TUCSON, Ariz. (KGUN) — Dozens of registered nurses rallied outside Carondelet St. Mary's Hospital Friday morning, raising concerns about staffing ratios and workload demands they say are impacting patient care.
Maria Manzanarez, an ICU registered nurse who has worked at St. Mary's Hospital for about a year, said a normal nurse-to-patient ratio is one nurse to four patients—but that is not what she is seeing on the floor.
"Right now, we're seeing like one nurse to six patients," Manzanarez said.
She said higher patient loads are leading to delays in care.
"Meds aren't delivered on time. We're not able to like clean our patients, so some patients are sitting in stool or urine and we're not able to get to them. So, it's just delaying all the care that we're trying to do for our patients, not having the appropriate staffing," Manzanarez said.
Jaclyn Steinke, a telemetry nurse at St. Mary's Hospital, said she has seen similar ratios during her time there.
"Being at six [patients] makes it so that our patients aren't getting the dignified care that they deserve. We're stretched too thin. We can only be one person in one room at a time," Steinke said.
Nurses at the rally also claimed a fellow nurse was recently fired after speaking out about staffing concerns.
"We demand that Dominique Hamilton be reinstated," Steinke said.
Carondelet Health Network did not confirm details about that employment matter but provided the following statement:
"Our focus is always on providing high quality healthcare to our community and a positive work environment for our employees. The hospital will be open to care for our patients."
Nurses say they plan to continue advocating for staffing changes.
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Jacqueline Aguilar is a multimedia journalist at KGUN 9. Born and raised in Yuma, AZ., she is no stranger to the unforgiving Arizona heat. Now this U of A wildcat is excited to be back in Tucson and is looking forward to involving herself in the community. Share your story ideas with Jacqueline by emailing jacqueline.aguilar@kgun9.com or connecting on Facebook, Instagram or X.
