Man charged over alleged attack on ER nurse at Westmead Hospital
An emergency nurse has undergone surgery for horrific head injuries after allegedly being punched in the back of the head by a patient in a western Sydney hospital. A 26-year-old man has been charged. WARNING: GRAPHIC IMAGES
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A hospital patient who allegedly assaulted an emergency nurse and left her with a horrific head injury has been charged.
The nurse, Bec Davis, has undergone surgery for head injuries after the alleged assault at Westmead Hospital on Friday morning.
Jack Thomas Solomons, 26, was receiving treatment in the emergency department of the hospital when police allege he punched a security guard in the face and arm.
Solomons then ran through the ward until he came across the nurse’s station.
Police allege he then punched Ms Davis, 31, in the back of the head before allegedly grabbing onto her.
Ms Davis fell on the floor and hit her head on a door on the way down.
Photographs posted on social media showed a large bloodied gash to the nurse’s head.
“No one should go to work and have this happen to them,” the post with the photos on Facebook read.
“Work should be a safe place.
“If you present to an emergency department you should treat all our staff, clerical, admin, porters, wardsmen, allied health, doctors, nurses, with utmost respect.”
Ms Davis was transferred to another hospital on Friday and underwent surgery.
The security guard was treated for minor injuries.
Solomons was released from Westmead Hospital at 11am on Saturday and arrested.
He was charged with assault occasioning actual bodily harm and common assault and is due to front Parramatta Bail Court on Sunday.
Parramatta Police Chief Inspector Traci Watt said the nurse suffered a horrific laceration to her forehead during the alleged assault.
“No person deserves to be assaulted in their workplace,” she said.
“This nurse fortunately has been released from hospital but she is now recovering at home as a result of these injuries.
“That is one less worker we have helping us in our time of crisis.”
NSW Nurses and Midwives’ Association general secretary Brett Holmes said the woman’s colleagues then had to care for the man in the Intensive Care Unit, where he was sedated.
“Our members had to care for that patient in the ICU and called out for two security guards to be present,” he said.
“But because of short staffing they only had one available.
“This is a graphic example of what is going on almost everyday in our health system.”
Mr Holmes said the alleged assault signified what nurses and midwives were putting up with on a regular basis.
“It doesn’t appear to me anything has changed since the survey carried out in 2018 and showed the frequency of assault against healthcare workers was alarmingly high,” he said.
“(It showed) almost half of participants had experienced an episode of violence in the previous week.”