A nurse in Australia has highlighted the dangers facing healthcare workers by sharing video footage of himself fending off an attack by a patient at a Brisbane hospital.
Daniel Nelson, a registered nurse and Australian Army veteran, was forced to act immediately to protect himself after a patient tried to assault him at the emergency department entrance in October 2024.
CCTV captures the moment a Queensland nurse flipped a violent patient to the floor and locked him in a chokehold after being attacked in a hospital emergency department.
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Registered nurse Daniel Nelson shared the October 2024 footage from the Royal Brisbane Women’s Hospital,… pic.twitter.com/ypFArJ0PLO
CCTV footage shared by Nelson shows the patient appearing to walk out of the hospital before suddenly turning and launching himself at the nurse.
Nelson quickly blocked the punches, placed the attacker in a headlock, and took him down with a jiu-jitsu move. He then restrained the man on the floor while calling for assistance.
Within moments, hospital security personnel converged on the scene to assist him.
"This is what many people never see," Nelson wrote in a social media post addressing workplace violence against healthcare staff.
He added that more than a decade of martial arts training enabled him to defend himself, noting that the outcome could have been far worse had a smaller or more vulnerable colleague been targeted.
"Violence against healthcare workers isn't 'just part of the job'," he said. "It's unacceptable, and alcohol is no excuse."
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