🏳️‍🌈 AURN wishes y’all a HAPPY PRIDE (plus current goings-on)

What’s inside:

• Pride
• How to file a staffing complaint
• Staffing updates
• Membership updates
• Calendar

Yes, the first pride was a riot!

✊ Oppressive forces at Stonewall started harming people in the queer community and the queers bashed back.

🏳️‍🌈 While there are great resources for learning queer history, we at AURN want to remind folks that the situation in which we find ourselves today is also a scary time for many of us; with waning support nationally for equal rights to marriage, adoption, and healthcare.

🏳️‍⚧️ When people cut healthcare for trans folks or cut funding to institutions like the ones we work at, it harms us as workers, it harms our patients, and it creates preventable suffering in our communities. It creates even more disparities and harm to BIPOC communities.

📣 We have a steering resolution at ONA to be part of a movement that prioritizes an “attitude of intersectional liberation for all” that upholds “trans, non-binary, and gender-nonconforming individuals and the LBTQIA+ community at large, both within ONA membership and without”.

🌈 So while the situation is difficult, we at AURN choose solidarity and pride in being who we are: celebrating our queerness, building unions with an intersectional lens to end disparities, building union coalitions so that unions learn from and support each other, and working to ensure our patients get the care they need and deserve.

🦄 We celebrate Pride because we believe we should get to exist as we are and that we belong.

Don’t let the haters win. Stick together, have fun, and just be you babes ✨

Come visit us at the AFL-CIO booth we will be staffing along with other ONA and sibling union members during the pride fest Saturday, July 19, 2025 12:00 PM - 8:00 PM and Sunday, July 20, 2025 11:30 AM - 6:00 PM ($10 Suggested Donation) at Waterfront Park.

Section 27.5 of our contract outlines our Justice, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (JEDI) Grant Committee. This committee aims to guide distribution of the block grant to help improve our system in supporting JEDI values in our community. This committee is supposed to have 7 nurses and up to an equal amount of management to support them. They will be paid for their involvement with the committee and it will be considered part of the FTE. Currently, this committee is not active. We need nurses to fill out consents to serve to fill seats and get this committee up and running. Help us come up with projects that focus on research, materials, policy proposals, changes and implementation dedicated to JEDI. We look forward to seeing this committee up and running and continuing to make our community safer and more knowledgeable about all.

Pay raise

Y’all, July 1st is pay raise day! We have a 6% raise due to the strength and solidarity we showed during last contract negotiations!

How to file a staffing complaint

There are a few reasons to file a staffing complaint through OHA.

You have an approved staffing plan, and it was violated at any point in your shift
You were forced to work mandatory overtime
You, or any nurse on your unit was out of ratio for any period of time during the shift
A nurse staffing plan has not been adopted by the Nurse Staffing Committee
a. This complaint is being filed daily by your NSC co-chairs for the time being
To file a complaint with OHA
Navigate to the OHA website https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/OregonHospitalStaffingComplaint
• The first several pages are fairly self-explanatory.
o The type of complaint is a Nurse Staffing Complaint
o Most of us will be filing a complaint on or after June 1, 2025
o Question 9 asks if there is a collective bargaining unit. ONA is our collective bargaining unit.
• When it asks for an address, use the hospital address 3181 SW Sam Jackson Park Rd, Portland 97239
• When it asks for a phone number, you can either use the number for your unit, or 503 000 0000
• Use your WORK email address
• Select which violation occurred
o Question 14 goes into more detail about a staffing level violation. This is where you will select if you were out of ratio, or if something else in the staffing plan was violated (acuity, intensity, etc)
• Question 15 needs to be filled out in its entirety. They need what your unit is called (ex. 13k), full name (ex. Inpatient Oncology, Kohler, 13th floor) Abbreviation can be left blank
• Questions 21 and 22 are your “proof” that a violation occurred. (ex. Acuity in staffing plan is 15, actual acuity 20 or RN:Patient ratio is 1:4, but actual ratio for nurse was 1:5)
OHSU is also asking that we file a “deviation” which can be found on O2 in the Nursing Portal. Navigate to O2, Nursing Portal and select “report a staffing concern”.
This is where you will find the OHSU deviation tracker and the staffing variance forms. Administration would like us to fill out the deviation tracker, but it is not mandatory to file a complaint. Management will likely ask that you fill out the deviation tracker anyway. It is a simple form and only takes a minute to complete. Filling out this tracker allows OHSU to “investigate” the complaint before they are notified by OHA.
The staffing variance forms are not utilized by management or reviewed by the staffing committee. It is still a tool that can be utilized by your UBNPC, and I recommend completing this form also.
If you have any questions, or need assistance please contact Rae Kaigler for Ratio units, or Cheryl Nicponski for Non Ratio units.

