Nurse Helga[1] Schmerzen[2] is a character who has come to the Krusty Krab to give the staff medical exams. She appears in the SpongeBob SquarePants episode "The Check-Up," and becomes a recurring character in Kamp Koral: SpongeBob's Under Years after she is hired in "First and Last Aid."
Description[]
She is pale green with dark purple lipstick, purple eyeshadow and purple stripes on her fins. She has curly pale purple hair with a dark purple outline and has a mole on her face above her mouth. She wears black cat eyed glasses, white scrubs with a tag pinned on her shirt and a white hat with a red cross on it. She is extremely short, even shorter than SpongeBob.
She speaks in a Russian accent in "The Check-Up," but changes to a German accent with broken English in "First and Last Aid." In "Deep Sea Despot," she wears a blue nightgown. In "First and Last Aid" and "Parasite Pals," she makes reference to having been in a war.
Role in series[]
SpongeBob SquarePants[]
"The Check-Up"[]
She goes to the Krusty Krab to give the staff medical exams, starting with SpongeBob. She tells him to settle down before testing his reflexes, and gives him a pass, while noting that he does not seem mentally fine. She then examines Squidward and asks him to squirt some ink into a cup, before testing the ink and commenting that his ink is a bit thick and he needs to drink more water, but he still passes.
When Mr. Krabs refuses to get a medical exam, she reminds everyone that all staff must get a checkup or the Krusty Krab will be shut down by the Bikini Bottom Better Business Bureau. SpongeBob tells Helga that he and Squidward will test Mr. Krabs over the weekend and that she can pick the results up on Monday, though Squidward tries to bribe her. She accepts SpongeBob's deal but takes the bribe anyway.
On Monday, Helga returns for Mr. Krabs' results, but SpongeBob and Squidward say that they lost them and that she can test him herself. She goes into Mr. Krabs' office and tests him, and is astonished by his results, and it is revealed that she had been tricked into believing Larry the Lobster is Mr. Krabs. She then states that the Krusty Krab will remain open and that she will return next year.
"Kreepaway Kamp"[]
Nurse Helga arrives to the reunion on a motorcycle, like she does in "First and Last Aid." She treats Patrick for his stomach injury, then returns to her cabin and sees all her tools are gone. Something moves behind a curtain, and when she opens it, it turns out to just be a coat. She is then captured by Elwood's arm reaching out of the first aid box.
Kamp Koral: SpongeBob's Under Years[]
"First and Last Aid"[]
After being fed up with Mr. Krabs' lackluster approach to the camper's injuries, Mrs. Puff gets on the phone and asks for a camp nurse, causing Helga to quickly arrive on a motorcycle. Helga quickly showcases her skills by patching up Mo's arm, so Mr. Krabs hires her and shows her to the dilapidated nurse's cabin.
Later, after the nurse cabin is officially reopened, SpongeBob arrives and asks for some water, but Helga explains that she treats injuries. After denying him a band-aid for his collection, Helga is shocked when he reveals he fell in the trash compactor and heals him. She later peels some sea urchins stuck to him, and soon realizes that he's very accident-prone, making it her job to protect him.
Throughout the day, Helga follows SpongeBob around camp and uses protective measures like using a safety line for tightrope and covering him in bubble wrap for baseball, but it results in her getting injured. She then tries some board games and meditation to pass the time, but these too just end up hurting her and she gets knocked out by a rockslide.
Back at the nurse's cabin, she wakes up to find that SpongeBob has covered the inside of the cabin in sponge to prevent her from getting hurt and urges her to bounce around. Helga doesn't at first, due to her 'fun-is-dangerous' mindset, but soon joins SpongeBob in bouncing around the cabin. Mr. Krabs then arrives, having been the victim of Sandy's volleyball move, but Helga just tells him to walk it off, due to her being busy having fun.
"Helter Shelter"[]
Helga appears when Squidward gets injured. She uses a spray to get SpongeBob, Patrick, and Sandy out of her cabin, and does the same with another camper who brings flowers. She reappears at the end of the episode, playing a loud instrument to help the injured campers heal.
"Deep Sea Despot"[]
Helga, alongside Mr. Krabs and Mrs. Puff, eats a meal prepared by Plankton. She ends up falling ill from food poisoning, with Pearl acting as the replacement nurse. Helga eventually recovers after a few days.
"In a Nut's Shell"[]
On Skylarking Day, Helga is pranked by having her cabin filled with feathers. The feathers remain on her throughout the episode, and she joins the rest of the campers with pranking Krabs for him having tricked them earlier by avoiding the pranks.
"Low Falutin'"[]
Rea and Roh are hired at Helga's nurse's office. When they treat Mo, they wrap her entirely in bandages, and Rea asks if they can perform surgery. Helga kicks them both out.
"Cretins of the Night"[]
Helga comes across the now-vampiric SpongeBob and Patrick drinking blood in her nurse's office. She hunts them down in a manner similar to classic horror movie villains, tracking them down back to the Trawler cabin. By that point, the two have already had Kidferatu change them back, so Helga spraying them with a garlic press does not affect them. At the end, it is revealed that she teamed up with Kidferatu to prevent more kids from wanting to be vampires.
"Parasite Pals"[]
Helga is the first one to discover Paris inside SpongeBob, and she is insistent on having her removed before she causes more trouble, although SpongeBob thinks the parasite cute and wants to keep her. Later on, Helga sneaks inside SpongeBob to capture Paris, and tries to kill her again before SpongeBob and Plankton come up with an alternate solution.
"End of Summer Daze"[]
Helga, along with the rest of the camp staff, celebrate the end of summer. When Plankton remarks that he legally died seven times at camp, Helga tells him he would have gotten a free resuscitation if he died one more time.
Trivia[]
- Her last name, Schmerzen, is German for "pains," referencing her job as a nurse.
- She mentions that she was a field nurse during the Klopnodian Wars, referencing the episode "Klopnodian Heritage Festival" from The Patrick Star Show.
- After realizing how accident-prone SpongeBob is, she describes him as "ungeschickt," which is German for "clumsy."