"The turnout was good," Sue Scheider of the Hawai'i Nurses Association said tonight as she looked around the Laborer's International Union Hall on Palama Street, where nurses voted from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.

"People are very happy," she said. "They are glad the hospital has had a 'turnaround experience' and they are feeling valued. I don't want to call it a miracle, but . . ."

Scheider said she was confident the measure would be passed and nurses would be back at St. Francis bedsides, after walking the picket lines for seven weeks.

St. Francis was the last of three O'ahu hospitals affected by strikes to reach a deal with its nurses. More than 330 St. Francis nurses have been on strike since Dec. 2. Nurses at Queen's and Kuakini medical centers also walked picket lines for most of that time, but have recently approved contracts with their hospitals.

With a St. Francis approval, nearly 1,400 striking nurses will be back at their posts.

The three-year St. Francis contract calls for an 18 percent incremental raise, beginning with a four percent raise in the first year.