The Minnesota Nurses Association announced that 15,000 workers went on strike Monday to "fight for fair contracts to put patients before profits."

The nurses stated that executives with 13 different hospitals are not hiring enough nurses to handle the number of patients in the Minneapolis-St. Paul and Duluth markets. The nurses say they have continuously been asked to take on a higher number of patients as the labor shortages worsen.

"Hospital executives with million-dollar salaries have created a crisis of retention and care in our healthcare system, as more nurses are leaving the bedside, putting quality patient care at risk," Mary C. Turner, RN at North Memorial Hospital and President of the Minnesota Nurses Association, said in a press release.

"Nurses do not take this decision lightly, but we are determined to take a stand at the bargaining table, and on the sidewalk if necessary, to put patients before profits in our hospitals," Turner said.

Chris Rubesch, MNA vice president and a nurse at Essentia Health in Duluth, told the Washington Post that he can't give patients the care they deserve.

"Call lights go unanswered. Patients should only be waiting for a few seconds or minutes if they've soiled themselves or their oxygen came unplugged or they need to go to the bathroom, but that can take 10 minutes or more. Those are things that can't wait," Rubesch said.

Turner told CNN that the labor shortage has threatened nurses' work-life balance and that they are requesting to have some say over these issues.

A company that owns four of the hospitals on strike, Allina Health, released a statement following the strike stating that it is "focused on delivering safe, high-quality care throughout the duration of the Minnesota Nurses Association's 3-day strike."

"A strike is not our desired outcome these negotiations, and Allina Health has been thoughtfully planning for months," the association added.