As a nurse, you know of the potential you have for injuring yourself as you care for others. Whether you work in a hospital, nursing home, medical office, or homecare setting, your duties expose you to hazards that could lead to an injury that leaves you unable to work as you recover.
According to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), hospital workers are more likely to miss work due to injury than workers in the construction or manufacturing industries.
Ohio workers’ comp attorney Jim Monast has helped nurses at Riverside, Mount Carmel, and Wexner Medical Center apply for the benefits they needed and deserved following a workplace injury.
The Risks You Face Every Day
As you complete your nursing duties each day, you may:
- Lift and move patients. Caring for incapacitated patients requires nurses to lift them as they attend to wounds and personal needs and move them into wheelchairs and onto gurneys, putting themselves at risk for back, hip, and knee injuries.
- Fall. Wet floors, electrical cords, and medical equipment creating slipping and tripping hazards for nurses in hospital rooms and clinics.
- Come into contact with dangerous substances. Exposure to bodily fluids of infected patients and sharp needles place nurses at risk of contracting infectious diseases or being exposed to toxic substances.
- Be assaulted by patients or visitors. Patients suffering from dementia or the side effects of medications may become violent and attack their caregivers. Nurses are frequently the victims of assault.
Because of these hazards, you may suffer from serious injuries including, but not limited to, sprains, strains, broken bones, infections, and open wounds. These injuries and illnesses will require medical treatment and time away from work. Because the incident that caused the injury occurred at work, you should receive workers’ comp benefits to cover your losses.
How to Protect Your Workers' Compensation Benefits
The Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation or your self-insured employer may look for any excuse to deny your workers’ comp claim and assume that you will back down and accept whatever decision they make. You have too much at stake to do this.
If you are a nurse injured while performing job duties, you should have treatment and benefits under Ohio workers’ compensation law. Attorney Jim Monast will help you get the benefits to which you are entitled. At Monast Law, we will take a personal interest in your case as we advise you of your rights and make sure you are treated fairly.
You can learn about workers’ compensation benefits right now by reading a free copy of our book, The Worker’s Guide to Injury Compensation in Ohio, or contacting us via this website or by phone for an initial consultation.
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