Nurse seriously injured in violent hospital melee

A nurse was allegedly seriously injured and several others were allegedly attacked by a hospital patient before being tasered during a violent incident.

Police have restrained a 51-year-old patient at Sydney’s Prince of Wales Hospital on Saturday night following a brawl that left a nurse hospitalized.

Officers, who were already in hospital for unrelated reasons, were told the man had seriously injured a nurse’s leg before attacking two other nurses and a security guard.

During the same incident, the man allegedly attacked a 26-year-old woman with a trash can as she tried to protect a nearby patient.

When police approached, he allegedly assaulted a police officer before being tasered and arrested.

He was then transferred to a secure facility within the hospital.

The injured nurse was taken to hospital for further treatment.

The officer, hospital staff and a member of the public were treated at the scene, but no further medical attention was required.

Police did not specify where in the hospital the incident occurred.

Some hospitals in NSW have set up dedicated mental health units in their emergency departments to prevent violence against staff.

A recent report from the NSW Nurses and Midwives Association found 88 per cent of respondents had experienced violence in the previous year.