Staffing Updates

Hospital Nurse Staffing Committee

We continue to see and appreciate the diligent work that UBNPCs are putting into their staffing plans. This month we had a number of nurses from 14C come and support their plan at our committee meeting. They were able to speak directly to management about the specific needs of their patients and how significantly nursing workload is impacted by lack of ancillary staff to support patient care. Unfortunately, management at the table expressed skepticism that lack of CNA coverage impacts nursing workload, even going so far as to state that it would not be difficult for a nurse “to go get an extra glass of water during the shift.” This highlights how removed management is from patient care and why it is essential that it is UBNPCs that develop staffing plans, including acuity and intensity tools. We are seeing increased obstruction from management related to acuity and intensity tools, specifically when appropriate utilization of these tools leads to staffing that exceeds minimum ratios set by the Oregon hospital nurse staffing law. These ratios are for minimum nurse staffing allowed under the law, they are a floor and not a ceiling. Furthermore, our contract (section 28.3.1) specifies that we staff both in accordance to ratios AND acuity! The direct care nurses on HNSC trust that our bedside nurses and UBNPCs know best how to safely staff their floors and we will continue to uphold the acuity and intensity tools that UBNPCs include in their staffing plans. Our meetings are open to the public for observation. If you are interested in observing a meeting, please contact a committee member for further information.

NRNSC Updates

We have passed several more staffing plans, but we are also discovering that there are several units not covered under the “hospital license”. As we continue to approve plans and submit them to OHA, we will not be made aware of these units until/unless a complaint is filed. Units not under hospital license are not subject to the staffing law but are required by AURN Collective Bargaining Agreement to have a staffing plan. Please continue to work on your staffing plans and submit them to the committee for approval. Please make sure what you are submitting is your “final” draft. No changes will be allowed 1 week before the committee meeting (first Thursday of each month). If you need to rescind your plan to work on it further, please email Cheryl Nicponski and Anthony Mullholland

PNCC

New fiscal year starts July 1st. At our next meeting we will be working on creating guidelines for PNCC when approving funds. We will also be working on additional guidelines that we will recommend for each UBNPC to consider. We cannot make rules for a unit, but can provide suggestions on ideas on how to use unit education funds.

Our priority is being equitable and transparent. This last fiscal year was the first time in history that we have spent all of our funds. This is good as we can bargain for more in the next contract. However, it did present a lot of challenges in the last few months as units and RN were not used to a change in processes. We had to change those quickly towards to end to try and manage what little funds were left. Stay tuned for a more detailed report that we are working on.

As a reminder for everyone, if there are any required certifications for your unit then this is not an ONA educational expense. Some examples include BLS, ACLS, PALS, NRP, and some oncology certifications. If it is required for the job, then OHSU covers that expense. Search “iexpense” in O2 search page for directions on how to submit for reimbursement or reach out to your manager. UBNPC treasurers or fiscal authority approving people please do not approve these via the ONA educational expense.

