Nurse Injuries And Workers’ Compensation

Nursing is not often viewed as a dangerous occupation, until you’re a nurse. Workers’ compensation lawyers for cases involving nurse injuries need to be experienced and vigorous to handle these cases properly.

Around 5% of work injuries every year happen to nurses. If you are a nurse and have been injured at work you might not be able to work for a long period of time or ever again depending on how severe the injury is. If this has happened to you, you need to speak to a workers’ compensation lawyer as soon as you can.

While you may feel that the staff and management at your job care about you, a workers’ compensation claim goes to their insurance company who certainly is not looking out for you like your coworkers might. They will try to handle your claim in the cheapest way possible.

Nurse Injuries are often caused by:

• Lifting heavy items
• Lifting people
• Injuries caused by patients
• Repetitive movement injuries
• Slip and fall
• Illness
• Needle Injuries
• Mental problems that can arise from the stress that takes place on the job as a nurse

Lifting Injuries

Since nurses are frequently required to move patients and objects at work, there is always the chance that they can injure themselves in doing so. Strains and muscle tears can happen in any part of the body from heavy lifting, especially since lifting a person often requires awkward angles that are not best for lifting such a large amount of weight. This can cause unnatural strain on different areas of the body that lead to injury.

A high majority of lifting injuries in nursing are back injuries. Herniated disks, strains, sprains and muscle tears are all common for nurses, and the CDC reports that female nurses have the highest amount of these injuries in any profession.

Slip and Fall Injuries

Liquid of all types can end up on the floor in hospitals causing people to slip. Object can get in the way, and in the fast paced work that takes place for nurses it is very common for someone to trip, or slip and fall.

While sometimes nurses are fine after a fall, many injuries occur to nurses because of falling at work. Foot, ankle and knee injuries especially are common in these cases. If a nurse breaks a bone, or tears a ligament or muscle they can end up being out of work for long periods of time.

Stuck by a Needle

Over half of nurses said they have been stuck by a needle while working according to the American Nursing Association. While the damage caused by a needle is usually minimal, infections and diseases can be spread through needles if they have already been used.

These cases can be complicated and a nurse who has become infected will need an experienced workers compensation attorney to fight for them.

Mental Difficulties

A nurse’s job is very stressful. Peoples’ lives are literally in your hands on a daily basis. It can be an emotional rollercoaster to bond with people while you care for them and have to bear the pain of losing them. Pair this with the long hours, messy sleep schedule and other areas of life that nurses need to deal with and it is clear to see that mental and emotional difficulties are not going to be uncommon for nurses.

Headaches, migraines, anxiety, depression and trouble sleeping are only some of the mental difficulties we see in nursing cases. If these conditions become so severe that you can no longer work, you will need someone to fight for you.

Injured Nurses Can get a Free Case Review and Consultation

If any of these injuries or illnesses have happened to you while working as a nurse, give us a call. We will review your case for free and tell you how we can help.