Who is Christina Aistrup Hansen and what did she do? Details explored ahead of The Nurse premiere on Netflix

The Nurse is a brand new and intensely woven Danish suspense thriller series that is all set to make its debut exclusively on Netflix this Thursday, April 27, 2023, at 3:01 am Eastern Time (ET). Kasper Barfoed has acted as the creator of the series, which is based on the bone-chilling real-life story of a former Danish nurse named Christina Aistrup Hansen.

The official synopsis for The Nurse, given by Netflix, reads:

"Pernille Kurzmann Larsen, a fresh-faced nurse at a hospital, begins to question the attention-seeking tendencies of her colleague, Christina Aistrup Hansen. As Pernille delves deeper into her suspicions, she starts to believe that Christina's behavior may be linked to a series of patient deaths. From the producers of 'The Chestnut Man' comes this retelling of an unsettling story based on true events.''

The cast members of Netflix's upcoming series, The Nurse, include Fanny Louise Bernth as Pernille Kurzmann Larsen, Josephine Park as Christina Aistrup Hansen, Selma Kjær Kuscu as Alberte, Peter Zandersen as Niels Lundén, Amalie Lindegård as Katja and Stephanie Nguyen as Diana, among others.

Ever since the official trailer for The Nurse was released by the streaming platform, the audience has been curious to learn all about the real-life nurse, Christina Aistrup Hansen, who is the main subject of the Netflix series.

Christina Aistrup Hansen was arrested and convicted of murder and attempted manslaughter in 2016, at the Nykøbing Falster Hospital.

Learn all about Christina Aistrup Hansen before The Nurse arrives on Netflix

The Nurse is based on Christina Aistrup, who gave her sick patients lethal doses of diazepam and morphine

Christina Aistrup Hansen was one of the top-ranking nurses at the Nykøbing Falster Hospital in Denmark. She was reportedly well-respected at the hospital as a skilled and highly experienced nurse. However, it seemed that during her working hours at night, everything would spiral into absolute mayhem.

Whenever she was on the night shift, many of the patients at the hospital almost died, although somehow, Hansen would always heroically nurse them back to health. She reportedly became an inspiration to other junior nurses at the hospital and was admired by several of her co-workers and colleagues.

However, the dark truth about Hansen began to unravel when she became close friends with a new nurse at the hospital named Pernille Kurzman. Initially, like everyone else at the hospital, Kurzman saw Hansen as a heroic nurse, but, soon after, she started to feel that something was extremely wrong with her.

With the help of Pernille Kurzman, the Danish authorities were able to discover that Hansen gave her weak and sick patients lethal doses of diazepam and morphine. Later on, it was also revealed that Christina Aistrup Hansen had given her 7-year-old daughter strong sleeping pills that are extremely dangerous for children her age and only suitable for adults.

Christina Aistrup Hansen is serving her sentence in a Danish prison

Reportedly, in June 2016, Hansen was given a life imprisonment sentence by the court for the murder of four patients and one attempted murder, according to Danish Penal Code, section 237. Additionally, her authorization as a nurse was revoked. The hearing lasted for more than 27 days in the city court, and over 70 witnesses were involved. During the judgment, Hansen reportedly appealed for a declaration of dismissal to the national court.

As per The Scotsman, Hansen was convicted by the Østre Landsret court for three murders in a single jury trial and was found guilty of attempted manslaughter instead in a total of four cases in May 2017. Based on that, the court reduced Hansen's jail time to 12 years.

The main reason behind the new verdict was a significant forensic psychological evaluation that determined and highlighted that the convicted nurse suffered from histrionic personality disorder. This disorder was identified as the prime reason behind the murders committed by Hansen.

The prosecutor in the infamous case, Michael Boelsen, said in a statement in court:

"The defendant has arranged themselves as the main role character in a bizarre play where the patients are her extras....she [Hansen] has used her professional insight in a deeply perverted way, which was driven by her histrionic personality disorder."

Christina Aistrup Hansen is currently serving her sentence in a Danish prison.

Don't forget to watch The Nurse, which will arrive on Thursday, April 27, 2023, at 3:01 am ET, on Netflix.