Unionized nurses at Kapiolani Medical Center for Women & Children have been negotiating over contracts for nearly four months, but are stalemated on nurse-patient ratios, which set the maximum number of patients a nurse can be assigned to care for in a shift.

The Hawaii Nurses Association, representing about 600 Kapiolani nurses, now says it will call a weeklong strike beginning Jan. 21. Management has assured the public that a plan is in place in event of a walkout. Better if the parties hammer out a solution to call off the strike, minimizing disruption to hospital operations.