AdvocateK I N G C O U N T Y N U R S E S A S S O C I A T I O N

KCNA District Meeting: Trauma Informed Care & Harm ReductionSaturday, February 29, 2020, 8:30 am–1 pm

Good Shepherd Center, Seattle

4-hour Certificate of Completion

ProgramJoin us as we explore how to best care for those who have suffered trauma. Speakers will provide helpful tips and tools to assist nurses in their everyday work, including organizational guidelines to remove barriers. Additionally, speakers will discuss trauma as a public health crisis with analysis of racial injustice, ACES, complex trauma and resiliency.

Speakers

n Heather Stephen-Selby, BSN, MSN, ARNP-BC, RN; Director of Clinical Support Services/ARNP at Health Point. Her background is in clinical practice, policy development, legislation and education.

n Amy Curtis, BSN, RN, Healthcare Recruitment Specialist, Public Health Seattle-King County. Amy ensures that the recruitment processes are trauma-informed and support equity and social justice.

n Anneleen Severynen, RN, MN, Training & Development Supervisor for Community Health Services at Public Health Seattle-King County. Her focus is trauma-informed systems, trainings and staff resiliency.

Cost and registration$15 for KCNA members and students, $40 all others. Cost includes coffee and box lunches. Registration deadline is February 24, 2020. Register online at kcnurses.org

Learn & celebrate with KCNA in the new year

W I N T E R 2 0 2 0

Continuing Education

We are Better Together

KCNA in the Community

Member Profile

CONTINUED ON PAGE 2

Florence Nightingale MusicalSaturday, April 4, 2020, 7:00–8:30 pm

Good Shepherd Center, Seattle

Nightingale: A Musical Regarding the Life & Passion of Miss Florence Nightingale. Join us for this one-of-a-kind performance in honor of the 200th birthday of Florence Nightingale. Be inspired as Florence Nightingale’s story comes to life and reveals how she is forever relevant. Audiences are loving it: “It was like watching ‘Hamilton’ about Florence Nightingale.”

Thanks to our nursing community partners for coming together for this special event: Filipino Nurses/Healthcare Professionals Association; Mary Mahoney Professional Nurses Organization; Pacific Northwest Chinese Nurses Association; Samoan Nurses Organization in Washington/Pacific Islander Health Alliance NorthWest; Seattle Pacific University; Sigma Theta Tau International, Psi Chapter at Large and the Western Washington National Association of Hispanic Nurses. A special thank you goes out to Seattle Pacific

University nursing students for volunteering to assist at the event.

Cost and registration$20 donation to support the KCNA scholarship fund. Registration deadline is April 1, 2020. Register online at kcnurses.org

King County Nurses Association Advocate Winter 20202

Dear KCNA Members,

Welcome to 2020! It

has been a very productive year for KCNA with a wide variety of educational offerings.  Whether you

participate by attending an event, joining a committee, holding office, keeping up with KCNA news, or any other avenue, it is our membership that makes KCNA unique and strong as an organization. Thank you.

I would like to encourage you to consider getting more involved by running for an office. There are a variety of positions open on the Board of Directors, including Vice President, Secretary, and Member at Large; all positions are for two-year terms beginning in May 2020. We are also looking to fill three positions (one-year terms) on the Nominating Committee. This is a

great opportunity to develop your leadership skills. Each of these roles has offered me new ways to engage with our community, meet nurses from across our profession, further the strength of KCNA, and grow as a person. Please email sue@kcnurses.org by January 15th if you are interested.

We have some exciting events coming up in 2020 made possible with support from Salal Credit Union. The District Meeting will focus on Trauma Informed Care and we will celebrate the 200th birthday of Florence Nightingale on April 4. Register now to take advantage of these wonderful opportunities!

Highlights from the September and November Board meetings:

n Assigned board liaisons to committees.

n Reviewed and approved annual policies including ethics, conflict of interest, whistleblower, and process for ED review.

n Approved 18 scholarships for 2020 in the amount of $3,000 each.

n Approved two scholarships of $3,000 each to the Mary Mahoney Professional Nurses Organization.

n Drafted Professional Development Fund criteria for KCNA members.

n Reviewed Inactive Committee and Special Interest Groups. Members will vote on changes for Membership/PR Committee in April.

KCNA has had a great 2019, and we look forward to continued success in 2020. Please join us in making 2020 the best year ever — “We are Better Together.”

