Nurses at Providence Sacred Heart Medical Center in Spokane, WA, have won a dispute in court that they say will give them adequate rest breaks and boost patient safety.

The nurses and the hospital disagreed over what constitutes a rest break, and the problem boiled over when the hospital began counting trips to the bathroom, stops at drinking fountains, and chats with coworkers against nurses’ rest breaks.

The Washington State Nurses Association (WSNA), a representative of more than 16,000 nurses in the state, has been working for years to ensure that nurses get their entitled by contract, 15-minute uninterrupted rest break for every four hours worked.

Last week, the hospital was ordered by Spokane County Superior Court Judge Kathleen O’Connor to pay $104,700 in damages to its 1,600 registered nurses, and $222,500 in legal fees owed to the nurses’ attorneys, in a ruling that said Sacred Heart violated the state’s Minimum Wage Act.

Source: The Spokesman Review and PR Newswire