The NYC nurses strike reveals a fundamental flaw in US health care

More than 7,000 nurses in New York City are on strike after failing to agree on a new contract with the hospitals where they work, leading two hospital systems in the city to cancel elective surgeries, ask ambulances to divert patients to other hospitals, and bringing in traveling nurses to maintain operations.

The strike was very nearly a much bigger crisis: Nurses at eight other city hospitals reached a last-minute deal with their management. It is still perhaps the most high-profile example of the tension between hospital executives and their medical staff...