On the picket line St. Vincent Hospital nurses’ strike enters eighth week Because of their dedication to improving the standard of care for their patients, nurses at St. Vincent Hospital in Worcester, Mass., remain on the picket line. Their demands include a safer nurse-to-patient ratio (meaning the level of care necessary for each patient is a factor when determining nurse staffing), a pool of nurses who are trained to care for the more critically ill patients in intensive care units and a team of rapid response nurses who can be dispatched when a patient needs to be quickly stabilized during a life-threatening event.