. >> i'm terry mcsweeney. >>> the picket lines are long and loud outside santa clara county's three public hospitals. this is the first of a three- day nurses strike at the hospitals and nearly a dozen clinics. >> it's not just about the money. it's also about safety. >> reporter: there are a lot of nurses out here on strike today. they say it's mainly over working conditions. meanwhile the county is doing what it can to keep hospitals and clinics up and running over the next couple days. alan kamara has been an e.r. nurse at valley medical center for almost 16 years. now he's joined the picket line. he said since the pandemic patients have shorter fuses and they take out their frustrations on him and other nurses verbally and sometimes physically. >> i've been assaulted most of the time, all the time. >> reporter: even though the county and nurses union already reached a tentative agreement to address safety and workplace violence weeks ago, he sees chronic understaffing as an underlying issue. >> because if you have over 40 people sitting in the lobby in the emergency room, they get frus