Right now St. Vincent health care workers, are standing their ground outside the hospital. But some, nurses on the inside described having mixed emotions.
WTOL spoke with one nurse who is remaining anonymous.
This nurse ultimately chose not to walk out because of the need of a paycheck. Despite not walking out, this nurse said they have friends on both sides, and ultimately respects and agrees with why people are striking.
"I think the issue with the contract was on call time time yes which is a big deal and the healthcare," said the nurse.
Leading up to this strike this nurse said they were terrified.
They describde some co-workers walking out and some staying behind, not knowing how or if Mercy or the union would punish each side.
"I was terrified, and also my team isn't there so I was so scared, I don't know what the penalty is, I don't know what I'm going to face, but I know I'm working and paying my bills right now," said the nurse.
The nurse also said they stayed because of miscommunication from both the UAW and Mercy Health.
This nurse claims they are a member of the union, and never saw Mercy's final offer, because the union did not show nurses that contract.
The union said their nursing chair did not find that contract acceptable to show members because it was not different from what Mercy had offered previously.
"I'm an adult. I'm an adult enough to work full time hours. I'm an adult enough to be a registered nurse. So why am I not an adult enough to make the decision of whether or not I want to agree with a contract?" said the nurse.
As far as what's going on inside the hospital right now, this nurse said conditions are safe, but are far from normal.
"We didn't know what was going to happen! So yes NICU babies got transferred out, yes they condensed the ICU's, the ICU's weren't shut down they were condensed," said the nurse.
Right now this nurse wants an agreement to be reached. They are concerned what's going on outside the hospital, with honking horns and cheering, is negatively affecting what's going on inside the hospital.
"You say you're striking for patient safety and because you care so much about the patients but then you're encouraging this behavior that's disturbing all the patients," said the nurse.