Drunk woman punches three nurses

A 22-year old woman brought into the Oak Hill Hospital emergency room Saturday suffering from excessive alcohol consumption, assaulted three nurses and had to be restrained.

Katie Patterson, of 4036 Vista Verde Dr., New Port Richey, punched a registered nurse in the face and knocked her glasses off as she tried to administer medical aid, a sheriff's report said. She also scratched the forearm of the nurse, causing her to bleed.

Patterson then spat on a second registered nurse, punched her in the face, knocking her glasses off and reddening her nose, the report said.

A third hospital staffer, the charge nurse, stepped in to try to calm Patterson down. Instead, she got punched in the face, causing her glasses and the lenses to fall out, the report said.

Hospital staffers then put Patterson in bed restraints to prevent further injury to herself or others.

While in the emergency room, she was yelling and screaming and continuously spitting on the floor, the report said. At one point, she vomited.

At around 3:30 a.m., a doctor medically cleared Patterson and she was arrested around 4 a.m. on three counts of felony battery on medical personnel and taken to the Hernando Country Jail on $15,000 bond.