Ammon News - IRBID (Petra) – Two male nurses were injured on Saturday evening when they were assaulted by a patient’s relative at the Princess Basma Educational Hospital in the city of Irbid, the latest in a recent surge in attacks on medical staff at the Kingdom's public hospitals.

President of the Jordan Nurses and Midwives Council Mohammad Hatamleh condemned the attack which occurred just before the Ramadan fast breaking on Saturday evening.

Hatamleh said the assailant wanted to meet the doctor on duty attending to his sick father, but after a heated argument with two nurses who told him his father had been shifted to the operation theatre, he attacked them.

One of the nurses suffered a fracture in the arm while the other suffered bruises. Both of them filed a complaint with the police that began an investigation before referring the assailant to judicial bodies.

Authorities have pledged a crackdown on anyone indulging in assaults against medical staff in the state-run hospitals which witnessed a spike in such incidents in recent years.