Why did you run for public office?

As a registered nurse, I was tired of watching what was happening in health care.

I spent some time working with the Washington State Nurses Association on their legislative and health policy council, and introducing and testifying on bills.

I came to the realization that it was very important to have health care providers in government who know what is happening in health care, so then we can be the spokespeople for not only the providers, but for our patients for changes in health care.

What is your main concern with the nursing profession today, and do you think you will be able to make inroads on that from your post?

My main concern in the nursing profession is that we can't get nurses educated the way that we need to.

There are folks out there who want to be nurses and the nursing shortage is a huge problem for us. I think people are realizing it's a profession that is very rewarding, that is attracting both males and females to the profession. But when you can't get into a nursing school, when 34 applicants are picked out of a pool of 200 applicants, you have a bottleneck that needs to be taken care of.

I specifically chose the committees that I'm on-the health care committee of which I'm vice chair, and capital budget and higher education-because I want to work on something and be a voice for the fact that we do need nursing FTEs that are expanded and we also need to get some money for our nursing educators.

Our folks who have the Ph.D.'s aren't being paid correctly to attract them to the field. We need them to be our educators. Like all nurses, the average age of nurse educators is 43 to 45, so they'll be retiring. We won't have the teachers.

So if our profession is going to stay alive, we have to attract folks to educate nurses.

With seven nurses now in the Washington state Legislature, that seems to be quite a coalition.

We will be working on issues for nursing. There are two in the Senate, and in the House we have four nurses on the health care committee. We will be working on issues together and I think there's only one caucus that's bigger than our caucus.

Nurses make wonderful legislators because we have the people skills, the knowledge of the connection between community and health, and the economic side of that. So we make great legislators and good negotiators, and we're pretty stern in what we want.

What were some issues with the WSNA that you were involved with in recent years?

I testified on [a] mandatory overtime bill last year. We worked on, of course, the legislative and health policy council that introduced the bill, working with other unions in the state.

I testified on the bill and for some of the legislators in this state; it was the first labor bill that they'd ever voted on. Eighty-nine of the House members voted for it, so it was well-received once we were able to work with the legislators who had to get it out of the committee and onto the floor.

That was an important thing-for nurses to be recognized in our profession. We are professionals and we need to be able to tell people that we're tired and we don't want to be forced to work. So it was a very important bill.

Will you be able to maintain a role at Good Samaritan Hospital?

They have citizen legislators in the state of Washington. We're supposed to be in session for 105 days this year. With our budget deficit of $2.9 billion to $3.4 billion, we anticipate we might be here longer, but we'll work very hard not to do that. And Good Sam is holding a position for me when I want to go back.

I will have an office in my district where I'll be working with my constituents. The nursing profession is perfect for this type of legislative role because we can pick up a shift here and there anytime we want.

What do you think you'll be doing on your first day?

I actually have a blue sheet in front of me, and believe me, it's quite planned out. We just have opening day ceremonies and we're sworn in, and then I turn right around and go to work on capital budget meetings.