Is The Nurse based on a true story?

Not to be confused with The Good Nurse, this new series does bear similar medical thriller themes but tells the story of a Danish nurse who is convicted of four counts of attempted manslaughter.

In the new four-parter, we follow Pernille Kurzmann in the first days of her new job as a nurse. She soon befriends the very charming nurse Christina Aistrup Hansen who seems to be charismatic, confident and well-loved – but Pernille quickly notices that there's more to Christina than meets the eye.

It soon unfolds into a murder case that's unlike anything ever seen before in Danish legal history, but is The Nurse based on a true story? Read on for everything you need to know.

Is The Nurse based on a true story?

While the chilling events at the centre of this new Netflix series may seem fictional, The Nurse is indeed based on a true story which turned into a never-before-seen murder case in Denmark.

Recorded in book The Nurse: The True Story Behind One of Scandinavia's Most Notorious Criminal Trials by Danish journalist Kristian Corfixen, the series, directed by Kasper Barfoed, follows the true story of Danish nurse Christina Aistrup Hansen, which saw her receive a 12 year sentence for four counts of attempted manslaughter in May 2017.

She was found guilty of giving sick and weak patients lethal doses of diazepam and morphine, and the court also found her guilty of giving her seven-year-old daughter strong sleeping medicine that can be fatal for children.

The case, which lasted for almost one month and involved more than 70 witnesses, also saw Hansen lose her licence to practise as a nurse.

In the trial, through forensic psychological evaluation, it was found that Hansen suffered from histrionic personality disorder, which is characterised by excessive attention-seeking.

Speaking about how the real story intrigued him in an interview with Netflix, director Barfoed said: "What really most of all interested me [was], 'How could this take place over such a long time — when, after the whole thing was revealed, a lot of people seemed to have known about it or suspected it?'

"That became the key we always went back to. It’s not about just a 'crazy' killer — it’s about, 'How does the system prevent us from speaking up or how does the system protect itself?'"

The Nurse centres on the true events as they unfolded from March 2015 when early one morning, Danish police received a call from a nurse at Nykøbing Falster Hospital.

The nurse in question, Pernille Kurzmann (played in the series by Fanny Louise Bernth), suspects her close colleague Hansen (played by Josephine Park) of deliberately killing patients and fears that it has just happened again. Soon a murder case unfolds like never seen before in Danish legal history.

In the drama, Hansen was one of the most beloved nurses in the small hospital in Denmark. As for Kurzmann, she is fresh out of medical school and is confronted with an already close-knit team. So, upon meeting Hansen, Kurzmann is pleased to make friends with one of the most successful healthcare professionals in the hospital.

But she soon notices that when on night shifts with Hansen, drama would always unfold in the most traumatic of ways. Soon, several co-workers tell the police that they also suspect Hansen has poisoned patients, and some even admit they've been harbouring suspicions for several years.

The Nurse explores why Hansen's crimes were able to take place despite other people's concerns. Director Barfoed said: "There’s a trust [among Danes] more so than in the rest of the world. We’re inclined to trust that the system wants the best for us. We’re vulnerable when things like this happen. Nobody wants to be the one to ruin the good mood."

Speaking about his motivations for bringing the case to the screen, he continued: "[Making the series] became a lot about trying to be loyal to Pernille and the situation she was in. We wanted the audience to be able to feel how difficult this is. It’s not just pushing a button and then you’re a whistleblower."

The Nurse is now available to stream on Netflix. Sign up for Netflix from £4.99 a month. Netflix is also available on Sky Glass and Virgin Media Stream.

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