that could adversely impact the

health and welfare of our most vulnerable popula-

tions. While in the short term these budget cuts may

seem financially prudent, in the long run they may

end up costing the state more in resources, productiv-

ity and quality of life.

ANA and its member state associations are concerned

about political actions taken to address state budgets

that weaken the ability of all registered nurses, includ-

ing publicly employed registered nurses, to freely

advocate for the best work environment to deliver

nursing services.

—April 5, 2011


nurses from other hospitals, and other Skagit Valley hospital employees showed up to stand with RNs and ask how they could help. Key issues at stake include the ability to take uninterrupted rest breaks, drastic wage cuts, and changes to overtime. Experienced nurses are seeing the worst of it with larger wage cuts and changes to seniority and layoff language.

The rally was a huge success and truly showed the solidarity of Skagit Valley RNs and the community. At the next negotiation session, administration took some of the most dangerous and reckless proposals are off the table. They’ve dropped intermittent breaks and agreed to keep the joint statement in the contract committing management to working with nurses.

Unity DinnerSkagit Valley RNs were joined by others in the surrounding area for a Unity Dinner on June 14th. Barbara Crane, our NFN President, encouraged nurses to stand together and fight off this attack. Nurses were able to share stories with each other and build support across different bargaining units. Amidst a flurry of action and activity, the evening was a chance to regroup and recharge together.

Informational PicketingFor 10 hours on June 21st, nurses took a stand to educate the public and each other about the issues at stake in this negotiation. Over 200 Skagit Valley nurses gathered throughout the day for informational picketing. They were joined by dozens of supporters from other hospitals, labor organizations, and more.

While management has reacted to the strength and solidarity of Skagit Valley RNs by taking some of their most drastic proposals off the table, they continue to devalue and disrespect the work of their nurses. They’re seeking more and more power to change nurses’ schedules at will, move their shifts around, and work nurses overtime without paying any extra costs for it. It’s obvious that they’re looking for shortcuts and quick fixes rather than just simply creating adequate staffing plans.

WSNA will continue to work towards a fair contract that recognizes the critical role registered nurses play in providing safe patient care. ■

Labor Relations

At the beginning of June, WSNA put up a billboard on Memorial Highway (just past Dunbar Road) to ask the community to Skagit Valley RNs. Matching window signs are also being distributed to area businesses and supporters.

Landmark New Rest Breaks Settlement with Evergreen Hospital

We are proud to announce that WSNA and Evergreen have entered into an agreement to settle WSNA’s lawsuit over missed rest breaks for nurses at Evergreen. This set-

tlement not only includes payment for rest breaks missed in the past, but also sets forth sweeping changes to the way rest breaks are handled at Ever-green. WSNA and Evergreen have agreed to imple-ment extensive changes in timekeeping, payroll, and policy that are designed to ensure that taking rest breaks is the norm, that nurses are appropriately staffed to allow for breaks and that nurses are prop-erly compensated when rest breaks are missed.

WSNA initially filed suit in October 2010 out of concern that nurses were not receiving their full, uninterrupted rest and meal breaks. The lawsuit asserted that Evergreen Hospital was not paying its registered nurses the wages required when a missed rest break pushes a nurse into overtime hours. The lawsuit sought back pay and the implementation of a better record keeping policy moving forward. By imposing a financial penalty for failing to provide uninterrupted breaks, the goal of the lawsuit was to ensure that Evergreen was making breaks a priority.

In 2010, WSNA won two landmark decisions for patient safety on the issue of missed breaks for reg-istered nurses. The Spokane County Superior Court recently ruled that Sacred Heart Medical Center had violated the Minimum Wage Act by failing to pay nurses the wages they were owed for missed rest breaks and that the nature of a nurse’s work does not allow for anything but full, uninterrupted breaks. An arbitrator also ruled that the University of Washington Medical Center was required to provide nurses with full 15-minute breaks as agreed upon in the collective bargaining agreement. Both decisions conclude that a nurse’s rest break must be uninter-rupted time away from work duties, not a series of small, intermittent breaks which consist of brief interruptions in work throughout the day.

With the momentum of these decisions, WSNA filed four lawsuits at different hospitals across the state to address the issue of rest breaks. In addition to Evergreen, action was taken against Good Samaritan,


Labor Relations

The current economic environment continues to make negotiations challenging for collective bargaining units throughout the state. WSNA negotiation teams, nurse representatives and attorneys have worked hard to achieve fair contracts, with continued positive results.

By participating in the collective bargaining process, WSNA members are standing together and continuing to demand strong contract language, that holds employers accountable.

We are proud of our successes and will continue to hold the line, fighting for fair and equitable contracts that promote the interests and welfare of WSNA-represented nurses.

Wage Increase Key Gains

Cascade Medical CenterJanuary 1, 2011 - September 30, 2013

1st Year

2nd Year

3rd Year

2%

1%

1%

● 1% additional for nurses that choose pay in lieu of benefits from 15% to 16%

● Improved Holiday Pay language

● "Pool Nurses" receive stipend of $25 for working two 12 hr shifts in a month

Morton hospitalMarch 1, 2011 - February 28, 2014

1st Year

2nd Year

3rd Year

1.5%

2%

2%

● Certification Pay - $1.00 per hour for first certification, additional $0.50 for additional certifications

● Not required to work more than three 12 hr shifts in a row

● Instructor Pay - will receive "regular pay" including all entitled premium when conducting a training , class or inservice

● Recognition for full parity

overlake hospital Medical CenterMay 1, 2011 - April 30, 2014

1st Year

2nd Year

3rd Year

1.75%

2%

2.25%

● Premium increases for Relief Charge Nurse

● New BSN / MSN Premium of $1.00 per hour for either or $2.00 per hour for both degrees.

● Work hours will include voluntary low census hours

● Improved Family Medical Leave, Domestic Violence Leave and Military Spouse Language

united general hospitalJune 1, 2011 - May 31, 2014

1st Year

2nd Year

3rd Year

Parity

0.50%

1.50%

● Parity during the summer of 2011

● Premium increases for House Charge Nurse, Second (evening) Shift Differential, Unit Charge Nurse, Certification/BSN permium, MSN Premium

● Holiday substitution for another religious holiday date

● Improved Family Medical Leave, and Military Spouse Leave Language

● Performance Evaluations every three years instead of annually

● Increase in Maximun Annual Leave Accrual

Skyline hospitalFebruary 1, 2010 - January 31, 2014

1st Year

2nd Year

3rd Year

2%

2%

2%

● Premium increases for Scheduled Standby/ On-Call

● Longevity increase of 2% for 20 years continuous and interrupted service.

● Redefined Overtime Language

● Improved Family Medical Leave, and Military Spouse Leave Language

Tacoma General and Holy Family. Those three cases are still pending, but clearly change is underway and hospitals in the state are taking notice.

Settlement Highlights• Evergreen will begin recording and paying for missed rest

breaks, and will pay some back wages for its failure to pay for rest breaks in the past.

• Evergreen managers will adopt procedures to assure nurses receive rest breaks and conduct training on the new rest break procedures including education about how many rest breaks a nurse is entitled to.

• Evergreen will promptly investigate any accusation of retaliation against nurses for exercising their rights under this settlement.

• Evergreen will implement a new system to track missed breaks and provide a method for nurses to record missed breaks.

• Evergreen will provide WSNA department-level data regarding missed rest breaks upon request.

• Evergreen will compensate nurses for missed breaks, including compensation at overtime rate if the missed rest break extends beyond the normal work day.

• Nurses will have new rights concerning interrupted breaks including the possibility of taking a new break or receiving payment for the interrupted rest break.

Hospital administration has been working with WSNA on implementation of these changes. We are very pleased with their efforts to ensure that nurses feel safe to report missed rest breaks without fear of retaliation. We will continue to work closely with our nurses at Evergreen and management to ensure that this settlement creates the lasting changes we need. ■

Labor Relations Report Card

We come from different backgrounds, and we have different experiences and perspectives.

Yet our fight—our journey—is one that is shared.

Join us! together, we will achieve more.

30

2011 Leadership Conference

Follow the Yellow Brick Road.

Pre-Conference

Saturday September 24, 2011

2:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m.E&GW Cabinet (closed session)

Sunday September 25, 2011

9:00 a.m. – noonE&GW Cabinet (closed session)

Noon – 1:30 p.m.Pre-registration

1:30 p.m. – 5:30 p.m.Fall Local Unit CouncilAll local unit officers, unit representatives and leaders are encouraged to attend.

Monday September 26, 2011

7:30 a.m. – 8:30 a.m.Breakfast

8:30 a.m. – 9:00 a.m.Welcome and Introductions

• Kathy Ormsby, BSN, RN Chair, WSNA Cabinet on Economic & General Welfare

• Christine Himmelsbach, MN, RN WSNA Assistant Executive Director of Labor Relations

9:00 a.m. – 10:00 a.m.From Adversity to Advocacy: Creating Change Beyond the Bedside

• Karen Daley, PhD, MPH, RN, FAAN ANA PresidentKaren Daley will share her incredible and courageous journey from adversity to her role as a nationally known advocate and President of the American Nurses Association. Karen was a staff nurse at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston from 1973 to 1999, when she left clinical practice due to a needle stick injury that resulted in her infection with HIV and hepatitis C. Since that time, while continuing her role as President of her state nurses association, she became actively engaged on a state and national level as an advocate for legislation to mandate use of safer needle devices in health care practice settings.

