Dzhokhar Tsarnaev's Nurses Speak Out About Treating Him
We've already reported on the legions of adoring fans who post about Dzhokhar Tsarnaev on Tumblr and Twitter, but now the nurses who cared for him at Beth Israel Hospital are putting in their two cents.
The Boston nurses spoke out about treating the accused bomber to the Boston Globe, saying that they found it hard to reconcile Tsarnaev as a patient with the bombings.
“You see a hurt 19-year-old and you can’t help but feel sorry for him,’’ one nurse told reporters. She said she and another nurse had to form a pact after she accidentally called Tsarnaev "Hon," and they agreed to alert each other if they used a term of endearment with him again.
The nurses also declined to use their names in the interviews, fearing judgment from the public. Others said they felt guilty for doing a good job treating him.
"When you’re in the room, it’s just a patient. You’re here to . . . make sure they're feeling better," a 29-year-old nurse who initially treated Tsarnaev said. "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."
Hospital staff also struggled with treating the bomber at the same time that they were treating his victims. When Tsarnaev was brought in, there were 24 bombing victims in the hospital, some being treated on the same floor, and some family members had to walk by his heavily guarded room to reach their loved ones.
"Many of the support staff, the cleaners, and families of other patients will say, ‘Why are you giving him pain medication?’ They might be angry at us for turning him and washing him and for doing what we are really supposed to do,’’ a director of trauma at an Israeli hospital recounted from previous experiences treating accused terrorists. “After about a half-hour, I don’t see him as a terrorist anymore."
