New Orleans Healthcare Worker Injury Lawyer
Nurses, doctors, technicians, and other healthcare workers face a variety of workplace accidents, overuse injuries, and illnesses. As a medical professional, you understand the importance of quickly seeking the best medical care available to diagnose and treat your condition. But receiving workers’ compensation medical benefits or wage replacement while you are out of work is not so simple. Hospitals, nursing homes, and other medical care facilities are employers like all others—they and their insurance carriers are in business to make a profit, and paying out workers’ comp benefits and potentially incurring higher premiums may not be in line with that goal. If you were injured on the job, you need to work with an experienced New Orleans healthcare worker injury lawyer at Lunsford Baskin & Priebe, PLLC.
Benefits and Compensation For New Orleans Healthcare Workers
Workers’ compensation provides full medical care and treatment, up to two-thirds of the injured workers’ average weekly wages in wage replacement, and vocational training. However, if you are injured by a third party, you may be able to file a personal injury claim against that party to recover additional damages, including pain and suffering, full lost wages and earning capacity, emotional distress, and much more.
Common New Orleans Healthcare Worker Injuries
- Slip and Falls—While nurses and other healthcare workers are trained in preventing patients from slip and falls, they are prone to these exact accidents themselves. A slip and fall can occur for any reason—wet floor, fatigue, tripping over an object, etc.—and it is covered under workers’ compensation due to the no-fault coverage aspect of workers’ comp.
- Overuse Injuries—The most common overuse or overexertion injury is to the back, often from lifting or supporting patients as they get out of bed, off the toilet, or off a chair. Other common overuse injuries include tennis elbow, carpal tunnel syndrome, and other forms of tendonitis, tendinopathy, and arthritis.
- Violence From Patients—The most likely way a healthcare worker will suffer a traumatic injury or death is from patient violence. Firearms and other weapons are frequent sources of injury in hospitals. Intoxicated and high patients routinely throw punches, kick, bite, and push healthcare workers. Unruly, violent patient behavior has increased since the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly among patients refusing to wear masks or receive treatment for their various illnesses, particularly when they are diagnosed with COVID.
Healthcare Workplace Illnesses
Healthcare workers are frequently exposed to respiratory and blood-borne illnesses due to contact with the patients they treat. Accidental needle sticks can not only result in physical injury, but the contraction of disease as well. However, proving that you contracted an illness due to workplace exposure can be difficult, and requires the assistance of an experienced workers’ compensation lawyer.
Call a New Orleans Healthcare Worker Injury Lawyer Today
Whether you were injured by a patient, you slipped and fell, or you have been suffering from chronic back pain for months due to your job, our New Orleans healthcare worker injury lawyers at Lunsford Baskin & Priebe, PLLC will help you secure the benefits that you are entitled to. Contact us today at 601-488-3975 to schedule a free consultation.