10:00 a.m. – 10:30 a.m.Break

10:30 a.m. – 11:30 a.m.Your Union and More

• Judy Huntington, MN, RN WSNA Executive DirectorJudy Huntington will inspire us to lead the way for registered nurses in Washington State and beyond. Hear how the multi-purpose programs of WSNA interrelate with ANA, the NFN, WSNA districts and WSNA local units. We will discuss the key roles and programs of WSNA, learn about our top priorities and how you can be involved moving us into the future of our profession.

11:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.Stress Management In A Hurry

• Mary Dean, PhD, RN Professor, Brandman University and Evergreen State College; Clinical Faculty, University of WashingtonAs nurses and leaders in our local units, we are faced daily with extreme professional and personal challenges. Join us for an amusing presentation providing tips on stress reduction actions you can start immediately. The presentation concludes with a closed-eye exercise introducing “the relaxation response.”

12:30 p.m. – 1:45 p.m.Lunch

1:45 p.m. – 2:45 p.m.Creating a Culture of Safety

• Sally Watkins, PhD, RN WSNA Assistant Executive Director of Practice, Education & ResearchWhat constitutes a Patient Safety Culture? What do you do when something bad happens at work? Do you know about nurses being a "second victim"? What happens if you are reported to the Nursing Commission for an error? Should you carry personal professional liability insurance?

2:45 p.m. – 3:15 p.m.Break

3:15 p.m. – 4:15 p.m.Education Sessions

A the Yin and the Yang of It

• Jan Bussert, BSN, RN WSNA Nurse Organizer

• Tara Goode, BA, BSN, RN WSNA Nurse Organizer

• Mara Kieval, BSN, RN WSNA Nurse OrganizerReview lessons learned and how to take advantage of the opportunities that abound in a well organized, highly functioning local unit.

B Presenting Your Best!

• Anne Tan Piazza WSNA Assistant Executive Director of Governmental Affairs & Operations

• Lillie Cridland WSNA Communications SpecialistMaking personal presentations in a variety of situations to different audiences can be easy, and yes, even fun! Learn how to frame your message, capture your audience and achieve your goals.

C Grievance Basics

• Pat McClure, RN WSNA Nurse Representative

• Judy Marken, BSN, RN WSNA Nurse Representative

• Jaclyn Perkins, BSN, RN WSNA Nurse RepresentativeUnderstand the rationale and benefit of early resolution of grievances. Learn why settling grievances and issues at the lowest level is always our goal. Learn to recognize a potential grievance and how to take appropriate and timely action to access the grievance procedure. Case studies will engage participants in active discussion, provide practical answers and reveal real–life applications of effective grievance handling.

D Following the Yellow Brick Road: Labor Law twist and turns

• Tim Sears WSNA General / Corporate Counsel

• Mike Sanderson WSNA General Counsel

• Laura Anderson WSNA General CounselTo be an effective leader in your local unit, you must understand how labor law shapes and influences so much of what we do. Learn how we can best advance labor issues with respectful, time-tested and effective approaches.

4:15 p.m. – 6:00 p.m.Break

6:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m.ReceptionNo host bar, on the upper patio

7:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m.Cabinet on E&GW Awards BanquettheMe: “Follow the Yellow Brick Road.” Join the fun by dressing as a favorite character from the Wizard of Oz. Red slippers, anyone?

Agenda 2 0 1 1 L e A d e R S h i p C o N f e R e N C e

tuesday September 27, 2011

7:30 a.m. – 8:30 a.m.Breakfast

8:30 a.m. – 9:30 a.m.Follow that Golden Path and Avoid the Road that Leads the Wrong Way

• Lorraine Seidel, MA, RN Assistant Executive Director of Labor, New York State Nurses AssociationLorraine Siedel will discuss concepts of forming and maintaining healthy professional relationships. Using the national bestselling book, “The Five Dysfunctions of a Team,” we will walk through the process of building and maintaining effective teams.

9:30 a.m. – 10:00 a.m.Break

10:00 a.m. – 11:00 a.m.Concurrent Sessions

A Advanced Grievance Handling

• Sara Frey, BSN, RN WSNA Nurse Representative

• Kathi Landon, RN WSNA Nurse RepresentativeUnderstand the importance of the “Duty of Fair Representation” and your role and responsibility in the process. Learn advanced skills in handling complex situations and accessing appropriate resources for optimal results.

B Local Unit Officer training

• Margaret Conley RN, ARNP WSNA Assistant Director of Labor RelationsBeing a local unit officer is both an honor and huge commitment! Understand your role and responsibilities in order to be an exceptional leader and be at your best at all times. Learn how to access available resources and support so you can fulfill your duty of fair representation.

C Continuous Bargaining

• Ed Zercher BSN, RN WSNA Nurse RepresentativeThe nature of our work in the healthcare environment requires us to be exceptional leaders. Achieving success requires high attention to detail, innovative thinking and continuous bargaining. This program will define continuous bargaining, provide nurses with strategies, and cite opportunities where continuous bargaining can be incorporated into your everyday practices.

D Plant the Seed and Watch it Grow

• Jan Bussert, BSN, RN WSNA Nurse Organizer

• Tara Goode, BA, BSN, RN WSNA Nurse Organizer

• Mara Kieval, BSN, RN WSNA Nurse OrganizerTips and tools for growing your own local unit leaders for the future.

11:00 a.m. – 12:15 p.m.LunchOn the patio

12:15 p.m. – 12:45 p.m.the Voice of Labor

• Lynne Dodson Secretary / Treasurer, Washington State Labor CouncilUnity builds strength! Hear how our partnership with the Washington State Labor Council gives us collective power, strengthening our voice in our communities and with elected officials and policymakers.

12:45 p.m. – 1:45 p.m.the National Labor Scene

• Barbara Crane, RN President, National Federation of NursesWe are honored to have NFN President Barbara Crane speak to us about the power and strength of registered nurses uniting together across the nation. Barbara brings an inspiring message of hope and endless possibilities achievable through our new national union. The NFN is committed to supporting, educating and assisting our members in achieving their economic, workplace and practice goals. Share in a celebration of our solidarity!

1:45 p.m. – 1:50 p.m.Adjourn

Agenda 2 0 1 1 L e A d e R S h i p C o N f e R e N C e

8.5 CNE contact hours will be awarded for successful completion of this activity which requires attendance at the entire event and submission of a completed evaluation form.

The Washington State Nurses Association Continuing Nursing Education Pro-vider Program (OH-231, 9/1/2012) is an approved provider of continuing nursing education by the Ohio Nurses Association (OBN-001-91), an accredited approver by the American Nurses Credentialing Center’s Commission on accreditation.

First Name ____________________________________________________________

Last Name ____________________________________________________________

Informal First Name _________________________________________________

Credentials (RN, ARNP, etc) ________________________________________

Address _______________________________________________________________

City _____________________________________ State _______ Zip __________

Email __________________________________________________________________

Years of WSNA Membership _______________________________________

# of Leadership Conferences Previously Attended _____________

t-Shirt SizeCircle gender and size below

Women’s Men’s

S M L XL 2XL 3XL 4XL

education Sessions

Session 1 Monday, 3:15 p.m. — 4:15 p.m.

¨ 1A The Yin and the Yang of It

¨ 1B Presenting Your Best!

¨ 1C Grievance Basics

¨ 1D Labor Law Twists and Turns

Session 2 Tuesday, 10:00 a.m. — 11:00 a.m.

¨ 2A Advanced Grievance Handling

¨ 2B Local Unit Officer Training

¨ 2C Continuous Bargaining

¨ 2D Plant the Seed and Watch it Grow

feesRegistration Fee: $300 (Does not include accomodations)

Additional guests at the Awards Banquet:

¨ Yes, I will have ____________ guests at $30 each

total Amount Due to WSNA: $ _____________________________

payment

¨ Check / Money order payable to WSNA

¨ Visa / Mastercard

Card Number

__________________ - ________________- _________________ - _____________

Exp Date ___________ / ___________

______________________________________________________________________

Cardholder’s Name

______________________________________________________________________

Cardholder’s Signature

¨ Local unit

My registration fee is to be paid by

______________________________________________________________________

Local Unit

______________________________________________________________________

Signature of Local Unit Chair/Co-Chair

Return this form to WSNA by mail: 575 Andover park West, Suite 101, Seattle, WA 98188

or by fax: 206.575.1908

For questions or special needs, call 206.575.7979 or email [email protected].

Accommodations

Campbell’s Resort is located in the city of Chelan, near the center of Washington State. It is 180 miles east of Seattle and 160 miles west of Spokane. Major airline service is available from Wenatchee, 36 miles south of Chelan.

Contact Campbell’s at 800.553.8225 or 509.682.2561; reference Registration group Code: WSNA. ACCODATIONS ARE NOT INCLUDED IN THE CONFERENCE REGISTRATION FEE AND MUST BE ARRANGED SEPARATELY.

