An Australian ex-Army officer turned emergency department nurse has spoken out for the first time about an encounter with a violent patient that was caught on CCTV.
Dan Nelson last month earned the nickname ‘Jiu-Jitsu nurse’ after sharing a video of himself wrestling the patient to the ground during the incident at Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital two years ago.
The confronting video went viral, even making headlines in New York, as thousands of viewers struggled to understand the dangerous reality of being a frontline worker.
The clip showed the patient throw a bag at Mr Nelson and then repeatedly try to punch him before the nurse wrestled him into a headlock and held him on the ground until security arrived.
In an exclusive interview with 10+ on Sunday night, Mr Nelson said it was ‘definitely not’ the first time he’d been attacked and he wanted to raise awareness.
‘This is probably the most aggressive assault that I’ve had. However, during my time in the public health system, I’ve been sworn at, spat at, kicked at,’ he said.
‘I requested the footage through the Freedom of Information Act because I wanted people to know what nurses face on a day-to-day basis. I want them to be seen.’
The patient that attacked Mr Nelson was a drunk American tourist.
Dan Nelson (above) shared footage in August of him being attacked by a patient at Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital
Two years ago, Mr Nelson (right had been escorting a drunk American tourist (left) out of the hospital when the American attacked him
He’d been asked to leave the hospital after becoming aggressive with staff.
The tourist was almost out the door when he turned around and threw his bum bag at Mr Nelson, who’d volunteered to walk him out.
‘It actually hit me in the nose and opened me up. Then he decided that he wanted to have a cuddle,’ Mr Nelson said.
‘He attempted to punch me in the face numerous times.
‘Everything that you see in that video from that moment on was pretty much muscle memory and just a reaction to the training that I’ve had over the years.’
Mr Nelson had served in the Australian Army as a nurse for two tours in Iraq and Afghanistan.
However, it was his 13 years of training in jiu-jitsu that helped him take down the drunken American.
He’d rushed to help his coworkers after hearing the tourist yelling and swearing at staff in the emergency department about 2am.
Mr Nelson confirmed it was ‘definitely not’ the first time he was attacked by a patient while at work
‘We go to work to help people. We go there to care for people and help them out when they’re at the most vulnerable, or potentially having the worst day of their life,’ Mr Nelson said.
‘It’s just not an assault on me, it’s an assault on a health care workers, it’s an assault on nurses. There needs to be accountability.’
The American that attacked Mr Nelson pleaded guilty to common assault and was fined $450.
Violent attacks on hospital workers have more than doubled in the last decade.
Government data showed there were 126 assault-related hospitalisations of healthcare workers in the 2024-25 financial year.
That compares to 49 healthcare worker hospitalisations from assault in the 2015-16 financial year.
Assault is now the second-leading cause of injury-related hospitalisation for healthcare workers.
Mr Nelson hoped sharing the video would highlight the growing issue, adding he’d become ‘desensitised’ to the violence faced from patients.
He and other advocates are pushing for better security and staffing in hospitals.
‘I am definitely not the hero, but I feel that all the frontline workers and healthcare workers are the true heroes in our society,’ Mr Nelson said.
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