Rapid response nurses are trained to quickly assess patients in crisis and initiate life-saving interventions.
They evaluate deteriorating patients, activate emergency protocols and support bedside staff. Many have extensive experience in intensive care or emergency departments, according to the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses.
Dominique Hamilton was among more than 100 nurses who rallied Friday, Feb. 27, calling on Carondelet Health Network — the parent system of Carondelet St. Mary’s Hospital — to assign at least one designated rapid response nurse on every shift.
“It’s just impossible to be a good nurse under these conditions,” Hamilton said. “Because we understand that, because we are angry about that, because we have a fierce loyalty to our patients … we are out here because we want to change it.”
Hamilton described the working environment as causing “moral injury,” a term used to describe the distress that results when someone feels unable to act in accordance with their professional or ethical standards.
“The feeling of knowing what a good job is as a nurse, but not being able to do it,” Hamilton said. “It’s easy to feel like a bad nurse.”
Nurses held signs and chanted outside the hospital’s emergency department near St. Mary’s and Silverbell roads. Some posters called for increased staffing and improved working conditions. Others featured Hamilton’s face with messages of support.
Earlier this month, hospital management terminated Hamilton’s employment, according to the National Nurses Organizing Committee, which represents about 300 registered nurses at Carondelet St. Mary’s Hospital. Hamilton, who has worked as a nurse for eight years, served as a lead organizer for the union.
“I know that my face is on a lot of these signs, but it’s not really about me,” Hamilton said. “If you’re a union with any credibility, you’re not just one leader. It’s the whole group. It’s everyone.” In a news release, the union called Hamilton’s termination unjust and retaliatory and demanded her reinstatement.
Carondelet St. Mary’s Hospital opened in 1880 and is considered Arizona’s first hospital. Nurses at the hospital ratified a contract in July 2023 that runs through May 31.
Tucson Mayor Regina Romero spoke with organizers at the rally Friday morning.
“It is suspect when negotiations start in May, when the lead nurse organizer is let go,” Romero said. Romero said she values St. Mary’s and Carondelet, noting the hospital is one of the top employers in the ward she previously represented on the Tucson City Council.
“I also believe in justice and making sure that workers — especially nurses — have the capacity to be able to get what they need,” Romero said.
A spokesperson for St. Mary’s declined to comment on Hamilton’s employment status or the nurses’ concerns.
