Police say a 70-year-old nurse at Brooklyn's Brookdale Hospital was beaten to the point of unconsciousness Friday when she tried to prepare a patient for discharge.
According to officials, hospital staff saw the 40-year-old suspect, who was naked, beating the nurse at around 4:30 p.m. The nurse suffered fractures to the face, hemorrhaging and chest contusions as a result of the beating, police said.
Hospital staff told investigators the man became angry when the nurse went into his room to try to prepare him to be discharged.
"He hit her with an IV pole," said a nurse who saw the vicious beating but did not want her name used. "He stomped on her, there was so much blood."
He stopped assaulting the nurse when other nurses told him to stop and then he went into a bathroom, where hospital security kept him until police arrived.
The suspect was taken into custody and charges against him are pending, officials said.