Registration 2 0 1 1 L e A d e R S h i p C o N f e R e N C e


nFn board oF directors

Kim Armstrong – Tacoma General Hospital (Secretary)

Jeanne Avey – Peacehealth St. John Medical Center (Member)

Kathi Ormsby – Sacred Heart Medical Center (Member)

nFn nationaL advisory board

Julia Weinberg – Skagit Valley Hospital / WSNA President

Marty Avey – Sacred Heart Medical Center

Judy Huntington – WSNA Executive Director

Christine Himmelsbach – WSNA Assistant Executive Director of Labor Relations

* Attended both NFA and NLA

nationaL Federation asseMbLy deLeGates

Marty Avey* – Sacred Heart Medical Center

Susan E. Jacobson – Yakima Regional Medical Center

Pamela Newsom* – Northwest Hospital

Daniel Lee Brickert* – Southwest Washington Medical Center

Betty Blondin* – Tacoma General Hospital

Edna Cortez* – Seattle Children's Hospital

aLternate deLeGates

Ann Whitley* – Yakima Regional Medical Center

Julia Barcott* – Yakima Regional Medical Center

Sally Baque* – Tacoma General Hospital

Jeaux Rinehart – Virginia Mason Medical Center (attending as a speaker for the NLA)

additionaL nationaL Labor acadeMy attendees

Marilyn Sterling – Good Samaritan Hospital

Margaret Schmidt – Whidbey General Hospital

Christie Riley – Southwest Washington Medical Center

travis Elmore – Southwest Washington Medical Center

Christiana Natarajan – Overlake Hospital Medical Center

Sue Dunn – Virginia Mason Medical Center

Jane Hill-Littlejohn – Virginia Mason Medical Center

tracy Pullar – St Josephs Hospital

DeaDea Brickert – Southwest Washington Medical Center

Labor Relations

NFN’s 2nd Annual Labor Academy

National Federation of Nurses’ Second Annual Labor Academy was an inspiring and educational exchange of stories, experiences

and resources centered around the theme of nurses leading the way in reducing vio-lence against nurses.

Held on May 14 & 15 in Chicago, the event began with a powerful speaker panel fea-turing NFN members who have experi-enced devastating violence while on the job. Jéaux Rinehart discussed why violence against nurses goes so under-reported and Kelly McLean brought the room to its feet in acknowledgement her bravery for telling her tragic story of

being beaten unconscious by a psychiat-ric patient only weeks after becoming a nurse. While traumatizing, the real vio-lence she’s experienced came after she reported the assault and returned to work to be shunned and blamed by co-workers and administration.

During the two days, participants attended workshops on a variety of sub-jects including “Lateral Violence – Making a Career of Eating Our Young,” “Expos-ing the Real Dysfunctions of a Team” and

“Social Networking: A Union Worker’s Rights and Responsibilities.”

The Academy ended with an excep-tional, uplifting address from Stewart

Acuff, Chief of Staff and Assistant to the President of the Utility Workers Union of America (UWUA), who emphasized the need for worker solidarity to end the problem of violence. Check www.nfn.org for a video of his address.

The forum provided nurses from every member state with the chance to connect, share experiences and best practices and learn tangible skills for making violence against nurses a thing of the past.

WSNA Attendees at the NFN's National Labor Academy and National Federation AssemblyWSNA thanks the delegates, alternate delegates and academy attendees for travelling to Chicago and giving their time and commitment to the values of WSNA and the NFN. WSNA’s delegates had two days of hard work at the NFN National Federation Assembly meeting and successfully moved several resolutions forward. They were accompanied by WSNA staff, WSNA Executive Director Judy Huntington and WSNA Assistant Executive Director of Labor Relations Christine Himmelsbach.


Innaugual National Federation Assembly a Great Success

National Federation of Nurses’ delegates and leadership came together in Chicago on May 16 and 17, 2011 for the first ever national convening convention of the National Federation Assembly (NFA). The NFA reaffirmed the

NFN’s mission as a new type of union and collaborative voice for nurses, and set the stage for another two years of success.

The first day of the NFA meeting was kicked off with an inspi-rational address from Randi Weingarten, president of the 1.4 million-member American Federation of Teachers (AFT), about how labor, in solidarity, can defeat the national assault on work-ers’ rights. Following her keynote, the NFA began its business session by addressing several governance issues and following nominations from the floor and a candidates’ forum, the NFA delegates voted for the NFN vice-president and Treasurer offi-cer positions. Re-elected to four year terms were Julie Schuff, Oregon, NFN vice-president and Rose Marie Martin, Ohio, NFN treasurer.

Following an evening dinner and tour of historic labor sites in Chicago, NFN hosted a listening session with delegates about how NFN can best meet the needs of NFN members. Key themes

discussed were inadequate staffing levels that lead to injury, burn out and mistakes as well as hostility and horizontal violence among nurses. Staffing and violence are NFN’s two national priorities and the NFN leadership expressed appreciation for the NFN delegates’ insight and suggestions about how to address these problems so that nurses and their patients can thrive.

On day two, NFN passed several key resolutions that will shape NFN’s future priorities. These included resolutions to: reduce violence against nurses, implement the recommendations of the Institutes of Medicine report on the Future of Nursing, develop strategies to reduce fatigue and its implications on nurse and patient safety, develop a national, optimal safe staffing model, and support nurses and other workers’ free speech and collec-tive bargaining rights.

You are invited to visit the NFN web page at www.nfn.org and the NFN Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/nfn.org to view additional photos of the Assembly and join the conversa-tion about these important topics. The next meeting of the NFA will be in May of 2013.

Labor Relations

Resolutions from the NFN AssemblyThe following resolutions were passed at the NFN Assembly. These excerpts show the resolves for each resolution. For the full text of resolutions, visit www.nfn.org.

resoLUtion 1: vioLence aGainst nUrses - eMpLoyer responsibiLities

introdUced by: NYSNA & WSNA – Sweeney / McLean Resolution

Now Be It therefore Resolved

That in furtherance of the NFN’s “Stop violence

against nurses” agenda, the NFN encourage

every NLO to include in its model bargaining

proposals, contract language that requires

employers to provide salary, retirement and

health benefits for nurses who through violence

have become victims of brutal attacks resulting

in permanent loss or injury; and

Be It Further Resolved

That NFN Develop communications and other

strategies to increase awareness of RNs, man-

agers, employers, policy makers and the public

about the dangers of violence in health care

settings, and


That federal and local legislation be introduced

requiring that employers provide such benefits

for nurses who are victims of violence in the

workplace, sustaining permanent injury; and


That NFN support the efforts of the NLOs to

assure compliance with existing laws and regu-

lations including those that require front-line

worker involvement in development, implemen-

tation and evaluation of workplace violence

prevention plans.

resoLUtion 2: iMpLeMentation oF the recoMMendations FroM the ioM report "the FUtUre oF nUrsinG"

introdUced by: Oregon Nurses Association

Now Be It therefore Resolved,

That the NFN and its member organizations

place a priority on supporting and implement-

ing the recommendations from the Institute of

Medicine report titled “The Future of Nursing:

Leading Change: Advancing Health,” providing

they are not in conflict with the principles of

collective bargaining.


resoLUtion 3: iMpLications oF FatiGUe on patient and nUrse saFety

introdUced by: WSNA

Be It therefore Resolved,

That NFN develop communications and other

strategies to increase awareness of RNs, man-

agers, employers, policy makers and the public

of the dangerous impact of fatigue on patient,

nurse and public safety, and be it further

Resolved,

That NFN support state efforts to advocate for

legislative and regulatory remedies to ensure

that nurses and the public are protected from

the adverse effects of fatigue.

resoLUtion 4: sUpport For nUrses and other Workers’ coLLective barGaininG and Free speech riGhts

introdUced by: WSNA

Be It therefore, Resolved

That the 2011 NFN Federation Assembly

Requests that the NFN Board of Directors and

Staff take the following actions:

1. That NFN issue a position statement

consistent with NFN’s strong commitment

in support of nurses’ and other worker’s

rights to form and operate unions and

collectively bargain economic and gen-

eral welfare, and practice environment

improvement that foster safe, quality care

for patients,

2. Support Nurses at the state level in

protecting their rights to bargain and

advocate for workplace conditions,

3. Educate NFN members and the public

about the impact to patient and nurse

safety as it relates to the nurses’ ability to

bargain for working conditions, and

4. Work with the NFN NLOs, other unions

and coalition partners to protect nurses’

rights to bargain and advocate for safe,

quality working conditions.

resoLUtion 5: saFe staFFinG LeveLs

introdUced by: WSNA

Be It therefore Resolved,

That the NFN draft and sponsor safe staffing

legislation and / or other safe staffing public

policies to safeguard the public and support

Registered Nurses and assistive nursing per-

sonnel, and

Be It Further Resolved,

That these public policies require each institu-

tion that provides care for patients to include

direct care registered nurses in the develop-

ment and ongoing evaluation of facility specific

staffing plans, and

Be It Further Resolved,

That NFN support efforts of its NLOs in the

enforcement of existing and the advocacy of

new nurse staffing laws and / or regulations.

Labor Relations


Labor Relations

Report from the NFN Labor Academy & NFN AssemblyBy Julia Weinberg, RN

In May, I attended the NFN second Labor Academy and our first NFN National Labor Assembly in Chicago. What a packed week of activity!

