Are these really the people that should be required to work so much? Isn’t their job about handling life and death daily? Wouldn’t we want exactly these people to come fully rested to work every single day and be fully staffed?
I don’t know if there are jobs with similar stakes that are so carelessly staffed and disgustingly paid.
Nurses can and do strike. People support them because organized nurses who can enforce collective decisions provide the best care.
There was just a victory in New York:
https://www.ajmc.com/view/historic-nyc-nursing-strike-ends-with-3-year-contract-wins
https://www.myamericannurse.com/from-applause-to-action-why-new-yorks-nursing-strike-matters-for-patients-nursing-students-and-the-future-of-the-nursing-profession/
I’m aware this has happened a few times, but I don’t fully understand how. I keep meaning to look into it further, but I’ve never seen a detailed explanation of who was caring for people while this was going on. Maybe it’s buried in one of those articles somewhere, but I don’t have time to read through them right now.
Nurses strike all the time.
Here is a list of some strikes in US only. 2026: https://nurse.org/articles/nurse-strikes-list/, 2025: https://www.beckershospitalreview.com/hr/7-healthcare-strikes-in-2025/
Sometimes they maintain minimum care. There is advance notice provided. Nurses can also do things like provide care but not chart it in the correct way to get “counted” by their funding model. So the employer loses money while patient care is if anything improved.