Gov. Mark Dayton deserves credit for stepping in between Allina Health and the nurses who have been striking at five Allina Health hospitals. The strike has been going on since Labor Day, and last week striking nurses voted down another contract offer from Allina.

Dayton invited Allina’s negotiators and the nurses’ union to the governor’s mansion in St. Paul for a marathon mediation session. Dayton announced he hoped to keep both sides talking until an agreement was reached.

Early Tuesday morning, after a 17-hour session, Dayton was able to announce that an agreement had been reached. It will now go to the nurses for a vote on Thursday.

Federal mediators were brought in to assist with the talks, and we’re sure they did most of the work to help bring about the agreement. But Dayton’s interest and encouragement played a role as well.

We hope the upcoming vote will bring and end to the strike and let the nurses get back to doing what they do best.