What if the Boston bomber was your pt

[imintrouble]

I'm just sitting here listening to the coverage of the terrorist attack.

The suspect is in the hospital, injured, and obviously being cared for by nurses. What if that nurse was me?

Related Article: Life after the Boston Marathon Bombing - Nurses Coping with the Trauma

[KelRN215, BSN, RN]

He is not a child and I do not feel sorry if he feels scared or alone, I am sure his victims and there families feel scared and alone. Would I take care of him in a professional manner, Yes. Do I care at all about him as a person, no.

I agree. I do not want to hear any excuses made for this guy. I don't care if his brother was the ring leader and he was just following along. A nineteen year old is an adult and knows that killing people is wrong. If my brother ever said to me "hey let's go plant a bomb somewhere", I'd run and call the police. UMass Dartmouth has said that this guy was on campus both before and after the attacks so it's not like he had no time away from his brother to back out or notify the authorities if the brother truly was the instigator. This guy was a college sophomore living the life of a normal 19 year old. He had what one would consider to be a normal 19 yr old life and he threw it away. I don't care if he's scared or remorseful (though it does not appear that he is the latter) and I don't want to hear any nonsense about how they "had" to do this because of the circumstances of their lives. Especially, when it seems based on the accounts of those who knew them, that that statement could not be further from the truth. This guy attended one of the most prestigious high schools around and was attending college. His brother was married with a three year old child. He made a choice to murder and maim people who were out enjoying what is normally the best day of the year in Boston and I feel no sympathy, no compassion, no sorrow for his current situation. He made his bed and now he needs to lie in it. If I didn't have a choice I would care for him to the best of my abilities but I certainly wouldn't go above and beyond for him. Given the choice, I would back out but, as I said previously, I do wonder if the nurses caring for him have that option at all since it is unlikely that any of them were not personally affected in some way by his actions.

[Esme12, ASN, BSN, RN]

I mentioned this post to a friend of mine...who does not work in a hospital setting: yes, and be a professional. I am sure that this guy is not being taken care of by a regular staff nurse, being that he is of 'high interest'...and I am pretty much sure that there is some level of chemical or physical restraint orders being written as this guy is a trained wrestler and being physically fit enough to run and evade capture while being wounded. It will be interesting to find out what the motive was and even so what his attorney is going to use as a defense insofar as the apparent statements he is issuing while being hospitalized: under duress? under the influence of medication? Can he understand the charges being brought against him in his currrent state of health? I would rather be the nurse than the person who is going to be pulled to defend him....but then again...being that you (the nurse) were witness to this patient's hospitalization that your charting and observations aren't going to be flitted to the wayside by the defense and prosecution by any stretch of the imagination.

This patient is being cared for by the nurses who are employed by the Beth Israel Deaconess Hospital. He has his own personal guards...SWAT/FBI/ATF/Boston Police etc. Those who care for him is limited to a few staff members. But the staff who are cleared by the FBI...are the "regular staff" and limited to just those staff members. I am sure the staff are never in the room alone with him...in case he "talks".

But they are the staff nurses......

[KelRN215, BSN, RN]

This patient is being cared for by the nurses who are employed by the Beth Israel Deaconess Hospital. He has his own personal guards...SWAT/FBI/ATF/Boston Police etc. Those who care for him is limited to a few staff members. But the staff who are cleared by the FBI...are the "regular staff" and limited to just those staff members. I am sure the staff are never in the room alone with him...in case he "talks".

But they are the staff nurses......

I wonder how they decided who these few are. I can see from an administrative and security standpoint wanting to limit the number of people involved in his care but I imagine caring for him day in and day out would be very emotionally taxing. If I had to care for him, I certainly wouldn't want to do it every day.

There's no way anyone is ever alone with him. I have cared for hospitalized patients who were imprisoned (in juvenile detention for far less severe crimes) and even they were shackled and guarded by two prison guards at all times. From what I hear, he is handcuffed to the bed, shackled and in the custody of the US Marshals. The entire campus of BI where he is is on high alert and heavily guarded.

[OMGWhatIsThatSmell]

as this guy is a trained wrestler

You sure he is a wrestler? His older brother was a good boxer who wanted to compete in the Olympics.

I would be willing to be his nurse if that was my assignment but I would rather not do so if I had a choice. I certainly would not want to care for him on multiple days though because doing so would be very stressful for me.

[DoGoodThenGo]

I wonder how they decided who these few are. I can see from an administrative and security standpoint wanting to limit the number of people involved in his care but I imagine caring for him day in and day out would be very emotionally taxing. If I had to care for him, I certainly wouldn't want to do it every day.

There's no way anyone is ever alone with him. I have cared for hospitalized patients who were imprisoned (in juvenile detention for far less severe crimes) and even they were shackled and guarded by two prison guards at all times. From what I hear, he is handcuffed to the bed, shackled and in the custody of the US Marshals. The entire campus of BI where he is is on high alert and heavily guarded.

Methinks the amount of guards are equally for this young man's protection as well as his criminal status. IIRC there are or were victims of this bombing in that hospital if not right on the same ICU. Then there are family and friends of the victims and or just plain "mad as heck" local residents. many of whom probably would love to get a piece of the "kid", if not speak their mind.

The other worry in this age of small digital or cell phone cameras would be staff, someone posing as staff or anyone else taking pictures to leak to media and or post on the Internet. It is almost certain the usual suspects in trashy publications and probably some mainline ones as well are offering good money for such photographs.

