WHAT'S THE LATEST?

Nurses were expected to conclude the strike at 7 a.m. Friday and return to work for their normal shifts. But the hospitals, having ramped down operations and hired temporary replacements, said they would call nurses back as needed.

Hospitals owned by HealthEast in the St. Paul area said they operated at full capacity on Thursday and expected to call back all their regular nurses immediately.

HOW BAD WERE THE DISRUPTIONS ON THURSDAY?

Officials for the 14 struck hospitals said their day went smoothly, though the number of patients and procedures was much lower than normal. At Abbott Northwestern, the morning patient census was 299, compared to 500 on a normal day.

There were reports of patients being diverted from several hospitals, but a spokesman for the Twin Cities' hospital central emergency response system said the overall system appeared to have adequate care capacity most of the day.

Nonstriking hospitals, including Hennepin County Medical Center in Minneapolis and Regions Hospital in St. Paul, said patient volumes were about 15 percent higher than normal but not higher than they had expected.

WHAT HAPPENS NEXT?

No new contracts talks were scheduled as of Thursday evening, and both sides were assessing the effects of the walkout, but the union said additional work stoppages are possible.

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 of an open-ended walkout.