COLUMBUS, Ohio — Nurses at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center have rejected a proposed replacement for an incentive-pay program used to encourage nurses to cover shifts beyond their regular schedules. The existing program expired Sept. 30, 2026, as contract negotiations continued. The Ohio State University Nurses Organization said 97% of members who voted rejected the medical center’s final offer. The vote followed an informational picket outside the medical center and nearly 12 hours of negotiations between the two sides on Tuesday. Under the proposal, nurses would have received an additional $25 an hour for designated incentive shifts when management determined that staffing levels and patient-care needs required extra support. The union’s bargaining team argued that the offer did not guarantee incentive pay when a unit was understaffed, left out nurses in the internal resource pool and did not address existing vacancies. Brian Kelly, a nurse at the medical center, said nurses need an incentive to work on days off. After the vote, the union said it wanted Ohio State negotiators to return to the table and commit to safe staffing and patient care. It also said nurses and other health professionals should not face retaliation for raising good-faith concerns about patient safety or staffing. The medical center said that without an agreement, it would use established staffing and scheduling processes, and that safe staffing and high-quality care remained priorities. The proposal’s rejection leaves the parties without the incentive-pay arrangement they had negotiated as the previous program expired.