It's not exactly a superpower, but nurse Joe Schwartz can tell with his nose what is causing his patient in the Children's hospital emergency department in St. Paul to look so weak, so bony thin.

When 10-year-old Juliana Jones says hello, Schwartz smells a sharp odor, like fruit gone bad, on her breath. It suggests acid buildup in her body, which likely means a dangerous complication from undiagnosed diabetes.

"My sniffer is pretty good," he says. "It's where I think we are headed."

Work in the ED is like that, drawing on basic senses beyond medical skills as nurses confront infections, trauma, mental illnesses and chronic diseases. The jack-of-all-trades nature of the job, combined with the stress and occasional conflicts with distraught parents or delirious patients, makes it one of the hardest to fill in Minnesota health care.

Children's launched a campaign to hire 176 more nurses by fall, because parents are bringing more and more children to its hospitals, but it fell behind on recruiting for its emergency departments in St. Paul and Minneapolis. The pediatric provider offered a behind-the-scenes look at Schwartz, a particularly versatile nurse, earlier this spring to spark interest in this branch of nursing.

"They have to be really experts in all areas because they see everything," says Yinka Ajose, a Children's clinical director leading the hiring campaign.

Schwartz, 27, was destined for pediatrics as the son of a Children's Minneapolis ED nurse. He worked in child care and children's programming at a fitness club before joining Children's as a clinical assistant and finishing nursing school on the side.

"Kids have always been a passion of mine," he says.

It's 11 a.m. when Schwartz wheels Juliana to room 4.

It's been a manageable morning since he started his 12-hour shift at 7 a.m. with a sip of his ultra-caffeinated drink. "I don't think it does anything for me anymore," Schwartz laments.

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