As the Minneapolis-based Allina Health nursing strike continues, a replacement nurse from Georgia left the system's Mercy Hospital in Coon Rapids, Minn., on Wednesday, citing concerns about the hospital's current quality of care as the reason for her departure, according to the Star Tribune.
"There are some nurses working out of their scope of practice that are completely lost," Tracy Mitchum, RN, told the Tribune. Ms. Mitchum was working in a post-anesthesia care unit at Mercy and reportedly decided to leave the hospital at the end of her Tuesday night shift after a confrontation with her manager. Before leaving on a flight home, she joined the striking nurses on the picket line.
David Kanihan, a spokesperson for Allina, described a different set of circumstances surrounding Ms. Mitchum's departure.
"Because of concerns about [Ms. Mitchum] raised by leaders and staff, we asked her agency that she have no further assignments in our hospitals. What she is now saying about patient care inside Mercy Hospital is completely untrue," said Mr. Kanihan in a company statement, according to the Tribune.
On Sunday, more than 4,000 Allina nurses began a walkout planned to last seven days. The system staffed its hospitals with 1,400 replacement nurses to last through the strike.