WHAT'S THE LATEST?

In an effort to prepare for Thursday's walkout, the 14 affected hospitals were training 2,800 replacement nurses Wednesday, and some have reduced the number of available beds.

Abbott Northwestern Hospital in Minneapolis had about 350 patients late Wednesday, down from its normal count of 500.

Meanwhile, Regions Hospital in St. Paul and Hennepin County Medical Center in Minneapolis, both unaffected by the strike, said they had 10 to 15 percent more patients than normal.

Fairview Health Services said it plans to operate at full capacity at all its hospitals, even those where members of the Minnesota Nurses Association are on the picket line.

WHAT IF I NEED HOSPITAL CARE?

Emergency rooms and labor-and-delivery units will be fully staffed, hospital officials say. Some hospitals have notified patients that nonemergency procedures will be postponed; others expect business as usual.

Overall there is plenty of capacity, said Mark Lappe, who oversees the Twin Cities regional hospital emergency planning system.

Still, the walkout might mean some painful inconveniences for patients such as Art Schuster, 55, of Ham Lake. He went to Mercy Hospital in Coon Rapids late Tuesday night after he injured his leg while bowling. After sitting in the emergency room for a few hours, he was told he'd have to go to Buffalo Hospital in Buffalo, Minn., because there was no bed for him at Mercy. At 5:30 a.m., an ambulance finally picked him up.

"It was a very painful ride out here, not fun," he said from his hospital room on Wednesday.

HOW WILL HOSPITALS BE STAFFING WARDS?

In addition to 2,800 replacement nurses, hospitals are calling in extra doctors, nurse practitioners and management nurses to help with patient care. Hospitals also have beefed up security, and visitors can expect to be asked why they are in the hospital.

WHY DID NURSES PROPOSE A ONE-DAY STRIKE?

It's a strategy to put financial pressure on hospitals, by forcing them to hire expensive replacements, without exposing union members or patients to the risks and hardships of an open-ended walkout.

WHAT WILL HAPPEN ON FRIDAY?

The strike formally ends at 7 a.m. and nurses expect to return to work. In some cases, however, hospitals have said they may not need all the nurses to return right away, because of replacements and lower patient volumes. But the nurses will not be locked out, hospitals say.

WHAT HAPPENED THE LAST TIME TWIN CITIES NURSES WENT ON STRIKE?

About 1,350 nurses at Fairview hospitals in Edina and Minneapolis walked the picket line for 23 days in 2001 before reaching a contract agreement. The hospitals stayed open with about 400 replacement nurses.