Nurse dies from psychiatric ward stabbing

Date Updated:

Bloomfield Hospital

A male nurse has died and another nurse has been injured after an alleged stabbing attack at a mental health hospital at Orange in New South Wales.

A 63-year-old nurse was yesterday stabbed in the chest and arms and was taken to Orange Base Hospital and later airlifted to Sydney but died earlier today.

A 20-year-old female nurse suffered cuts to her hand in the attack at the Bloomfield Hospital in Forest Road. She was treated at the scene and also taken to the Orange Base Hospital. She has since been released.

A 33-year-old psychiatric patient of the hospital was arrested by police and has now been charged with one count of murder and one count of attempted murder.

He appeared in Orange Local Court today where he did not apply for bail.

The alleged attack happened when the two nurses were treating the patient at about 3.55pm on Wednesday, police said.

Staff at the hospital are being offered support and counselling and the incident will be reviewed by the Western Local Health Network.

The NSW Nurses’ Association also plans to investigate the issue of safety at the hospital once a full investigation has been carried out.

"It’s still unclear if anything could have been done better here to ensure these nurses were safer," the association’s acting general secretary Judith Kiejda told media.

"We are obviously terribly sad about what's happened. Nobody expects to go into work and then not come home again."