A Florida nurse just weeks away from giving birth found out her baby was dead after she was shoved against a wall and nearly kicked in the stomach by a patient in a mental health ward.
The unidentified nurse, who was 32 weeks pregnant nurse, was administrating medication to a female patient in the behavioral heath unit at South Seminole Hospital in Orlando when she was attacked by fellow patient Joseph Wuerz, police said.
Wuerz, 53, entered the room and shoved the pregnant nurse up against a wall and tried to kick her before hospital security pulled him off of her, according to the Longwood Police Department.
Joseph Wuerz, 53, (pictured) is facing charges of unborn child manslaughter, aggravated battery of a pregnant woman, and aggravated battery of nurse
Wuerz remains in John E. Polk Correctional Facility under $90,000 bail and is set to appear in court again in January 2022.
Although none of the kicks landed, the nurse told police she was ‘terrified and shocked and unsure about injury … to the unborn child,’ the Washington Post reported.
Following the attack, she went for a checkup at another hospital, where doctors found no heartbeat and told the nurse her baby had died, according to the arrest report.
Wuerz was charged with homicide of unborn child manslaughter, aggravated battery of a pregnant woman and aggravated battery of nurse.
The nurse, who told police her baby was totally healthy prior to the attack, said she believes the stress of the attack caused her to lose her unborn child.
Wuerz was not one of the nurse’s patients and did not say anything to her during the vicious attack, she told police.
A 32 week pregnant nurse at South Seminole Hospital (pictured) was administrating medication to a patient when she was attacked by 53-year-old Joseph Wuerz
A spokesperson for the hospital said they were cooperating with police.
‘We are aware of an incident that occurred at Orlando Health South Seminole Hospital,’ the spokesperson said. ‘At this time, this is a law enforcement investigation, and we are fully cooperating.’
Wuerz remains in John E. Polk Correctional Facility under $90,000 bail and is set to appear in court in January.
The incident is one of many recent attacks against hospital workers.
Police say on Sunday two nurses, including one who was pregnant, were attacked in the mental health area of a Scranton, Pennsylvania hospital by 19-year-old Elizabeth Young.
Young punched and kneed the visibly pregnant nurse in her stomach before escaping, PAhomepage.com reported.
She was taken to her room and escaped and when a male nurse was escorting her back, Young ran at him and struck him in the upper body before security was able to restrain her.
In October a Chesapeake man was arrested after stabbing a 65-year-old male nurse at Riverside Regional Medical Center in Virginia, dailypress.com reported.
To combat the increased violence against staff a hospital in Missouri is equipping up to 400 staff members with panic buttons attached to their badges, the Post reported.
According to Cox Medical Center in Branson, violence against its staff increased dramatically from 2019 to 2020, ‘with the pandemic greatly compounding the issue.’
The number of reported assaults jumped from 40 to 123, and injuries jumped from 17 to 78, the hospital said.
No with the panic buttons, staff members in trouble can press a button that immediately alerts security guards and activates a tracking system, the Post reported.