The walkout at 14 metro-area hospitals was the largest nursing strike in U.S. history.
Minnesota Nurses Association spokesman John Nemo said the workers proved their point when hospitals were forced to raise staffing levels to maintain care with replacement nurses.
"Absolutely, I think we achieved our goal by causing maximum impact on the hospitals with minimum impact on patients and the community," Nemo told the Associated Press.
As the strike ended, nurses and hospitals were sorting out when the striking nurses would return to work, with some facilities saying they might turn away some workers due to low patient loads.
On the MNA Facebook page, some nurses reported they were told to go home when they reported for work at 7 a.m. Friday.
“This morning I was sent home from ANW (Abbott Northwestern) because I was not ‘called back,’” BriAnn Henderson said in a post to the page.
In other posts, MNA members expressed their feelings about the strike.
“We\'ve shown the Twin Cities\' Hospitals that we\'re serious! “ said Charles Wesley Clark, a nurse at Fairview Southdale. “Let\'s pray they listen to us. If they do not listen now, we will shout louder and louder! If an open-ended strike is what it takes, then so be it!”
Strikers had to deal with thunderstorms that swept through the Twin Cities overnight. MNA staffer Jan Rabbers reported nurses at Mercy Hospital in Coon Rapids set up a “tent city” and kept picketing through the rain.
MNA members are now working without a contract. No bargaining is currently scheduled between the union and six hospital systems: Health East, Allina, Methodist, Children’s, North Memorial and Fairview.
The nurses are seeking guaranteed staffing levels they say are necessary to ensure patient safety and quality of care.
View video and photo coverage of the strike
See the Workday special section on the safe staffing campaign
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The walkout at 14 metro-area hospitals was the largest nursing strike in U.S. history.
Minnesota Nurses Association spokesman John Nemo said the workers proved their point when hospitals were forced to raise staffing levels to maintain care with replacement nurses.
"Absolutely, I think we achieved our goal by causing maximum impact on the hospitals with minimum impact on patients and the community," Nemo told the Associated Press.
As the strike ended, nurses and hospitals were sorting out when the striking nurses would return to work, with some facilities saying they might turn away some workers due to low patient loads.
On the MNA Facebook page, some nurses reported they were told to go home when they reported for work at 7 a.m. Friday.
“This morning I was sent home from ANW (Abbott Northwestern) because I was not ‘called back,’” BriAnn Henderson said in a post to the page.
In other posts, MNA members expressed their feelings about the strike.
“We\’ve shown the Twin Cities\’ Hospitals that we\’re serious! “ said Charles Wesley Clark, a nurse at Fairview Southdale. “Let\’s pray they listen to us. If they do not listen now, we will shout louder and louder! If an open-ended strike is what it takes, then so be it!”
Strikers had to deal with thunderstorms that swept through the Twin Cities overnight. MNA staffer Jan Rabbers reported nurses at Mercy Hospital in Coon Rapids set up a “tent city” and kept picketing through the rain.
MNA members are now working without a contract. No bargaining is currently scheduled between the union and six hospital systems: Health East, Allina, Methodist, Children’s, North Memorial and Fairview.
The nurses are seeking guaranteed staffing levels they say are necessary to ensure patient safety and quality of care.
View video and photo coverage of the strike
See the Workday special section on the safe staffing campaign