The theme this year at the academy focused on violence in the workplace. We had breakout sessions which focused on education and providing tools for how to address this very prevalent issue in our workplace settings.

One of the key speakers, Kelly, was a new grad nurse from New York just six months out of nursing school. She shared with us her story of being brutally beaten by a patient in the psych unit of her hospital. Her story was compelling and indicated of how much work we as a profession and as a society need to do to stop the violence and the “hurting” being done to nurses. WSNA’s own Jéaux Rineheart also spoke about some of the reasons why vio-lence is underreported.

However, we also need to acknowledge that this pain is not only being inflicted by patients and the public but also by each other in what they call ‘lateral violence.’ We all know the phase

“nurses eat their young.” How sad that this still goes on after so much has been written and so many stories have been shared.

Bullying in the workplace is not okay. It has got to stop. It is not ok that someone bullies another or that a group bullies one or many. Sometimes, it’s just because they are the new nurse or maybe the person is perceived as a kind of threat in some dis-torted way. There is so much literature about how destructive this is. JCAHO has taken a stand on disruptive behavior and clearly stated that it should not be tolerated.

There has even been state and national legislation introduced to try and address this issue in the workplace. Though unsuccessful so far, I suspect we’ll continue to see possible legislative solutions to this problem. We have seen new legislation over the past few years around cyber bullying, our kids, and bullying in schools. Sadly, this is not just a problem with kids, it affects adults too.

The NFN is taking violence in the workplace on as one of its primary platforms for our national union. WSNA is proud of the

NFN’s leadership on this issue and how we have been address-ing this in our State too.

After the Labor Academy concluded, I quickly switched gears to represent Washington and our nurses at the first-ever NFN assembly. We all can be proud of our elected delegates from Washington and the work that was packed into just a few days. WSNA introduced three resolutions, partnered with New York to jointly introduce one resolution, and strongly supported Ore-gon’s resolution on the Future of Nursing recommendations. The work that was done by all the representatives from each state has laid out the roadmap for NFN’s work for years to come.

During these days of learning and advocating, I was reminded how important it is for us to be a member of the NFN, our national nurses union, that is giving us excellent leadership and visibility on national labor issues and is working tirelessly to defend our rights to collectively bargain. Together, the NFN, WSNA and greater labor community must speak out and march together as we fight for and support all workers rights. Those who want to be represented for collective bargaining should have that right. Nobody should be able to take that right away with the stroke of a pen or back room deals. I urge you to stay in touch with NFN by visiting the NFN website at www.nfn.org and find out more about the exciting work we’re all doing. ■

Julia Weinberg, RN is the President of the Washington State Nurses Association.

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Katheren Koehn Joins National Federation of Nurses as CEO

t he National Federation of Nurses is pleased to announce the appointment of our new CEO, Katheren Koehn, RN, who comes to NFN with more than 35 years of experience as a staff

nurse and national nursing leader.

She spent most of her career as a staff nurse at Abbott Northwest-ern Hospital’s spine unit in Minneapolis, MN, and was also a nurse leader, serving as hospital-wide co-chair for the nurses collective bargaining unit during her tenure at the hospital. Working both directly with patients and through her union and association membership to improve the quality of health care delivery in her hospital and beyond is how Kathi is best known—taking knowl-edge and best practices from one area of work to better inform and improve the other.

Throughout her career, Kathi has been an active leader-participant in over 50 different nursing or healthcare-related boards, com-missions, committees and task groups. She has also held several elected and appointed positions representing the interests of RNs and the field of nursing in multiple venues including the Ameri-can Nurses Association, American Nurses Credentialing Center, and served as the president of the Minnesota Nurses Association.

Kathi brings open communication and a collaborative focus to NFN, as we work with nurses to shape the national dialogue around important issues such as workplace violence against nurses and the impact of healthcare reform on nurses.

NFN Recognizes First Birthday of Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act

One year ago, President Obama signed legislation into law that radically transformed our health care system to serve more Ameri-cans, reduce costs, increase quality and provide preventive care.

Central to this legislation is increasing the role of nurses in health care delivery, which is supported by a recent Robert Wood John-son Foundation (RWJF) report that found nurses are key to the success of a 21st century health care system and need to play a prominent role in developing the policies and procedures that will make reform a reality.

National Federation of Nurses agrees.

“Nurses have a dual perspective on health reform, making us a uniquely qualified and essential voice in this debate. First, as employees in one of the nation’s highest-injury professions, we place tremendous value on our own health insurance coverage and the importance of quality care and access,” said Barbara Crane, RN.

NFN News

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“Second, as front-line health providers, nurses see the impact of the country’s failed health care system every single day, from the clinic exam room to the hospital bed to the emergency department. This dual perspective gives nurses insight into our health care system that can, and should, be useful to national and local policy makers.”

NFN is working diligently to ensure nurses are at the table in these discussions so that we improve health care delivery and patient care.

NFN Wants to Connect With You

The NFN has launched its first e-newsletter, a quarterly update from your national union on nursing and labor news and issues that affect your workplace and patient care. To view the e-news-letter or to sign up to receive it quarterly, visit http://www.nfn.org/e-newsletter.

❱ You can also join the conversation and movement on Facebook at www.facebook.com/nfn.org


Nursing Practice News

New WSNA Publications

during the WSNA Convention we experienced a wonderful intro-duction to a new WSNA White Paper: Mapping the Economic

Value of Nursing authored by David Keepnews, PhD, JD, RN, FAAN. This paper discusses the importance of defin-ing and quantifying the economic value that nursing represents given cost and value are increasing considerations in health care and in decisions by policy-makers, payers, and health system executives.

The paper provides historical context, reviews hospital payment methodolo-gies and implications for nurse staffing, and reviews advanced practice nursing reimbursement design. The paper offers recommendations for consideration by nurses, nursing organizations, and others emphasizing the importance for nurses to be knowledgeable about the economic and policy issues that drive decisions relating to their practice. Dr. Keepnews emphasizes the need for nurses to have at least a basic under-standing of health policy and financing as well a current knowledge regarding the link between nursing and outcomes of care. He also references the need to remain grounded in the human values on which the profession is based.

Additionally, Robin Fleming, PhD, RN, NCSN, recently finalized another White Paper for WSNA: Imperative Issues Affecting School Nurse Practice

– Implications for the Future of School Nursing and Child Health in Washing-ton State. This paper was written with a great deal of collaboration with School Nurses of Washington (SNOW), nurses from the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI), and several individual school nurses from across

the state. With the rising population of students with special health care needs and the increased numbers of immigrant, poor, and ethnic minority children, numerous issues are facing our schools and school nurses. The rising need for services, yet growing conflicts created by reduced support for school nurses, prompted the need for WSNA to provide increased attention to school nursing professionals. Recom-mendations are made for school nurses, employers, higher education, research and possible policy development.

The third paper developed is a Posi-tion Paper on Public Health and Public Health Nursing. This was authored by David Reyes, MN, MPH, RN, Health Services Administrator in the Commu-nity Health Services Division with King County Department of Public Health. Interviews were also conducted by Peggy Slider, MSN, RN, with key public health nursing leaders familiar with the numerous public health issues in Wash-ington State including Betty Bekemeier, PhD, MPH, RN; Bobbie Berkowitz, PhD, RN, FAAN; Elaine Conley, MPH, RN; Willma Elmore, MN, RN; Janet Primomo, PhD, RN; Marni Storey, MS, ARNP. Recommendations are made for public health policy and public health nursing to include education, practice and research strategies.

All three of these papers will become available on the WSNA website this summer and will be utilized for future initiatives established and prioritized by WSNA Board of Directors. We are extremely appreciative of this work completed by each author, and recog-nize each paper as a key foundational document for our future work in these areas.

NCQAC appoints new Nursing Practice Advisory Group to the “Consistent Standards of Practice” Subcommittee

the Nursing Care Quality Assur-ance Commission uses Nursing Practice Advisory Groups to

identify optimal practice in all practice settings across the state, gather infor-mation and inform the members of the Consistent Standards of Practice Sub-Committee on current practice standards. The Sub-committee drafts interpretive statements to be considered by the NCQAC, and recommenda-tions from the Consistent Standards of Practice Sub-committee (CSPS) must be approved by the NCQAC before taking effect. The Nursing Practice Advisory Group consists of no more than fifteen appointed members. Initially, roughly one-half serve a one year term with the other members serving for two years. Subsequent terms are for two years. The members are unpaid volunteers. The primary appointment criterion shall be expertise in practice settings to be reviewed. Membership also includes two NCQAC commission members.

