Is there any nursing union in WA?

[Bunny1975]

Yesterday, I took care of 5 patients and all of them were primary care because my manager said that she couldn't find a person to come in to help us out. It happens all the time in my unit. I think it's so wrong. The hospital is making more money when we are under staff. BTW, I am in Texas and there's no nursing union here.

IS there a nursing union in WA? What's the nurse-patient ratio there?

[wsuRN09]

Labor Relations - Washington State Nurses Association

This link has a list of the WA hospitals this union covers. I had my clinicals for my BSN program at 3 of these hospitals. The nurses there were fairly happy the union. I never saw any nurse have more than 4 patients at a time, but I never asked what the max was and there was generally at least one CNA on the floor too. Hope this helps a bit.

[Bunny1975]

Thank you so much, wsuRN09. I hope I can move to WA next year. :)

[Reno1978, BSN, RN]

My hospital is under WSNA and I'm very pleased with the contents of our contract. Highlights include no mandatory low census for RNs, double-time paid for extra shifts not fully staffed on the schedule, and an array of differential pay for BSN, certification, floating outside your specialty, nights, weekends, charge nurse, or precepting.

Honestly, reading the contract was one of the motivating factors for me to move back to my hometown, from NV, to work!

With that being said, there are no mandated nurse to patient ratios in WA state. Working in the ICU, we never have more than 1 or 2 ICU patients. On the step-down units, they usually have 3 or 4 patients max and on medical / surgical floors, I think the typical patient load is 5 to 6 patients. Most units have CNAs or Nurse Tech's (Senior Students in a Nursing Program) to assist with patient care.

I really can say that I'm very happy to be working where I am!