Nursing students from Minnesota State University in Mankato have lost clinical hours and seen an increased workload because of the recent statewide nursing strike, according to a Sept. 20 article from The Reporter.
The strike was considered one of the biggest private-sector nursing strikes in the U.S., with 15,000 nurses participating between Sept. 12 and 14, according to the newspaper, a student publication at the university.
Some students have missed half of their required 60 clinical hours due to the strike, Patricia Young, PhD, RN, chair of Minnesota State's nursing school, told the newspaper. The students will have to make these hours up "in one way or another," one student said.
One student said her clinical site was busier than usual because patients were coming in from other facilities affected by the strike.
“I think the issues [the nurses] are fighting for are similar," Young said. "They are looking at trying to maintain safe staffing levels and a better nurse-to-patient ratio that’s one concern, and of course salary. This strike is an educational opportunity and really broadens the nursing students’ perspective and [is a] look at the bigger picture."