Nursing Practice Advisory Group Members

• Edwina Dorsey• Janice Doyle• Gregory Fletcher• Theresa Hutchinson• Sarah Jablonski• Mary Lara• Janis Miller• Candice Mohar• Mary Nametka• Sheryl O’Connor Taylor• Charlotte Pinegar• Pamela Shull• William Swarens• Margaret Voelker• Sally Watkins


Nursing Practice News

Contact (206) 296-5660, [email protected] or visit www.seattleu.edu/nursing

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Licensure of CNSs as Advanced Registered Nurse Practitioners

the Washington State Nurses Association in conjunction with the Washington State Affiliate of the

National Association of Clinical Nurse Specialists (CNSs) formally petitioned the Nursing Care Quality Assurance Commission (NCQAC) to write rules to license qualified Clinical Nurse Special-ists as Advanced Registered Nurse Practitioners in Washington State. This request was to promote implementation of the APRN Consensus Model which includes CNSs as advanced practice registered nurses. Both organizations believe the language in RCW 18.79.050 gives NCQAC the authority to write rules regarding recognition of CNSs:

“Advanced registered nursing practice” means the performance of the acts of a registered nurse and the performance of an expanded role in providing health care services as recognized by the medical and nurs-ing professions, the scope of which is defined by rule by the commission.

WSNA believes that licensure of CNSs as ARNPs in our state would promote access to care for patients. It would further nursing’s role in health reform and be in alignment with the APRN Consensus Model as well as the Insti-tute of Medicine’s report, The Future of Nursing: Leading Change, Advancing Health. WSNA believes appropriately qualified CNSs need to be able to work to the full extent of their education and expertise.

New WSNA Pocket Cards Promoting Nurse & Patient Safety

Safe Patient HandlingWSNA, in conjunction with Washing-ton State University, received a grant to support increasing staff nurse aware-ness of safe patient handling. As part of this grant a pocket card was designed identifying steps nurses should take to ensure a “saFe L i Ft”:

• space, i.e. obstacle free, adequate to perform tasks

• assess the patients physical & mental condition, care needs, ability to assist, & weight bearing capability in relation to lift or transfer activity

• FUnction• eqU i pMent• L i Ft teaM• i nJUry prevention• FreqUency• train inG

Pocket cards were pilot tested at three facilities with feedback provided via a survey monkey questionnaire. Addi-tionally, a Safe Patient Handing learn-ing module is being added to our on-line CNE program. We want to thank Butch DeCastro, PhD, RN for his assistance in developing both of these tools.

Masks and RespiratorsAs we learned during the last two flu seasons, there is a great deal of confu-sion regarding the various types of masks that nurses need to utilize in the clinical environment. We developed another pocket card illustrating “when and where” masks and / or respirators should be used. Comparisons between masks and respirators are provided as well as information about appropriate fit and user seal testing. We hope you will find this tool useful—and not just during flu season!


Continuing Competency

WSNA Presents at American Organization of Nurse Executives Annual Meeting

Sally Watkins, WSNA Assistant Executive Director of Nursing Practice, Education, and Research and Ann E. Rogers, Professor, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia, presented “Preventing Staff Nurse Fatigue and Improving Patient Safety: The Role of the Nurse Leader” at the American Organization of Nurse Executives (AONE) 44th Annual Meet-ing & Exposition held April 13-16, 2011 in San Diego, California.

The purpose of this presentation was to explore the evidence regarding work schedules, fatigue and error and how these relate to patient safety and quality of care. Additionally, this presentation highlighted Washington State’s experi-ence with proposed legislation address-ing rest and meals breaks as a fatigue countermeasure. The session was well attended with approximately 250 in attendance including nurse executives, nurse managers, and other nurse lead-ers.

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[email protected] | www.uwb.edu

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Many retired and soon-to-retire nurses are asking whether they should change their license to inactive status. Here are some things to consider first:

1. If you change the status of your license

now to inactive status, should you

decide to return to active status, you will

be required to complete an approved

refresher course if in an inactive status for

more than three years.

2. The Nursing Commission is actively

exploring the development of a “retired

status” which might not include the need

to complete a refresher course to return to

active status. This status may also have a

reduced licensure fee as compared to the

current active status fee. NCQAC plans to

draft a decision package for the 2012 Leg-

islative Session describing this proposed

licensure status.

3. NCQAC audits do not begin until 2014, so

you could wait until immediately prior to

your birthday in 2014 to make this status

change. Thus, you have some time to

make this decision. You might find that

meeting these requirements is less over-

whelming than first perceived.

4. There are MANY ways to meet the

required 531 practice hours and the 45

continuing education hours. Examples

for practice hours include: participating

in a volunteer mission project, caring for

an elderly parent, doing blood pressure

screenings for a church, working as a

volunteer emergency responder through

the Red Cross, Medical Reserve Corp, or

other such organization. Education can be

found in a variety of ways including tak-

ing courses through WSNA’s on-line CNE

program which is now free. As a reminder,

WSNA has developed some log sheets to

help you track your hours. These can be

found on our web page at: www.wsna.org/

Topics/Continuing-Competency/

5. Should you still decide you want to

change the status of your license to

inactive status, please be aware that the

WSNA Board will be discussing the WSNA

membership implications and propos-

ing a membership category recognition

for those in inactive status. We are also

working on this with ANA because this is

becoming an issue nationally as well.

If you have additional questions, please contact WSNA at: [email protected]


New Members

WhatcoM

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Judith Silk Recognized for Dedication to Public Health with Snohomish Health District

To celebrate National Public

Health Week, the Washington

State Public Health Association

recognized public health pro-

fessionals, nominated by their

peers, for their outstanding work to improve

public health. This year awards were given in

the American Public Health Association theme,

individual, school, business, community and

statewide categories.

Judith Silk, RN, a WSNA member from the

Snohomish Health District, earned an Honor-

able Mention as an individual WSPHA Health

Champion. She was recognized for her thirty-

six year of service in Snohomish County as a

public health nurse including work in the public

schools, in Communicable Disease manage-

ment, in Tuberculosis, in management, and

with Children with Special Healthcare Needs.

Karen Bowman Recognized for Leadership in Environmental Health

WSNA’s own Karen Bowman was recognized

by Health Care Without Harm as the 2011 recipi-

ent of the Charlotte Brody Award. Karen was

selected for the honor because of her exten-

sive contributions to environmental health

nursing through clinical practice, public edu-

cation, political advocacy, publication, and pro-

fessional service. Karen precepts nursing and

environmental science students from Seattle

University, Western Washington University and

the University of Washington in environmental

health policy and advocacy, giving students

“hands-on” experience in the legislative arena

where they learn that one person can actually

make a difference.

Her position as the Environmental Health Spe-

cialist for the Washington State Nurses Associa-

tion strategically places her in a prime position

to advocate for State and Federal environmen-

tal health legislation such as the PBDE Ban, the


Honors & Recognitions

is also a member of the International Medical

Surgical Response Team and volunteered in

the Indonesian tsunami relief effort, providing

care on the U.S. Navy’s USNS Mercy hospital

ship. Rebecca also participated in the Seattle

Homeless Flu Vaccine campaign and helped set

up flu vaccine and tuberculosis testing clinics

in Seattle area fire stations for the area’s home-

less population.

Rebecca traveled to Washington D.C. to accept

the award and participate in a series of celebra-

tory events including meetings with Legislators

to educate them about the demands of the job.

In addition to being a WSNA member, she also

serves as an officer in her Local Unit.

WSNA Staff Member Sofia Aragon Honored for Advocacy

Sofia Aragon, WSNA Senior Governmental

Affairs Advisor, was recognized at the annual

Children’s Alliance Voices for Children Awards

on June 7th. As a core member of the Racial

Equity Team (RET) during the 2011 legislative

session, Sofia’s role was to raise awareness

about the impact legislation can have on health

disparities and access to care for communities

of color. Other RET’s core members are Heather

Villanueva, SEIU 775; John Paul Chaisson-Carde-

nas and Fatima Morales, Washington Commu-

nity Action Network; Toby Guevin, OneAmerica;

Shankar Narayan, ACLU of Washington; Teresa

Mosqueda, Washington State Labor Council,

AFL-CIO; Bernal Baca, American Federation

of Teachers; and Tony Lee, Statewide Poverty

Action Network.

The Children’s Alliance is a statewide public

policy advocacy organization that works at

the state and federal level to ensure that all

children have what they need to thrive. About

125 organizations make up the organizational

members of the Children’s Alliance and over

9,000 individuals are members of the online

Children’s Action Network.

Children’s Safe Product Act, and the Safe Baby

Bottle Act banning Bisphenol A in Washington

State. She is currently advocating for Federal

Legislation reforming the Toxic Substance Con-

trol Act of 1976.

The Charlotte Brody Award was created in 2006

by HCWH and The Luminary Project in honor

of a lifelong advocate for social change, a reg-

istered nurse and activist who has spent her

life making the world a safer place for people

around the world. The award recognizes a

nurse’s endeavors towards “brilliantly lighting

the way to a healthier environment and inspir-

ing other nurses to do the same.”

Julie Strandquist of Spokane Advocates for Safe Chemicals Act on Capitol Hill

As part of the advocacy efforts for the Safe

Chemicals Act, Spokane nurse and WSNA

member Julie Strandquist, RN, EH was flown

to Washington D.C. by the

Washington Toxics Coalition

Sofia Aragon with other members of the Racial Equity Team at the Children's Alliance “Voices for Children” Awards.

to advocate and meet with other leaders, includ-

ing Jessica Alba. While in D.C., Julie attended the

Safer Chemicals Healthy Families event along

with ANA CEO Marla Weston. Julie was one of

a contingent of moms who traveled to support

the ‘Safe Chemicals Act of 2011’ out of concern

for the health effects of chemical exposure.