Nursing certifications: OHSU covers the testing fee & yearly/multi-year fee. Do not submit this as an ONA educational expense. UBNPC Treasurers do not approve these request and direct them to the nursing certification page where there are instructions on how to submit for reimbursement. Any certifications that are approved by your UBNPC are eligible for the differential. OHSU is only covering the cost of one bonusable certification. If you have additional certifications, then those will be reimbursed by the ONA educational expense form.

PNCC has collected a large portion of approved certifications from each unit. You can find this information on our SharePoint page. If your UBNPC is not on the list or is missing their information please email us at pncc@ohsu.edu with updated information.

Grievance updates

This is not a complete list, but these are updates to a few of our more pressing association grievances that potentially impact nurses from every care area. If you have specific questions, please reach out to an AURN Grievance Committee member or an ONA Labor Representative.

Resource Nurses and 2024 Bonuses

Many folks know that we remedied the certification bonuses in the last round of negotiations to be a straight differential, but resource nurses who worked 1040 hours or more in 2024 are eligible to get their certification bonuses. So, what happens to the bonus of a resource nurse scheduled to work 1040 hours or more but accessed their Paid Leave Oregon (PLO) time so they actually spent less than 1040 hours on the floor?

We are asserting that those resource nurses are entitled to their bonuses. Denying those bonuses would constitute experiencing a financial loss related to accessing PLO which is unlawful. This grievance is slated for arbitration and has complimentary claims filed with BOLI.

Step Placement

We filed a grievance when nurses realized they were not appropriately placed on the correct step following the implementation of our current union contract. Our previous collective bargaining agreements (CBAs) had a confusing step progression that only provided pay increases in blocks of years of service, while our current CBA recognizes each year of service with a pay increase. Our position is that the current contract clearly describes how to place nurses on the step scale and further, that Article 3 explicitly states that the current CBA supersedes previous agreements. This case has been approved by the ONA Labor Cabinet to go to arbitration.

Health and Safety

We filed two separate grievances regarding safety-related contract language that OHSU had not been implementing. One grievance is specific to the work of the Safety Assessment Task Force and the other is specific to the Workplace Violence Committee. The Safety Assessment Task Force was created to direct investments in safety systems and infrastructure, while the Workplace Violence Committee is tasked with evaluating incidents of workplace violence and making recommendations to improve hospital systems that would help prevent future incidents. Both grievances seek to get access to information that is pertinent to the work of the committee so that our AURN nurses can advocate on behalf of our union. The grievances have already helped make the meetings more effective and we have agreed to hold the grievances in abeyance while the committees improve their processes. Our goal is to have spaces and processes that actually support nurses in escalating safety concerns.

Membership Updates - New Day and Time for ONA NEO Sessions!

Starting June 25, New Employee Orientation sessions will be held on Wednesdays at 0800. They will continue to alternate between in person one week and virtual via Zoom the next week. Here’s the internal O2 calendar with dates, times and locations/link: https://ohsuitg.sharepoint.com/sites/OnboardingatOHSU/Lists/ONA%20Orientation%20Schedule/AllItems.aspx?env=WebViewList

Wednesday, June 25 @ 0800 virtual via Zoom link
Wednesday, July 2 @ 0800 in person OHSU Auditorium room 217
Wednesday, July 9 @ 0800 virtual via Zoom link
Wednesday, July 16 @ 0800 in person OHSU Auditorium room 217
Monday, July 21 @ 1430 in person BICC Gallery (TTP cohort)
Wednesday, July 23 @ 0800 virtual via Zoom link

Membership: Why do you support our union? Share your thoughts with new folks on your unit and help them see the value of being a full dues paying member of ONA!

Here’s the application and it literally takes two minutes!
https://www.oregonrn.org/page/apply

Calendar and Upcoming Activities

Click here to subscribe to our calendar to see what’s up with AURN

Did you know you can attend your AURN Board meetings? Here is the new webinar
link for the Zoom session

If you have any questions, please contact your executive team leaders, unit
representative, or ONA labor representatives at AURNLaborReps@oregonrn.org.