Police: Patient beat, badly hurt Valley Stream nurse

A nurse at a Valley Stream hospital was seriously injured after a patient broke apart a wooden chair in his room and assaulted her with one of the legs, Nassau police said Saturday.

Police said Donte Oakes, 23, of Springfield Gardens was a patient at Franklin Hospital Medical Center on Friday. In "an agitated state," he broke apart the chair and beat the nurse about 1:30 p.m., according to a police news release.

She was treated at Franklin's emergency room for "very serious" injuries to her head, face and neck and later taken to the trauma center at North Shore University Hospital in Manhasset, police said in the release. She may lose vision in one eye, a police spokeswoman said.

The nurse, 53, was not identified.

Oakes was charged with first-degree assault and arraigned Saturday.