The unsung heroes of the medical world are no doubt nurses. These men and women spend their lives doing the hard work of treating and recovering sick or injured patients. What happens then when nurses find themselves in a situation that leaves them sick or injured while on the job?
Workplace injuries among nurses are far too common and can be handled similarly to any workers’ compensation claim. These injuries can include:
- Chemical Exposure: When treating patients nurses may come in contact with harsh chemicals that can cause serious illness or injury. Exposure to these chemicals may result in a workers’ compensation claim.
- Transport of patients: Often nurses are tasked with moving patients from one place to another and in the course of these transports injuries can occur.
- Hostile patients: While patients in hospital care are often in a vulnerable state they may lash out at nurses who are often in an equally vulnerable state. When these patients become violent nurses can be injured.
- Stress and overwork: Being a nurse is far from having a 9-5 job and the long hours can be stressful and lead to being injured on the job.
- Contact with infectious diseases: Nurses are the frontline of defense against hospital associated infections which means that they are often the first to encounter infectious diseases.
Being a nurse can often be a thankless job, but it’s one of the most important roles in a hospital setting, it can also be one of the most dangerous jobs. When a nurse faces illness or injury on the job, it may be considered a workers’ compensation incident. Our certified Connecticut workers’ compensation attorney can help you assess your individual situation.
