DC the Haldol? Nurse of the Week Heather Cartee Tames Aggressive ED Patient with a Smile and a Hug

The ED is often the site of hospital workplace violence. Some nights, the atmosphere can be like a growth medium for trouble. Patients with nowhere else to go when they’re sick are joined by people suffering acute pain, asthmatics fighting for breath, hallucinating seniors who were given the wrong mix of meds, and people trying to combat mental health crises.

Add an out-of-control, emotionally disturbed teen to a space filled with fear, confusion, anger, tiredness, and pain, and you could have trouble. In some states, hospitals simply call the police to deal with the more disturbed individuals (with decidedly mixed results), but many EDs look for nurses like Nurse of the Week Heather Cartee, RN to work the heavy shifts. Because contact with a compassionate, well-trained, emotionally insightful nurse can quiet a disruptive patient as quickly as a bullet, and with a far more promising health outcome.

Luckily, Cartee was on duty the night Plattsburgh, NY cops brought a very disturbed, developmentally disabled teen to the University of Vermont Health Network Champlain Valley Physicians Hospital (UVHN serves northern New York as well as Vermont). The youth was angry, and according to staff his behavior was highly “aggressive” and “confrontational.” And since this was Vermont rather than Texas, the police did not draw their weapons or shoot the boy. Instead, they stood back and let RN Cartee work a little Nurse Magic.

Nurse Magic is usually behind the special traits that inspired you to become a nurse in the first place. It’s a certain perspective: where many see a disturbed, aggressive young man—and contemplate fight or retreat tactics—a nurse may see a stressed teen who acts out when he cannot express himself. So, instead of firing at his chest, Cartee took aim at the stress with a warm, friendly “smize” that would have won kudos from Tyra Banks herself. She was wearing a surgical mask, of course, but some smiles just cannot be confined. Her sympathetic, humorous comments, evident concern, and that smize relaxed the teen to a point where he began to focus on cooperating with ED staff.

However, when the boy’s stepfather left, the power of Cartee’s Smize waned. Bereft of any familiar faces, the youth again became increasingly agitated. Before the situation could snowball into an actual safety threat, the attending physician asked Cartee to make another appearance in her role of Disturbed Teen Boy Whisperer. Perhaps she could assay a Super Smize this time? By now, though, the boy was in such a disruptive state that even Tyra might have thrown in the towel. But the doughty RN, after surveying the scene, reached for one of the most powerful weapons in her arsenal. That’s right: Heather Cartee went in for a hug.

The doctor—who submitted the nomination that won Heather a Daisy Award—witnessed the entire scene. “It [the hug] was exactly what he needed. He actually smiled. The next thing I knew, the two of them were working out math problems using a dry erase marker on the window of the room.” Cartee cared for the boy that night, reassuring him and keeping him stable with minimal restraints. The doctor told the Plattsburgh Press Republican that she believes Cartee’s empathy and acceptance prevented the youth from incurring further psychological damage, and may have even “changed his life.”

Getting a Daisy Award is a terrific honor, but like most Nurse Magic Practitioners, Heather tries to provide everyone with Daisy-standard care: “This is why I got into the health care profession, to help patients and their family members during what can be the scariest times of their lives when they’re sick either mentally or physically. As nurses, we’re here to help our community feel safe and help them through the hardest times.”