Regarding how the decision was made who from the nursing staff would care for the "kid", as stated upthread one guesses administration has a short list of competent (if not highly so) nurses who already have been vetted as to caring for high profile patients. Similar to list some places keep of nurses who do not wish to be involved in anyway on matters relating to abortion. As for the FBI check it could have been anything from sending the nurse's in question prints to NICS up to and or a background check of public information such as arrest records and so forth.

Assuming the "kid" was down in the ER for several hours before being transferred up to ICU there would have been some time for the DON or whomever to put a staff together.

[KelRN215, BSN, RN]

You sure he is a wrestler? His older brother was a good boxer who wanted to compete in the Olympics.

I would be willing to be his nurse if that was my assignment but I would rather not do so if I had a choice. I certainly would not want to care for him on multiple days though because doing so would be very stressful for me.

He was a wrestler in high school, captain of his high school wrestling team. There is a picture circulating online of him in a wrestling match with a kid from my high school.

[Esme12, ASN, BSN, RN]

I wonder how they decided who these few are. I can see from an administrative and security standpoint wanting to limit the number of people involved in his care but I imagine caring for him day in and day out would be very emotionally taxing. If I had to care for him, I certainly wouldn't want to do it every day.

There's no way anyone is ever alone with him. I have cared for hospitalized patients who were imprisoned (in juvenile detention for far less severe crimes) and even they were shackled and guarded by two prison guards at all times. From what I hear, he is handcuffed to the bed, shackled and in the custody of the US Marshals. The entire campus of BI where he is is on high alert and heavily guarded.

Many facilities "know" who their "go to" people are.....they may have asked for volunteers and submitted those names to the authorities. It is true that prisoners are shackled to the bed etc...what the procedure is for this young man we have no way of knowing.

Security checks are easy these days and many of us already have fingerprints on file. Give them a name and DOB and you're checked.

I am SURE BID is well guarded.

[KelRN215, BSN, RN]

Many facilities "know" who there "go to" people are.....they may have asked for volunteers and submitted those names to the authorities. It is true that prisoners are shackled to the bed etc...what the procedure is for this young man we have no way of knowing.

Security checks are easy these days and many of us already have fingerprints on file. Give them a name and DOB and you're checked.

I am SURE BID is well guarded.

BIDMC itself is heavily guarded and, per friends who work there, they are "on high alert".

According to the Attending MD who was there that night, staff DID have difficulty treating him knowing what he had done to our city:

'What have we done? We just saved him.' How the medical team who treated Dzhokhar Tsarnaev battled first instincts not to help the teenage terror suspect | Mail Online

Having now cared for one of his victims, the fury I feel towards his man has multiplied a thousand times.

[BlueDevil,DNP, DNP, RN]

I didn't really follow the story at all last week and just got the details today for the first time. The whole thing stinks like yesterday's diapers and I don't think you have to be a conspiracy nut to doubt the veracity of what we have been told. It must be considered a real possibility that those two may not be responsible. I don't have a firm opinion on it and don't want to debate it, so all of that aside, just consider that the nursing care that kid gets is probably the last human decency he will know in this world, as I think it's likely he is going to be convicted and executed. All the more reason to just treat him as one would any other patient. If he did do it, treating him with dignity now is demonstrative of the very best of all of us, and perhaps he would reflect on that. And of course we have to entertain the possibility that he is innocent and all that that would imply. Either way, it would be vitally important to provide care to the best of one's ability because in doing so you would have the opportunity to impact someone in utterly extreme circumstances in a very profound way. Think of it differently, as a very rare privilege. What an interesting way to consider it!

[FranEMTnurse, CNA, LPN, EMT-I]

It would be more difficult for me to care for Jerry Sandusky. the now jailed former Penn State assistant football coach than it would for me to care for that teen bomber. Why? Because Sandusky started an organization called "The Second Mile" aimed at helping underpriveleged and troubled children, and the reason he did that was because he was a secual predator, and he groomed some of those kids in order to abuse them. He raped numerous boys. That activity ruined a lot of lives.

[imintrouble, BSN, RN]

Prisoners are admitted ot our hospital with guards at bedside 24/7. The guards watch us. They listen to us. They observe our body language.

Those guards KNOW their prisoners. Know what they've done. Who they are when they're behind bars at the prison.

I worked with a nurse whose husband was one of those guards. She said it angered her husband when the prisoner/pt was treated with kindness and respect. In his eyes they didn't deserve it. They were scum who got what they deserved. He might have been right. He might have been completely right.

I gave the above alot of thought. How would I feel as a guard, watching the prisoner/pt being brought snacks, warm blankets, and his pillow fluffed when requested? How would that make me feel?

It would enrage me. I'd be mad at the nurse who exhibited one once of compassion, to someone so dangerous they have to be shackled to the bed.

One of the posters...way back...mentioned there might be a problem caring for the bomber if her family found out. I understand that completely.

[chrisrn24]

It would be more difficult for me to care for Jerry Sandusky. the now jailed former Penn State assistant football coach than it would for me to care for that teen bomber. Why? Because Sandusky started an organization called "The Second Mile" aimed at helping underpriveleged and troubled children and the reason he did that was because he was a secual predator, and he groomed some of those kids in order to abuse them. He raped numerous boys. That activity ruined a lot of lives.[/quote']

Thank you, I agree.