Warmest regards,

—Antwinett O. Lee, EdD, MSN-CNS, RN

President

Join us in 2020: We are better together

KCNA President’s message

Antwinett O. Lee

Annual Gala 2020

Thursday, May 7, 2020, 5:30–9 pm

Ballard Bay Club, 6413 Seaview Ave NW,

Seattle

KCNA’s signature event includes a celebratory dinner, annual meeting and a fund-raising auction

for our scholarship fund. To top off the evening, we present our prestigious Shining Star Nurse Awards and introduce our current scholarship recipients. This special event happens during National Nurses Week and honors members and all nurses for their tireless contributions. Come celebrate! Attendees will enjoy a quintessential Northwest location, locally inspired dinner buffet and a no-host bar.

Cost and registrationEarly bird registration fees: $50 for members, $55 nonmembers and $30 for nursing students. Register by March 15, 2020 to receive an early-bird discount. Thereafter, the cost will increase by $10 per registration. Register online at kcnurses.org.

A C E L E B R A T I O N O F N U R S I N G

Winter 2020 King County Nurses Association Advocate 3

KCNA’s Board President Antwinett O. Lee, EdD, MSN-CNS, RN,

was recently presented with the Ethics and Human Rights Award by Washington State Nursing Association and the Professional Nursing and Health Care Council.

She was recognized for her tireless work in health equity including her guidance of students, community outreach and commitment to diversity in nursing. In addition to KCNA, she holds leadership roles with the Mary Mahoney Professional Nurses Organization, the Alpha Sigma chapter of Sigma Theta Tau and the Washington Center for Nursing. She also acts as the Council of Nurse Educators of Washington State representative to the WSNA Professional Nursing and Health Care Council. Congratulations, Antwinett!

KCNA happenings

KCNA president recognized Donate to KCNA Scholarship Fund

Making a difference: A rewarding new year resolution

Make dreams happen! Donate to KCNA’s nursing student scholarship fund today! By donating, you make sure students realize their dreams of becoming nurses despite the high cost of tuition, books, lab fees and more. Your donation can make the difference between a student graduating or not being able to continue due financial constraints.

Here is what our scholarship recipients are sharing:

“This is the best news I have received in a long time. I am excited and overwhelmed.”

“I am very grateful and humbled… This will tremendously lift some of the financial burdens and make it easier for me to complete school.”

Donate to make dreams happen at: kcnurses.org/scholarships/donations

KCNA Calendar of EventsDate Event Page

February 29, 2020 District Meeting 1

April 4, 2020 Florence Nightingale Musical 1

February 6, 2020 WSNA Lobby Day in Olympia

March 2, 2020 Scholarship applications due 4

March 15, 2020 Annual Gala Early-bird discount 2

March 15, 2020 Shining Star Nominations due 6

March 19, 2020 WSNA Hall of Fame in Tukwila

May 7, 2020 Annual Gala 2

Details and registration at kcnurses.org.

Take on a leadership role at KCNA

Consider getting more involved with your professional organization by applying for a position on the KCNA Board of Directors. Open

positions include Vice President, Secretary, and Member at Large; all positions are for two-year terms beginning in May 2020. There are also three open positions (one-year terms) on the Nominating Committee. This is a chance to develop your leadership skills and contribute in a positive way to the nursing profession. Please let us know your interest by January 15th by emailing: sue@kcnurses.org.

King County Nurses Association Advocate Winter 20204

Alternate receives scholarship

Every year we choose an alternate from our scholarship pool so that funds never go unused.

Recently, funds from one scholarship was returned by a student who did not use the funds. We have since presented that scholarship to our alternate, Nicole Bayard. Nicole is attending the University of Washington, pursuing a DNP degree. She has worked extensively with marginalized, at-risk populations and is passionate about reaching those who

experience barriers to care. In addition to her DNP, she is completing a global health certificate in HIV/STI disease. Nicole envisions herself as a clinician providing primary care and working hard to influence systems-level changes.

KCNA continues to offer scholarships

Martin Luther King, Jr. Day Event

King County Nurses Association will join with Mary Mahoney Professional Nurses Organization and the Western Washington Chapter of

Hispanic Nurses in providing health checks at the annual Martin Luther King, Jr. Day event, January 20, 2020 at Garfield High School in Seattle from 9:00 am–noon. This event includes community booths, workshops, a rally and a march. This year’s theme, Vision 2020____ (fill in the blank) asks that you create your own vision to reclaim Dr. King’s legacy. Booth volunteers (8:30 AM arrival) are needed to check blood pressure and distribute basic health information. To volunteer, email sue@kcnurses.org. Event information: seattlemlkcoalition.org.

KCNA serves the community

KCNA packs “cold kits” for Real Change vendors

During KCNA’s Fall Nursing Summit, participants assembled 400 cold kits to help Real Change

vendors be better prepared for the cold and flu season. It was a lot of fun and a great example of teamwork in action! Event participants also filled a huge box of warm socks that were also donated. Great job!

