Workers’ Compensation for Healthcare Providers
Help With Workers' Compensation Claims for healthcare providers and other healthcare workers
Healthcare providers and workers hurt on the job needing help with workers' compensation
If you are a healthcare worker who was injured on the job or contracted an illness while working, don’t be afraid to pursue a claim for workers’ compensation. Healthcare workers on the frontline risk their own health and safety for the sake of helping others. When those healthcare workers get injured on the job, they deserve full compensation, medical treatment, and support while they recover from their injuries. Healthcare workers who are most often hurt on the job include:
- Custodial
- Transportation
- Orderlies
- Cooks and Cafeteria Staff
- Nurses
- Physical therapists
- Home Healthcare Workers
- Surgical Techs
- Patient Care Techs
- CNAs
- LPNs
- RNs
- APRNs
- Physician Assistants (PAs)
- Chiropractors
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5 areas of risk for healthcare workers and providers
Many serious injuries can happen to those who have dedicated their lives to helping others. They include:
- Lifting or Moving Patients. Healthcare workers often injure their backs, necks, and shoulders when transferring patients from beds to chairs, wheelchairs, or taking patients to the bathroom. What’s more, healthcare workers are often in situations when the hospital or healthcare facility is understaffed, so they end up working alone to move these patients, increasing the risk of injury.
- Slip and Fall and/or Trip and Fall. Healthcare workers can trip over equipment, cords, or furniture in the patient’s rooms. Healthcare workers also can slip on water and other fluids spilled in their working area, including bodily fluids and become injured. A slip and fall or trip and fall may seem minor, but they can cause serious and sometimes permanent damage.
- Combative Patients. Healthcare workers working with dementia patients and mentally ill patients are often hit or kicked.
- Needle Sticks. Healthcare workers can fall ill or become traumatized by accidental needle sticks while treating patients.
- Exposure-Related Illnesses and Injuries. Healthcare workers can become sick or injured from exposure-related injuries and illnesses, including COVID-19, chemicals, and bodily fluids.
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Seeking workers' compensation for healthcare providers
Healthcare workers seeking workers' compensation
If you are a healthcare worker who was hurt doing your job, you may be entitled to workers’ compensation benefits. In most cases, workers’ compensation covers:
- Medical treatment, which includes doctor or hospital visits, diagnostic testing, surgery, medication, medical devices and prosthetics, therapies, and other costs incurred.
- Lost wages and compensation for permanent injuries.
- Death benefits, which include some funeral expenses and a percentage of weekly compensation to surviving dependents
Workers’ compensation benefits are separate benefits that you are entitled to receive because you were injured at work. Even if you are no longer working at the hospital or healthcare facility, you may be entitled to benefits. Workers’ compensation should not be confused with unemployment compensation, Social Security disability benefits, health and accident insurance, or other disability benefit plans provided by your employer. You may face challenges to getting paid for your work comp claim. However, an experienced workers’ compensation lawyer by your side can help you navigate the process and advocate for your rights.
There are specific guidelines to determine if an injury is compensable as well as procedures an injured employee must follow. The insurance companies know these rules and may try to trick you – the injured employee – into making critical errors in your case. In addition, if an employer has workers’ comp insurance, it typically means that you, the injured employee, can’t get any other compensation from the employer except those benefits allowed under workers’ compensation law.
The experienced workers’ compensation lawyers at Watson & Carroll P.C., L.L.O., will stop at nothing to secure your right to benefits so you can pay bills, support your family, and recover from your injury. That way, you can focus on healing, resting, and getting back to work.
Our founder is a licensed registered nurse and attorney who worked in the healthcare industry for more than 20 years, starting as a medic in the United States Air Force. He is intimately familiar with the types of injuries that can happen to healthcare workers who are helping others heal.
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Frequently Asked Questions About Nebraska Workers' Comp
Does it matter if I caused my own workplace accident?
No. Workers’ Compensation guarantees you benefits, even if you caused the accident and your injuries. Your accident should be covered unless you were willfully negligent, which means you intentionally caused the accident or were intoxicated at the time.
Can I get workers’ compensation and file a personal injury claim against my employer?
Not usually. When you file a claim for workers’ compensation benefits, you give up your legal right to sue your employer for a personal injury claim.
Do I have to tell my employer about my on-the-job accident?
Yes – and do it immediately. You must tell your employer about your workplace accident as soon as possible after it occurs. If you don’t, the insurance company could question the validity of your claim. You could also lose your right to Workers’ Compensation benefits entirely if you wait too long to tell your employer what happened.
How much of my original wages will I earn in workers’ comp benefits?
Temporary total disability benefits are set at two-thirds of wages earned in an average week. This amount is capped, though, so you might earn less than that percentage depending on how high your wages are. For any questions about your weekly benefit, contact us today.
Can we add something like calculating the temporary total disability benefit is one of the most important calculations in your case as well as potentially the most difficult. I’m fine with the other things stated here but did want accent the difficulty level.
Do I have to see my employer’s doctor after my accident?
No. Nebraska law allows your family doctor or an immediate family member’s doctor to treat you as long as he or she treated you or your immediate family member before the accident happened.
Do I get paid money for pain and suffering?
No. Nebraska law does not allow payment for pain and suffering in Workers’ Compensation cases.
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AREAS OF PRACTICE
Workers' Compensation
Being injured on the job is often the fault of an unsafe work environment. Do not be a victim any more than you already have been. Seek justice.
Slip and Fall Accidents
If an unsafe environment has caused you or a loved one to slip and fall, seek the legal support you need to obtain the personal support you deserve.
Personal Injury
Accidents can leave a devastating, lasting effect on both your physical and emotional well-being.
You don’t need to fight alone. We have a solution.
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