The ‘Safe Chemicals Act of 2011’ seeks to over-

haul and update the 35-year old Toxic Sub-

stances Control Act (TSCA) which is our nation’s

main law aimed at regulating chemicals used

in everyday products. By updating TSCA, Con-

gress can create the foundation for a sound and

comprehensive chemicals policy that protects

public health and the environment.

Rebecca Ainley from AMR Honored with ‘Star of Life’ Award

Rebecca Ainley, RN/CCt, was recognized with

the ‘Star of Life’ Award by the American Ambu-

lance Association for her work with American

Medical Response. Rebecca was praised as an

excellent nurse and extraordinary volunteer.

As a member of In-The-Field Ministries she is

helping build a medical clinic in Uganda and

has hosted several fund-raisers to raise money

for the clinic. She plans to travel to Uganda in 18

months to offer her services in the country. She

Julie Strandquist at the Safer Chemicals Healthy Families event with Marla Weston, ANA CEO.


Paul, taraPaul, tidaPeterson, JanellePitkin, emilyPowers, cassierankin, Juliereed, dennisrichmon, brennariley, Jenniferrisdon, Lindarobison, tamararoe, Melissaroepke, robertaroque, christinerothrock, Leslierotimi, Josephineroyer, AimeeSaeki, NorikoSaint, barbaraSale, caitlinSamonte, JenniferSamuelson, tauniSantiago Martinez, tanaScanlan, JohnShoop, rebecaSkaria, JashleySkelton, KateSlater, cynthiaSmith, AnnSmyly, NikoleSolbakken, LaurenSolberg, MaryStack, WynnStamper, SerenaStasi, bettyStephen-Selby, HeatherStevens, AndreaStiles, erikStoner, JeffreyStumpf, AdrianSween, StephanieSweetman, Mary Patriciataylor, Mary rebeccateets, ericathemelis, Alexisthiesen, Amandaturnberg, Hilaryumali, floridavafaee Nia, bitavan vactor, Patriciavanwormer, Lydiavesco, deannaWalker, caitlinWambua, ScolasticaWanjala, butsinaWard, SusanWashburn, KathyWeed, Angela

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pierce

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New MembersMembership

EFT — An Easy Way to Pay Your Membership Dues

By Patrick McGraw

A growing number of members of the Washington State Nurses Associa-tion (WSNA) are paying member-

ship dues via electronic funds transfer, or “EFT.”

EFT is a monthly alternative to annual or installment dues payments. A member who would prefer to pay dues via EFT would submit a blank voided check along with a membership application or change of information card to WSNA.

Ease of use is a principal reason for payment of dues via EFT. A member would only need to contact the member-ship department about changes to their checking account or employment status and would only receive an invoice if dues could not be deducted from a checking account.

Any changes to the checking account that would be used for the payment of EFT dues should be reported to the WSNA membership department immediately. A modification to the amount of dues with-drawn or cancellation of the authorization must be made in writing to WSNA twenty (20) days prior to the deduction date.

The other dues payment options available to WSNA members at this time are payroll deduction, annual and installment pay-ment. If you would like to pay your dues via EFT, please download a membership application or change of information card from the membership page of the WSNA Web site. The membership page can be found at www.wsna.org/Membership/.

Please contact the membership depart-ment for any questions related to your dues by phone at 206.575.7979, by fax at 206.838.3099 or by email at [email protected].


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spokane / adaMs / LincoLn / pend oreiLLe

Adams, JoshuaAnderman, KatyAnders, LanceAtkins, Amibakken, Abigailbarnes, Kerriebartek, Jolenebartlett, Melodybean, francisbird, Melissabisbee, Meganbryan, tobiburger, Alisonburleson, tristabyrd, donnaclark, Samuelclarke, tineke

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yakiMa city / north yakiMa

coffman, JanetHicks, ScottJimenez, beatrizMccandless, deborahMiller, PamelaPackard, Joniramos, Mayrarecord, Jaime

cheLan / doUGLas / Grant

elliston, Janetgahringer, JenniferHull, verityLienemann, StaceyMalmberg, SheilaMarshall, connieMcbrearty, rachelMorrison, StefaniePresnell, greigthorn, JodieWolf, ScottYoung, Kara

Grays harbor

Allen, brennabarrantes, Kerbiegreeley, NicholasHudson, WilliamMasters, roxanneMoore, charis

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WahkiakUM / coWLitz

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cLark / skaMania

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WhitMan coUnty

James, NathanWolfe, rachel

benton / FrankLin

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skaGit / isLand / san JUan

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gruenwald, JenniferHaun, MelissaHendrickson, gloriaJuan, Sheri AnnKarydis, JayneLanglois, theresaLynn, MichaelMaddox, HeatherMarkus, SydneyMartin, JaneenMather, cynthiaMitchell, dyanaNash, MarthaParaiso, HelenPerry, robertaPomerleau, NicoleQuall, emilyQuinn, KarenSims, bridgitteStewart, carolynSwan, KarlaSwanson, Angelatennyson, AnnWilliams, blairZaveruha, Susan

kitsap

Herzog, Margaret

kittitas

cosgrove, MadelineHaney, LindseyStingley, AnnetteWallick, tammyYangas, Kevin

aLL others

burnet, esperiecowman, JasonMejia, irmaorth, francesPalacios, daniellePrevost, camilleSides, dannySides, SusanStaatz, MaryStape, MelissaYork, Jonathan

MeMbership inForMation & eMpLoyMent statUs chanGesIt is the responsibility of each nurse to notify

the Washington State Nurses Association of any

change in work status which may include, but

is not limited to: name, address, phone num-

ber, FTE increase or decrease, leave of absence,

medical leave, maternity leave, leaving or joining

a bargaining unit. This change must be done in

writing either by using a Change of Information

Card or sending an email to [email protected]

The Cabinet on Economic and General Welfare

(CE&GW) policy states: When a nurse is on an

unpaid leave of absence, the dues are adjusted

to the Reduced Membership Category during

the unpaid Leave of Absence period. The accu-

mulated dues payment is to begin within 90

days of return to work. The nurse will have up

to twelve months to complete payment of these

dues. It is the responsibility of the nurse to notify

WSNA of this change in work status.

New Members


Margaret Mary Fromherz1917-2011

Margaret Mary Fromherz, 93, of Yakima, died March 23, 2011. She was born in St. Paul, Oregon on June 30, 1917, the daughter of Basil and Mary (Kemmerich ) Stupfel. She graduated from St. Paul Union High School in 1936 and from the University of Portland College of Nursing in 1944. Upon graduation she came to Yakima as the director of the Cadet Student Nursing Pro-gram of St. Elizabeth Hospital.

In 1949 Margaret married Albert W. Fromherz Sr. In St. Paul, Oregon. They made their home in Yakima and raised four children.

From 1950 to 1957 Margaret taught nursing part time as a substitute and did some pri-vate duty nursing. She then resumed her career as a nurs-ing instructor at St. Elizabeth School of Nursing located at Yakima Valley Community College. She also taught sci-ence at St. Joseph Academy. In 1966, she again became the director of St. Elizabeth School of Nursing where she phased the nursing program into Yakima Valley College. Her position included the devel-opment of nursing programs in Yakima, Grandview, and Ellensburg.

Margaret retired in 1982, although continuing to serve with many committees and organizations including: Washington State Nurses Association; National League

for Nursing, where she served on the league’s accreditation team; Washington State Board of Practical Nurse Examin-ers; Young Ladies Institute, serving as president; and the National Council of Catholic Women. She also served as president of the parish council for two different parishes, St. Paul Cathedral in Yakima and later at St. John in Naches. She was a Eucharistic Minister at Our Lady of Lourdes church in Selah. Margaret volunteered for Red Cross blood draw-ings and foot care clinics, and Right to Life. She received many honors and recognition for her endeavors through out her career.

Margaret is survived by her son Bill (Lucy) Fromherz of Yakima; daughters Sue From-herz of Yakima and Marylen (Dan) Robinson of South Bend, IN; sisters Dorothy Duyck of Forest Grove, OR and Bea Peters of Cornelius, OR; six grandchildren, Amy, Adam, Kelly, and Mathew Fromherz of Yakima and Ted and Irene Robinson of South Bend, IN; three great grand children Cameron, Caleb, and Gracie. She was preceded in death by her husband Albert, a son John, and her sisters Marcella Zielinski and Annie Van Keu-len.

In Memoriam

Jacqueline M. Hensler1955-2011

Jacqueline M. Hensler died tragically by violence on May 28th 2011 at her home in Tacoma, WA. A long time WSNA member, Jacqueline worked for many years in the Operating Room at St. Joseph-Tacoma hospital. At the time of her death, she was employed at Good Samaritan Hospital in Puyallup.

Jacqueline graduated with an ADN from Riverside City College in Riverside CA in 1976 and received her BSN (79) and MSN (85) from Loma Linda University. She began her work as an RN at River-side General Hospital where she worked from 1976-1989. While there she worked in many roles as a staff nurse, assistant head nurse and as head nurse in various nurs-ing units including med-surg, medical, ICU, ER and the Level I Trauma Unit.