KCNA has provided scholarships for nursing

students since 1993, serving 269 students with a total of $551,750. This tradition will continue in the 2020-21 school year. Applications are available on our website at: kcnurses.org/scholarships/info-application and are due by March 2, 2020.

Winter 2020 King County Nurses Association Advocate 5

Thank you to Salal Credit Union for collaborating with KCNA to fund these community grants!

KCNA members are encouraged to actively participate in community-based projects that have the potential to influence a positive change to a current health issue. Grants are available for $500–$1,250. For more information, please visit kcnurses.org/members/community-grants. KCNA offers members access to two types of community grants:

n General Grant is for a community-based health project that meets a specific health need in King County.

n Elizabeth Thomas Memorial Grant is for projects that support infants, children and families from diverse communities.

Reading to Baby for multi-lingual parents

KCNA member Emerin Hatfield, RN, BSN, a Public Health Nurse with the Nursing Family Partnership (NFP) Program applied for an Elizabeth Thomas Memorial Grant after noting that many multi-cultural, multi-lingual families were not engaging in reading with their children. Her goals for the project included encouraging early literacy, enhancing parent-child interactions, supporting child language development and celebrating diversity. She collaborated with NFP supervisors to bring the project to fruition and enlisted the support of the Somali Family Safety Task Force and First Books as sources for books. They used the $1,250 grant to provide 117 high-quality board books in English, Spanish and Somali to 240 low-income families with children 0–2 years old. Books were distributed to families by NFP nurses who saw families during home visits.

BrainPower Chronicles: Storytelling as mental health advocacy

A KCNA Community Grant helped the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) Washingtonsuccessfully host BrainPower Chronicles, featuring Bill Bernat, held at the Museum of Flightin November. Bill is a recovering addict living with bipolar condition who advocates for mental healthawareness through storytelling. Bill served as a coach to story tellers, helping them craft their stories into moving pieces of auditory art. KCNA member Lauren Cranston Seaton, BSN applied for the $750 grant with the goal of increasing awareness of NAMI services and fighting the stigma of mental illness. TheBrainPower Chronicles brought to light honest, raw stories of individuals suffering with mental illnessand how it affected their lives and those around them. Stories of seven individuals were presented toan audience of 205 with their message extending far beyond through the use of social media.

KCNA grants make a difference in the community

Overview of current KCNA Community Grant projects

KCNA grants

King County Nurses Association Advocate Winter 20206

Money Matters

KCNA partnered with Salal Credit Union in November to

provide a financial education event to nurses. Salal hosted a lovely dinner at Ivar’s Salmon House, and Adrian Hedwig of Salal Investment Services provided an overview of financial topics from the basics to making investments. Participants found the talk a pleasing combination of knowledge and mental exercise. Many thanks to Salal Credit Union for making this event possible.

Seven teams matched through MentorLink

Seven lucky mentees have been matched to mentors in this round of KCNA’s MentorLink program. That includes four KCNA scholarship

recipients, two new nurses and one nurse in a new position. Mentoring has been shown to have a positive impact on career satisfaction, community and confidence. A special thank you goes out to our mentors who stepped forward to make a difference!

Go Mentor Teams!n Amera Dedic was matched with mentor Antwinett O. Leen Holiday Osborne Bash was matched with mentor Michelle Burtonn Karen Lowe was matched with mentor Pauline Laon Liane Lau was matched with mentor James Austinn Maddy McCaslin was matched with mentor Jax Hermern Nazira Juneiyd was matched with mentor Prabina Dahaln Sarah Paur was matched with mentor Janice Ellis

Shining Star Awards: nominate a nurse!

KCNA presents Shining Star Awards to outstanding King

County nurses each year at our Annual Gala in May. Do you know a nurse colleague who deserves special recognition for going above and beyond in the nursing profession or in the community? Nominations for 2020 honorees are due by March 15, 2020. Nomination forms are available at: kcnurses.org/members/nurse-awards.

Welcome new members!

KCNA extends a warm welcome to you! You became a member

automatically when you joined WSNA and work in King County. KCNA members enjoy numerous benefits including discounts on continuing education, member-only access to grants, a mentor program and a chance to serve on our board and committees. Go to: kcnurses.org/members/getting-involved to let us know your interests. Also, be sure to subscribe to our monthly e-newsletter, News2Use by going to: kcnurses.org/members/news.

KCNA advocates for members

Winter 2020 King County Nurses Association Advocate 7

By Jennifer Bravo

Tom Booze and daughter Elena come from a family that puts a

priority on caring. For both Tom and Elena, that commitment to caring has been brought to life through nursing. Tom has been a nurse at Northwest Hospital for 15 years, and now Elena is in nursing school at Shoreline Community College —the same school her dad attended.

