Nurses authorize second strike, with a start date of Dec. 11

Nurses voted Wednesday to authorize a second strike at 16 hospitals in the Twin Cities and Duluth areas, then shocked hospital leaders Thursday by immediately scheduling the walkout.

As many as 15,000 nurses will leave hospital bedsides Dec. 11, unless they can come to terms on pay, workplace violence prevention and staffing levels. The strikes would end Dec. 31 at most hospitals but continue indefinitely at St. Luke's hospitals in Duluth and Two Harbors.

Nurses drew a direct line between understaffing and hospitals being overwhelmed this flu season. Five nurses were caring for 39 patients one night on a cardiac unit in Essentia Health's St. Mary's Medical Center in Duluth, an eight-to-one ratio that is excessive even on overnight shifts, said Essentia nurse Corrine Schraufnagel.

https://www.startribune.com/nurses-authorize-second-strike-press-hospitals-on-understaffing/600231732/