Workers’ Compensation for Nurses
Silverman, McDonald & Friedman offers comprehensive counsel to injured nurses throughout Delaware. Our workers’ compensational lawyers in Seaford, Newark and Wilmington help healthcare workers get the compensation they need, when they need it the most. Contact us today to learn more, or to schedule you free consultation.
Statistics from the Occupational Safety Health Administration confirm that hospitals are extremely dangerous places to work. In 2011, over a quarter-million hospital workers were injured or suffered an illness. These numbers translate to 6.8 injuries for every 100 full-time workers. Nurses take the brunt of most of these hospital injuries. Nurses are also injured in urgent care centers, while providing home healthcare, at assisted living facilities, at the physician’s officer, and ambulatory surgery centers. Nurses can file a workers’ compensation claim if they are injured at work or if they suffer an occupational illness.
Common causes of injuries to nurses
- Infectious diseases. Drops of blood and needle pricks can transmit diseases to nurses. Many nurses become ill just breathing the same air as their patients. Hepatitis B and HIV are just some of the diseases nurses may develop because of exposure.
- Dangerous chemicals. While sterilizing equipment, nurses often use chemicals that can endanger their health and life. Examples of dangerous chemicals include the disinfectant formaldehyde, ethylene oxide, and glutaraldehyde.
- Dangerous drugs. Nurses handle drugs for a variety of illnesses such as cancer and viruses. Exposure to the drugs can cause the nurse to contract illnesses themselves.
- Anesthetic gases including desflurane and nitrous oxide. Many patients need anesthesia to endure the pain of surgery. The gases, even when precautions are taken, can seep into the lungs of any healthcare workers.
- X-Rays are a common diagnostic test. Unfortunately, X-Rays and other imaging tests such as CT scans and MRIs can expose a nurse to harmful radiation. Patients often wear protective gear. Nurses don’t always take similar protective measures.
- Some patients are intentionally violent. Many others have an illness which causes them to lash out and strike people them. Nurses can suffer cuts, bruises, intimidation, and other dangers when patients aren’t on their medications or have a disease that alters their personality.
Other leading causes of nursing care injuries
Nurses and medical assistants can also lose time from work due to:
- Patient care. Nurses who lift, transfer, and move patients can suffer broken bones, strains, sprains, back pain, neck pain, and traumatic brain injuries.
- Slips and falls. Wet floors, cracked tiles, torn carpets, and uneven surfaces, often cause nurses to suffer severe physical and emotional harm.
- Working long hours doing heavy physical work takes its toll. Many nurses get injured because they lift more than they should, or exert themselves when they’re tired or covering extra shifts because of understaffing.
If you are nurse who has sustained an injury during the course of your duties, you may be entitled to workers’ compensation benefits. Silverman, McDonald & Friedman wants to help you get the compensation you need, so you recover from your injuries and get back to living your life. Please call 302-888-2900 or fill out our contact form to meet with a workers’ compensation lawyer in Newark, Seaford, or Wilmington today.
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Attorney Jeffrey S. Friedman joined Silverman, McDonald & Friedman in 2001. He graduated from Widener University School of Law, and is admitted to practice law in Delaware and Pennsylvania, and in several Federal Circuit courts. He areas of concentration include auto accident and workers’ compensation cases. Read more about Attorney Friedman here.