“We (family) are all caring people. Getting paid to care for people is a pretty good gig,” Tom shared.

Tom began nursing as a third career after working in a photography lab as a camera operator and then working at Boeing as a machinist. After being laid off from Boeing, he took a personality test that pointed him toward nursing, and he hasn’t looked back since.

For Tom, the big pay-off in nursing is the emotional connection he creates with his patients and co-workers.  “Nursing is best for those who like interacting with people. It provides a bit of mystery and allows you to create emotional connections,” he said.

Tom started at Northwest Hospital as a medical nurse and then became a float nurse. He enjoyed the work, but he had a keen interest in the ER. He planned to make a move once his daughters had graduated, but when a nurse colleague passed away unexpectedly, it puts things in a different perspective. Tom directly joined the ER department where he remains today. The highlight of his day is working with co-workers

he cares about and providing compassionate care to patients.  

For his daughter Elena, her caring nature comes out in how she stands up against injustice and strives to uncover the truth as revealed through evidence-based nursing.

“I like the science aspect of medicine, but I also like to care for people,” Elena said.

She hopes to be part of changing a system that too often relies on stereotypes. She recently saw this play out for a fellow nursing student who just happens to have a high BMI. She wasn’t feeling well so went in for care and was told to lose weight. It turned out that she actually had a pulmonary embolism which no diet was going to cure.

These are the kinds of things that Elena is interested in tackling, especially for vulnerable populations, and women in particular.  

“I had really positive experiences with my own health care, and I want to give other women same kind of positive experiences.”

She would like to one day work in primary care where she can develop rapport and educate her patients about making positive health choices.

Besides her interest in women’s health care, Elena is intrigued by the idea of being a travel nurse. She and her family have traveled extensively, including international locations such as Egypt, Peru and Fiji (a great place for a family of scuba divers.) She gives her parents a lot of credit for helping her curate a curious and open nature through travel.

Currently Elena has four more quarters remaining before graduating, and she is excited to see where nursing takes her. Tom plans to stay right where he is. And, why wouldn’t he? Some time ago, a man approached him at the symphony with his two daughters by his side.

“Are you Tom?,” the man asked. “Yes,” responded Tom. He proceeded to thank Tom for

making such a big difference in his dad’s care. It was a happy moment for Tom, but it got even better.

The man turned to Tom’s daughters and said, “Your dad is a really good nurse!”

Tom was so proud, not only for the difference he made for that family, but also that his kids could be proud of his work as well.

Now that Elena is following in her dad’s footsteps and becoming a nurse, I predict there will be more of these types of encounters that warm the heart and make the hard work of nursing worth it.   

Member profile

A family tradition of caring

Tom and Elena Booze

NON-PROFIT ORG.

U.S. POSTAGE

P A I DSEATTLE, WA.

PERMIT NO. 4845

4649 Sunnyside Avenue North

Room 352

Seattle, WA 98103

KCNA: A Constituent Association (District 2) of Washington State Nurses Association • 4649 Sunnyside Ave N, Rm 352 • Seattle, WA 98103 Phone: 206-545-0603 • Email: kcnurses@kcnurses.org • Website: kcnurses.org

The Advocate is published to inform KCNA members about issues and activities that affect their professional growth.

King County Nurses Association is a professional organization of registered nurses,

committed to supporting members in education, advocacy and community service.

KCNA Event Cancellation/Refund Policy: If a registrant is unable to attend an event, a substitute may be sent or the registrant may receive a refund by informing KCNA by the registration deadline. A $5.00 cancellation fee will be withheld to cover processing expenses. No refunds will be made after the event registration deadline, and no-shows will be billed. If an event is cancelled by KCNA, registrants will receive full refunds.

Cert no. XXX-XXX-000

Cert no. XXX-XXX-000

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

President:Antwinett O. Lee

Vice President:Pamela Newsom

Secretary:Pauline Lao

Treasurer:Anne Poppe

MEMBERS AT LARGE

Judy AlbersBrenda BaloghCarolyn ClarkJane KimFrankie ManningBrittany Rios Heather Stephen-SelbyEmily VinsonDarlene Von LehmanRosa Young

STAFF

Executive Director:Sue Vermeulen

Member Services Director:Jennifer Bravo

COMMITTEES AND SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS

Finance CommitteeMembership/PR SubcommitteeNeighborhood Health SIGNominating CommitteeNursing Practice SIGProgram CommitteeScholarship CommitteeCommunity Grant Task Force