Just like any other patient, the medical staff at Beth Israel hospital in Boston made sure they gave the best care to bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev in order for him to heal properly.
But they also gave him, as they are trained to do, sympathy, kind words, and comfort – even thought they were aware that Tsarnaev was responsible for the gruesome Boston Marathon bombings.
It was then that they realized their professional obligations made it hard to be unemotional.
“You see a hurt 19-year-old and you can’t help but feel sorry for him,’’ said one nurse, identified as Marie, who like other nurses referred to him as a boy. Yet, she said, she “would not be upset if he got the death penalty. There is no way to reconcile the two different feelings.’’
At one point, a nurse identified as Irene used a term of endearment that she used on all patients at the hospital. But this time, when it slipped out of her mouth, it felt different.
While moving Tsarnaev one day, another nurse, Irene, reflexively said: I am really sorry “hon.’’ It’s the sort of thing nurses say dozens of times a day to other patients, but it felt weird with an alleged terrorist, she said.
It was after that that the nurses all agreed to be unemotional around Tsarnaev. They vowed to do the best they could so that police could get answers, but the sympathy had to stop.
“When you’re in the room, it’s just a patient. You’re here to . . . make sure they’re feeling better,’’ said Michele, a 29-year-old nurse who cared for Tsarnaev the first night. “When you step away, you take it in. I am compassionate, that’s what we do. But should I be? The rest of the world hates him right now. The emotions are like one big salad, all tossed around.’’
Wow, now that’s conflicting! If you were a nurse caring for Tsarnaev, do you think you would be able to feel sorry for him?
Read how the rest of the nurses coped, here.
SOURCE: Boston Globe
