Workers’ compensation insurance exists to help injured workers pay for medical bills and missed work.
The same concept applies to those workers that treat the injured, including nurses, doctors and other health care professionals.
Common injuries to health care professionals
Providing medical care often requires long hours in sometimes hazardous conditions. As a result, some common injuries that health care professionals face include:
- Exposure to harmful substances. This is especially common in hospitals, where hazardous waste and infectious diseases are more common.
- Violent behavior. Confused or irate patients can turn their anger and aggression on health care workers, resulting in physical violence.
- Health care workers face evolving work circumstances daily, and long hours of consistent physical exertion can lead to an array of injuries.
Additionally, slip and fall accidents can happen anywhere in a medical setting, particularly in hospital emergency departments.
Protect your right to workers’ compensation
If you suffer an injury on the job as a health care worker, there are a few steps you can take to protect your right to compensation:
- Notify your employer of your injury right away and put it in writing.
- Ask for your employer’s list of physicians approved to handle work injuries.
- See a doctor as soon as possible.
- Seek legal assistance if you have any trouble with the process of filing for workers’ comp or face any pushback from the company or insurer.
Health care work is naturally dangerous, and employers in the industry are responsible for providing workers’ compensation insurance to handle the financial repercussions of a work injury.