Many health care professionals suffer injures at work due to injuries they receive working with patients. A typical Virginia work injury case involves a nurse who wrenches her/his back while lifting a patient who is not mobile or heavy. In many ways, this type of injury is akin to a construction worker who might be injured carrying heavy loads.
This blog will review the various types of injuries nurses can suffer and some of the unique worker’s compensation issues that nurses have to deal with. Nurses include those who work in a hospital, in a nursing care facility, ambulatory surgery center, mental health facility, clinic, doctor’s office, and those who provide in-home services. Nurses or Certified Nursing Assistants (CNA’s) who suffer occupational illnesses due to work are also entitled to benefits. This means they are entitled to 2/3rds of their lost wages while they are unable to work for up to 500 weeks, plus payment of all medical bills related to the work injuries, for life. They may also be entitled to vocational re-training benefits if their injury or illness necessitates that they obtain new job skills.
In many hospitals, personal assistants, technicians, and other staff members may also have to physically handle a patient. We see these injuries frequently. In our experience, they happen most often during the transitioning of a patient to or from a shower, bed, or wheelchair. It can also happen, for instance, where a nurse needs to restrain a patient who has gotten out of control in a mental facility. These workers should be able to claim Virginia workers’ compensation benefits. But these injuries can also occur as in other industries—slipping on ice or water, falling down a flight of stairs while carrying equipment, etc. Statistically, nurses suffer as many work injury problems as almost any other industry including construction work.
Nursing Injuries and Illnesses
Some of the more common types of injuries and illnesses nurses suffer are:
- Exposure to illnesses. Nurses, like all health care professionals, run the risk of exposure to the illnesses, diseases, and infections that their patients have. Some of the illnesses than can impact a nurse are MRSA, c-Diff which can damage one’s colon, and other illnesses. While the nurse does not have to prove fault on the part of the hospital or care facility, the nurse does need to be able to show that the illness was work-related. Normally, the law offices of Joe Miller reviews the work assignments of the nurse and compares that against the types of patients she/he worked with – and the known illnesses of the patients. Often, we argue that there is no reason to believe the exposure could have happened anywhere else. Click here for an article on Occupational Disease in Virginia.
- Back, shoulder and neck injuries. Most nurses suffer some physical discomfort at work because they constantly have to move, lift, position, or even carry a patient. These stresses can cause injuries to the back, neck, spine, fingers, legs, and other parts of the body. Nurses can also suffer muscle and ligament damage, herniated discs, sprains and strains, and other injuries. In order to qualify for a case, though, there must be a specific moment in time where some kind of ‘pop’, or sudden extreme pain was felt during a work activity such as lifting a patient. Without an “accident,” a sudden event at a specific point in time—there is no case.
There really is not a safe way to lift a patient without the new lifting rigs that are starting to appear more and more at facilities. To put patient work in perspective, most male workers who do industry or construction work are judged by their ability to lift or move 25 pounds or 50 pounds. In contrast, many hospital patients weigh 200 pounds. And lifting a patient is more dangerous because if a load of wood or inventory drops, the damage wood or inventory can be fixed or replaced. Patients are human beings who should be treated with extreme care – especially sick ones who can’t fend for themselves. Most nurses are women who are lighter and less strong than men.
Hospitals and nursing facilities should take more steps to help their nurses and staff manage patient and also the equipment which they often have to push around from room to room. As mentioned, there are now mechanical devices that can help nurses do the lifting. There are methods to make the shift from a bed to gurney easier. Multiple nurses should assist with difficult patients. Nurses should be taught the proper techniques for lifting and carrying.
Of course, we know that many facilities try to get by with less, whether it means less personnel or less equipment.
Unique Issues
The key in worker’s compensation cases is to be able to prove that a specific accident or incident caused the injury as opposed to daily performance of the job. An experienced workers’ compensation understands what activity qualifies as a workplace accident and when repetitive injuries may qualify for compensation. Do not assume you do not have a case if you suffer from carpal tunnel syndrome or from an injury that occurred over time. You may be able to argue, for example, that while these injuries were repetitive there was still one day, one incident, that uniquely pushed your ability to work to an inability to work status.
Another difference is that nurses often cannot return to a light duty position. There is no job, for example, that says the nurse will lift only patients who weigh less than 50 pounds. Nurses often cannot return to a desk job. Their job is to treat patients. If they can’t physically handle their patients, then they need to seek a new career.
Nursing is also unique because of the human component. Even if a nurse can get help moving or lifting a patient, nurses need to be healthy. If they’re not completely focused, they may give a patient the wrong medication, may fail to take a necessary medical test, or may not make the right decision to call for a doctor when needed.
Speak with an Experienced North Carolina Workers’ Compensation Attorney today
Nurses and Certified Nursing Assistants should understand that filing workers’ compensation complaints in Virginia is perfectly legitimate. Joe Miller has represented numerous nurses and CNA’s and obtained thousands of dollars in compensation for them. In our experience, the larger healthcare organizations are not pinching pennies as much as other industries. Why? Because they are making a tremendous amount of money. And so oftentimes, the settlements for nurses and other healthcare workers can be higher than in other industries such as construction.
You should not worry about being fired or reprimanded for filing a legitimate claim if you are unable to work. That would be illegal. The best course of action is to speak with an attorney who knows workers compensation in either Virginia or North Carolina to fully understand your rights and to assert them if you are hurt. If you are a health care provider suffering from a work-related illness or you are in physical pain, please call Joe Miller at (888) 694-1671 or fill out my online contact form. You may be entitled to a significant recovery.