In 1982 she began teaching nursing, first as an assistant professor at Riverside City College (82-85) and later at Loma Linda University as a nursing instructor. Jacque-line moved to the Tacoma area and began work in the ER at St. Joseph Hospital in 1989 where she worked until 2001, when she moved to the OR and worked there until 2011.

Her friends and colleagues at both St. Joseph Hospital and Good Samaritan Hospital are deeply saddened by her tragic loss and remember her as an outstanding person as well as an outstanding nurse who will be dearly missed.


Kimberly Sue Hiatt1961 – 2011

Kim Hiatt was born March 8, 1961, in Man, W. Va., to Sharon June (Ward) Hiatt and Daniel Dean Hiatt. At that time, Kim’s mother and father were medi-cal school graduates from the University of Indiana; they worked for two years at a clinic in Man before moving to Seattle in fall 1961. Kim’s birthplace was a fun source of conversation with her fam-ily and friends throughout her life.

Kim was a 1979 graduate of Issaquah High School and went on to earn degrees (in music) at Pacific Lutheran University, and the Univer-sity of Washington School of Nursing.

She was an accomplished pianist. Her most recent piano performance was at the funeral of her 96-year-old grandmother in 2010.

An avid equestrian and a mem-ber of 4-H while growing up, Kim took pride in raising and showing Joe, the family horse. She was a soccer player and marathon runner, and was second to none as a slalom water skier. Her backyard bad-minton matches were played with the energy reserved for center court, as more than one opponent spit feathers after taking a smashed shuttlecock off Kim’s racquet. She loved hiking, photography, garden-ing, birds and Jake, the hyper Jack Russell that had almost as

much energy and enthusiasm for life as Kim. Sitting around the campfire in the mountains with Kim will be a cherished memory.

Kim began her career at Seattle Children’s Hospital, where she worked for more than 25 years. Next to her family, nurs-ing was her life.

A memorial service was held April 10 for Kimberly at which time the Washington State Nurses Association recog-nized her with a Nightingale Tribute, an award to honor departed nurse members. The WSNA recognized Kim as a relentless advocate for her patients and the families she cared for. She was known to families, patients and her friends as an “unsung hero,” totally committed to nursing. Nursing colleagues noted her intelligence, determination, kindness, infectious smile and, most of all, her quick wit, engaging humor and amazing energy — that was Kim.

Kim is survived by her partner Lyn Hiatt, son Eli, daughter Sydney, mother Sharon Crum (Thomas), father Daniel Hiatt (Dee), brother Michael Hiatt (Yoshino), nephew Daniel and niece Leah. Numerous aunts, uncles and cousins will also miss Kim.

In Memoriam

Mary Noel Riddell1924 – 2011

Mary Noel Riddell nee Tharal-son, died May 4, 2011, in Seattle. She was born December 27, 1924, in Devils Lake, North Dakota. She graduated from Central High School, Devils Lake, in 1941 and then entered the College of St. Scholastica, Duluth, Minnesota. She inter-rupted her studies to move to Missouri.

Mary Noel married her high school sweetheart, Robert L. Riddell, in Chicago in 1944. They moved to Washington in 1946 and they raised their family in Seattle. Mary Noel returned to college in the 1960s and graduated in 1968 from Shoreline Community College in its first nursing class. She then began a long career as a registered nurse at Providence Hospital in Seattle. She devel-oped strong working relation-ships with coworkers that became life long friendships. She was energized by her fight for better wages and working conditions on the picket lines during the historic 1976 nurses' strike against Seattle-area hos-pitals. She retired in 1987 after a mild illness.

Mary Noel's love of patient care grew from a lifetime of caring for generations of fam-ily, neighbors, and even a vari-ety of small animals. If stray cats did not find their way to her, Mary Noel found them, fed them and took them to vet-erinarians when she could. It was common for Mary Noel to quietly deliver a plate of food for a neighbor's dinner or a

roasted turkey for the home-less. When she wasn't taking care of others, Mary Noel was happy spending time on the Oregon Coast or picking ber-ries in the high Cascades and the Puget lowlands. She was especially fond of blackberries, blueberries, and Tonga Ridge huckleberries. She was an expert knitter, talented pianist and organ player, thought-ful and constant reader, and perpetual crossword puzzle worker.

For many years, Mary Noel was active in religious affairs at St. Alphonsus Catholic Church in Ballard. She was a Eucharistic Minister and active adoration chapel par-ticipant and volunteer.

Mary Noel was preceded in death by her parents, Noel F. and Marie P. Tharalson, of North Dakota. She is survived by her daughters Susan Rid-dell (Shoreline), Carol Riddell (Edmonds), and Mary Kay Riddell (Andrew Renggli) (Seattle), as well as by grand-children Bonnie Bryant-Greene (Mark Greene) (Hot Springs, S.D.), Kristin Bry-ant (Everett), Noel Renggli (Seattle), Christopher Renggli (Seattle), and great-grandchil-dren Jeremy Bryant (U.S. Air Force), Joseph Bryant (U.S. Marines), and Dannie Bryant (Everett). Mary Noel is dearly loved and missed by her family and friends.



CEARP Provider Update

First Name ___________________________________________________________________________

Last Name & Credentials __________________________________________________________

Name of Provider Unit _____________________________________________________________

Names & Credentials of Additional Attendees from Provider Unit

_________________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________________

Address _______________________________________________________________________________

City ____________________________________________ State ___________ Zip _______________

Email __________________________________________________________________________________

Total Fees

$130 for one attendee. $100 per person for multiple attendees from a single provider unit.

$ _________________

o Check / Money Order payable to WSNA is enclosed.

o Charge my Visa / MasterCard

Card Number

_____________ - _______________ - _________________ - ________________

Exp Date ______________ / _____________

___________________________________________________________________________________

Cardholder’s Name

___________________________________________________________________________________


Return this form to:

WSNAAttn: Irene Mueller 575 Andover Park West, Suite 101Seattle, WA 98188 (206) 575-1908 fax • (206) 575-7979, ext. 0 [email protected]

November 11, 20118:30 am — 4:45 pm

All WSNA approved CEARP Provider Units are

invited to get an update on the ANCC-COA

Criteria and to discuss ways to address the

issues you face day-to-day to implement these

criteria.

Contact hours will be awarded for successful completion of this activity which requires attendance at the entire event and submission of a completed evaluation form.

The Washington State Nurses Association Continuing Nursing Education Provider Program (OH-231, 9/1/2012) is an approved provider of continuing nursing education by the Ohio Nurses Association (OBN-001-91), an accredited approver by the Ameri-can Nurses Credentialing Center’s Commission on accreditation.

W H E N : November 11, 2011 8:30 am registration 9:00 am to 4:45 pm program Breakfast served from 6:30 am to 10 am. Lunch included.

W H E R E : Cedarbrook Lodge Close to SeaTac Airport; shuttle service available.

18525 36th Ave South SeaTac, WA 98188 1-866-901-9268

W H O : All approved provider unit sta� New potential provider applicants welcome.

Space is limited.

C O S T : $130 or $100 per person if multiple people from one organization register together

L O D G I N G : Overnight accommodations are available at Cedarbrook or the Marriot Towne Place Suites located nearby.

Fees at Marriott Towne Place Suites are discounted for WSNA events. Notify Reservation Desk at 1-253-796-6000, or email Tonia Ostronic at [email protected].

# Detach here

R E G I S T R A T I O N

www.wsna.org/education

Continuing Education

WSNA Online CNE UpdateWe have a new and improved WSNA Online Continuing Nurs-ing Education (CNE) site! Check it out by going to the WSNA home page at www.wsna.org and clicking on the box for CNE. You will be taken to the Login Information, where you can cre-ate an account.

If you previously have used WSNA Online CNE, your user name and password remain the same. If you cannot remember your password see “Lost Password” on the Login page.

If you are a WSNA member, your default user name is your first name, followed immediately by your WSNA Member ID number, and your password is your WSNA Member ID number. Once you log into the site, you should change your password and other information in your profile.

Example: Member Name: Jane DoeMember ID Number: 54321

User ID: Jane54321 Password: 54321

Courses Ready to take or Coming Soon: Continuing Compe-tency; Safe Staffing Saves Lives; Quality of Care, Nurses’ Work Schedules and Fatigue; Nurse Practice Act for ARNP’s; Grass-roots Political and Legislative Action; and Protecting Nurses as a Valuable Resource: Washington State’s Safe Patient Handling Law.

testers Needed: We need WSNA members to help us test courses before they are published on our website. This is one of the ways we determine contact hours and find errors in content or functionality. As a tester, you will be assigned to a website that looks and works just like the CNE website but the courses you see are not visible to the public. Once you complete testing a course, you note issues, complete a brief survey, and then receive a certificate and small token of appreciation.

Questions? Contact us at [email protected] or call 206.575.7979 during office hours.


www.keeplearning.uw.edu

Because brilliance takes a spark.Energize your health care career with a certificate or degree.

UW Professional & Continuing Education partners with the UW Schools of Medicine, Nursing, Social Work and Public Health to offer you online, evening or weekend programs in nursing, health care administration, mental health, health informatics, gerontology, research, public health and more. Visit us online to explore your options.


