WSNA Home Health nurses fight for safety

Sign the petition to support nurses at Providence VNA Home Health fighting unsafe working conditions

SPOKANE, WA (September 30) — The Washington State Nurses Association is calling all residents of Spokane to sign the community petition in support of Providence VNA Home Health nurses who are in negotiations fighting for safety protections on the job.

After 6 days of negotiations, the nurses cries for safety while in the field seeing patients has fallen on deaf ears. At the outset, Management proclaimed that safety was their top priority, but their steadfast rejection of WSNA’s proposals to improve nurse safety sent a different message. Less than two years after the murder of Doug Brant VNA RN while on a home visit, Management’s memory and commitment to safety seem to have faded.

The negotiating team of nurses has pressed for language to address serious workplace violence concerns. They continued to stress that nurses must be able to exercise their professional judgment as to whether a situation is unsafe. They also stressed the need for security escorts when requested and the availability of a security app, such as Bond Air Guardian, on their work phones.

Even when a known issue, that is well documented in a chart of a potential threat to an RNs safety, is raised to the attention of management before the home visit, the nurses are still being told to do the home visit despite feeling unsafe.

Previously, nurses were allowed to have security escorts when they felt unsafe during a visit. Now, Management steadfastly rejects WSNA’s proposal to have a security escort provided by Providence if the nurse has a concern about potential violence.  Further, Management’s definition of what they consider to be an unsafe situation when a nurse can refuse an assignment is exceedingly narrow and could continue to expose nurses to potentially unsafe and violent environments. In one instance, Management has told the nurses that a nurse confronted by a pile of cocaine on a table or fentanyl in plain sight, is not an active threat of violence, so it’s deemed safe and they may need to don full PPE (Personal Protective Equipment) and continue the home visit.

WSNA has made proposals that would give the power to nurses to decide whether a home is safe to enter and provide care, or whether a security escort is needed.  Management rejects these proposals and leaves the decision up to a manager, who is not on site.

TAKE A STAND: Providence must do better for nurses.  Sign the community petition to support VNA RNs TODAY!