Nurses, doctors, orderlies and other healthcare workers are trained to assist patients when they are sick or injured. However, there are many times when those who are tasked with helping others get hurt on the job themselves.
Just like other employees, healthcare workers can slip and fall or strain their backs while lifting a patient.
In Pennsylvania, these injuries are covered under workers’ compensation laws.
Throughout the United States, almost 60,000 healthcare workers suffered injuries in 2011 that were serious enough to cause them to miss work. Sprains and strains account for 54 percent of the injuries that occur in healthcare facilities as well as the largest share of workers’ comp claims in the country.
Other injuries suffered by healthcare workers included musculoskeletal injuries, cuts, punctures, multiple trauma, fractures, bruises and other injuries.
Pennsylvania hospitals reports similar statistics throughout the state as that reported around the country. The University of Pittsburgh Medical Center reported a rate of 6.5 per every 100 workers while the company that owns Westmoreland Hospital reported a rate of 2.8 per 100 workers in 2010.
Many of the injuries in healthcare settings are caused when a healthcare worker lifts or moves patients. Injuries also occur when employees slip, trip or fall due to water or other substances on floors of nursing homes, hospitals or other types of health facilities. Punctures from needles can lead a healthcare worker to contract blood-borne pathogens. There have also been reports of medical machinery malfunctioning and causing injury to employees in healthcare settings.
Healthcare workers have also been injured by patients, both accidentally and when a patient is suffering from something that causes them to assault nurses or doctors. This is common among patients suffering from drug abuse or in traumatic vehicle accidents.
One Philadelphia nurse reported in a 2011 article that assaults on Emergency Room attendants was rising in the city, mostly due to increases in drug abuse in the city.
Injured While Working in a Pennsylvania Health Care Facility?
If you have been injured while working in a Pennsylvania Health Care Facility, you are entitled to workers’ compensation based on Pennsylvania law. However, you may also be entitled to additional compensation.
Contact Lundy Law to begin the process of filing for workers’ comp and to discuss whether you may be eligible for additional compensation. You can complete the free consultation form on our website or give us a call at 1-800-Lundy Law. We will guide you through the process and help you get the compensation you deserve for the injuries you have suffered in a healthcare facility in Philadelphia or other areas in the state.