A Good, First Step
Washington State Nurses Win Staffing Legislation
In the past, the nurses of SEIU Healthcare 1199NW proposed mandated staffing ratios in the legislature, but met with stiff opposition from the Washington Hospital Association. But last spring, says Chris Barton, RN, "the association approached us and the Washington State Nurses Association (WSNA) and suggested that we try a different route and jointly go to the legislature with a different bill, which was in fact passed in April.
"It’s not the optimum, but we view it as a good, first step," says Barton, Secretary-Treasurer of 1199NW.
The new state law mandates that each hospital establish a nurse staffing committee—at least half of whose members are direct care nurses selected by their peers —to come up with a staffing plan that the CEO must accept or explain in writing what is unaccepatable. The staffing plans must be posted in the hospitals every day on every shift, with whatever variations they include for that day.
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"Our members mobilized at the state capital in Olympia  and in their home districts. We won this because of our mobilization, our unity with other nurses and the support of the hospital association."
Chris Barton, RN
SEIU Healthcare 1199 NW |
The law also establishes an ongoing statewide "stakeholders" group—comprised of hospital management, the nurses’ unions and the nurse executives’ organization. The group creates training for the staffing committees in the hospitals, evaluates the relationship of staffing to patient outcomes and nurse retention, and includes a reporting mechanism.
Since the staffing law passed in April, much has already been done to implement it. Barton says that the nurses are pragmatic and determined. "Although it isn’t all that we want, we have taken the approach that we are going to make this law work. If it turns out that it doesn’t work due to employer resistance or other issues, we will definitely be going back to the legislature to demand a stronger mandate."