CEARP Provider Update

First Name ___________________________________________________________________________

Last Name & Credentials __________________________________________________________

Name of Provider Unit _____________________________________________________________

Names & Credentials of Additional Attendees from Provider Unit

_________________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________________

Address _______________________________________________________________________________

City ____________________________________________ State ___________ Zip _______________

Email __________________________________________________________________________________

Total Fees

$130 for one attendee. $100 per person for multiple attendees from a single provider unit.

$ _________________

o Check / Money Order payable to WSNA is enclosed.

o Charge my Visa / MasterCard

Card Number

_____________ - _______________ - _________________ - ________________

Exp Date ______________ / _____________

___________________________________________________________________________________

Cardholder’s Name

___________________________________________________________________________________


Return this form to:

WSNAAttn: Irene Mueller 575 Andover Park West, Suite 101Seattle, WA 98188 (206) 575-1908 fax • (206) 575-7979, ext. 0 [email protected]

November 11, 20118:30 am — 4:45 pm

All WSNA approved CEARP Provider Units are

invited to get an update on the ANCC-COA

Criteria and to discuss ways to address the

issues you face day-to-day to implement these

criteria.

Contact hours will be awarded for successful completion of this activity which requires attendance at the entire event and submission of a completed evaluation form.

The Washington State Nurses Association Continuing Nursing Education Provider Program (OH-231, 9/1/2012) is an approved provider of continuing nursing education by the Ohio Nurses Association (OBN-001-91), an accredited approver by the Ameri-can Nurses Credentialing Center’s Commission on accreditation.

W H E N : November 11, 2011 8:30 am registration 9:00 am to 4:45 pm program Breakfast served from 6:30 am to 10 am. Lunch included.

W H E R E : Cedarbrook Lodge Close to SeaTac Airport; shuttle service available.

18525 36th Ave South SeaTac, WA 98188 1-866-901-9268

W H O : All approved provider unit sta� New potential provider applicants welcome.

Space is limited.

C O S T : $130 or $100 per person if multiple people from one organization register together

L O D G I N G : Overnight accommodations are available at Cedarbrook or the Marriot Towne Place Suites located nearby.

Fees at Marriott Towne Place Suites are discounted for WSNA events. Notify Reservation Desk at 1-253-796-6000, or email Tonia Ostronic at [email protected].

# Detach here

R E G I S T R A T I O N

www.wsna.org/education


independent seLF stUdy coUrsesAIDS: Essential Information for the Health Care Professional Contact Hours: 7.0; Fees: $55 D

Breaking the Cycle of Depression Contact Hours: 14.0 C

Central Venous Catheter Infections: the Link Between Practice and Infection Rates Contact Hours: 1.0; Fee: $10 C

Clinical Pharmacology Series Contact Hours: 7 – 8.0; Fee: $195 / 175* C

Domestic Violence Contact Hours: 2.0; Fee: $20 C

Ethics as a Compass: A Model for Dealing with Complex Issues in Patient Care Contact Hours: 7.4; Fees: $195 C

Ethics Related to Nursing Practice Contact Hours: 9; Fees: $200 D

Everyday Encounters: Communication Skills for Successful triage Contact Hours: 1.4 A

Geriatric Health Promotion Lecture Series Contact Hours: 63 Fee: $395; 1.5 Fee: $30 C

Hepatitis Case Studies Contact Hours: .5 C

Hepatitis Web Studies Contact Hours: .5 C

Health Assessment and Documentation Contact Hours: 20: Fees: $150 D

High Cholesterol Pt. 1: Western Medicine Contact Hours: 7; Fee: $50; Contact: www.healthcmi.com

High Cholesterol Pt. 2: Chinese Medicine theory Contact Hours: 4; Fee: $50; Contact: www.healthcmi.com

High Cholesterol Pt. 3: Chinese Medicine Dietetics Fee: $50; Contact Hours: 12; Contact: www.healthcmi.com

HIV / AIDS Contact Hours: 7.0; Fee: $95 / $85 C

IMPACt: Web-Based training in Evidence Based Depression Care Management Contact Hours: 12.4 C

Legal Issues & trends in telephone triage Contact Hours. 1.2 A

Legal Issues in Nursing Contact Hours: 4.0; Fees: $120 D

Legal Risks of Remote triage Contact Hours. 1.0 A

Managing type 2 Diabetes Contact Hours: 1.5; Contact: www.nphealthcarefoundation.org

Management of Persistent Pain Contact Hours: 1.8; Fee: No Fee; Contact: www.nphealthcarefoundation.org

Medical Spanish for Hospital Nurses Contact Hours: 25 B

Medical Spanish for Office Nurses Contact Hours: 25 B

Medical Spanish for NPs, Physicians and PAs – Course A Contact Hours: 25 B

Medical Spanish for NPs, Physicians and PAs Course B: Contact Hours: 25 B

Medical / Surgical Review and Update – Autumn 2010 “Enhance Medical Surgical Nursing Practice” Contact Hours: 50 C

New telehealth technology: Legal Risks & Call Center Benefits Contact Hours. 1.2 A

Nurse Grand Rounds C

OtC Advisor: Advancing Patient Self-Care Contact Hours: 17.0; Contact: www.nphealthcarefoundation.org

Prescribe, Deny or Refer? Honing Your Skills in Prescribing Scheduled Drugs Contact Hours: 10.4; Fee: $155 / 140* C

RN Refresher Course Fees Theory: $500; Health Assessment and Skills Review: $500; Clinical Placement for Precept Clinical Experience: $400 D

telephone triage trivia Contact Hours. 1.0 A

the Pain Management Dilemma Contact Hours: 1.5; Contact: www.nphealthcarefoundation.org

tubes & Drains techniques, tips & troubleshooting Contact Hours: 2.0 C

University of Washington Continuing Nursing Education Offers over 30 self-study courses C

Wound Academy – Course 1 (Wound Assessment & Preparation for Healing) Fee: $40; Contact Hours: 4.3 C

Wound Academy – Course 2 (Lower Extremities and Pressure for Ulcers) Fee: $60; Contact Hours: 6.8 C

Wound Academy – Course 3 (Dressing Selection & Infection) Tuition; Fee: $30; Contact Hours: 2.5 C

Wound Assessment and Documentation Fee: $60; Contact Hours: 2.0 C

Wound & Ostomy Fee: $60; Contact Hours: 2.0 C

Continuing Education Calendar

note to continUinG nUrsinG edUcation providers: The Washington State Nurses Association is accredited as an approver of continuing nursing education by the American Nurses Credentialing Center’s Commission on Accreditation. If you wish to attain WSNA approval for an educational activity that you are providing to nurses, please go online to www.wsna.org/education/cearp

septeMber 2011Exploring Reiki in Nursing Practice – Victoria Leo, Soar With the Eagles September 10, 2011; Fee: $35.00 - Contact Hours: 2.0; Contact: http://reikitrainingfornurses.weebly.com

Medical-Surgical Review & Update - ONLINE - Autumn 2011 University of Washington Continuing Nursing Education; September 12, 2011 to November 20, 2011; Fee; $695/645; Contact Hours: 50; Contact: www.uwcne.net/secure/display3.asp?SKU=11134-B-SP

october 2011Preceptor and Mentor Development Program Eastern Idaho Regional Medical Center; October 20, 2011, Fee: $-0-/$50; Contact Hours: 3.5; Contact: Marie Ritchie at (208) 529-6706

Advanced Practice in Primary and Acute Care Pacific Northwest 34th Annual National Conference October 27-29, 2011; Fee: $395; Contact Hours: 19.2, Contact: http://uwcne.net/secure/display3.asp?SKU=11130-A-C

contacts

A Carol M. Stock & AssociatesCarol M. Stock, JD, MN, RNPO Box 31114Seattle, WA 98103(206) 789 – [email protected]/videos/communication.html

B Medical Spanish.comKen RyanPO Box 190913Anchorage, AK [email protected]

C University of Washington School of Nursing Continuing Nursing Education Box 359440 Seattle, WA 98195 206.543.1047 [email protected] www.uwcne.org

D Intercollegiate College of Nursing Washington State University College of Nursing Professional Development 2917 W. Fort George Wright Dr. Spokane, WA 99224 509.324.7321 or 800.281.2589 www.icne.wsu.edu

SAVE THE DATE FOR

NURSELEGISLATIVEDAY!

FEBRUARY 13, 2012 OLYMPIA, WA

GET CNE CONTACT HOURS

TOWARD WASHINGTON STATE’S

NEW “CONTINUING COMPETENCY”

RELICENSURE REQUIREMENTS

LEARN HOW YOU CAN BEAN ADVOCATE FOR YOUR PATIENTS AND YOUR COMMUNITY AT THE STATE LEVELMEET WITH YOUR STATELEGISLATORS

GET ENGAGED AND GET ACTIVE

HEAR ABOUT WSNA’S LEGISLATIVE

PRIORITIES FOR 2012

ATTEND HEARINGS

SEE YOU THERE!

NONPROFIT ORG.U.S. POSTAGE

PAIDSeattle, Washington

Permit No. 1282

Washington State Nurses Association575 Andover Park West, Suite 101Seattle, WA 98188

washington nurse - summer 2011

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