I need advice.I am a RN,I was going to help my care partner out and ambulate a pt,I let him sit up for 2 minutes, and then he stood up..I noticed he wasnt walking I looked up at his face and saw he was going to pass out on me.I didnt have time to move ..he collapsed forward atop my shoulders , with his head landing in the center of my back.I yelled out for help,as help was arriving I felt my lower back pop and I fell/collapsed to the floor with the guy slamming down on my neck and spine a second time.The charge nurse did not give me the option of going to the er and getting checked out..(it was fri am at our hospital and it was the end of my 7p-7a shift)...I didnt know where to go!I filled out an injury report like 3 min after it happened.I didnt know where to go to get checked out.I came back in the next night and told the charge nurse that my neck and back were still hurting...still i did not get told I could go get checked out.Meanwhile I am eating motrin for pain.I come back in sunday night and my neck/back is sooo swollen and painful that I have to leave in the midst of the shift because I am vomiting from severe pain and irritation.Monday...i finally get an open office that directs me to occ health.....and I show up there and get told basically to go back to work....then the swelling gets even worse and I now look like the hunchback of notre dome....I show back up a couple more times at occ health and they reluctantly do an x ray....they call and tell me its fine...but i demand to see an ortho doc.now its 2 weeks after the injury....he looks at the xray and says it bent my c spine and an mri shows 2 large herniated protruding cervical discs.I am in severe pain still.Now work comp is making me use all my sick time and vacation hours while their own dr has me off work for a work injury.I am going to physcialk therapy 3 xs a week and its 5 weeks later.the swelling is still there.i still cant move my left arm good(moderate tendinopathy diagnosed also of rotar cuff muscles).what should I do?work comp will not tell me if they are going to pay me or not while I am off.......and who knows how long that'll be?any advice? :o :o :o

I used to work in a workman's comp insurance agency. Whatever you do, if they offer a cash settlement DO NOT sign a waiver saying that they are not liable for any future payments.

Most of our clients had lawyers. Honestly, I hate to say to do this because being on the other side, I saw a lot of fraud perpetrated. But your claim is legitimate, so find yourself a lawyer.

Ditto above - you might think you cannot afford one now but it is essential and if you are in a union - see them too.

"The charge nurse did not give me the option of going to the er and getting checked out.."

You don't need no one's stinkin' permission to go to the ER. Ever!

With that said, your facility has written policies and procedures re workers comp, as does your state government (every state has its own rules and runs WC its own way). Obtain copies of the relevant sections for yourself. Make your requests by registered mail, return receipt requested, if you can't copy them directly at the facility or at your local library.

Make detailed and up-to-date notes of dates, times, events of everything related to this injury and the follow up, or lack thereof, on the part of your facility, OC, WC, etc.

In addition, you might check your telephone yellow pages for attorneys specializing in this field--there are doubtless many of them--for a free consultation (and take your med records with you). Keep copies for yourself of ALL your Xrays, MRIs, med evaluations, and med records that are in any way relevant to this injury, and don't give them away. Give away ONLY copies of them to attorneys, etc. Your medical records department wherever you obtain care is legally obligated to provide these to you for a small copying fee (and maybe 3 days to get them ready).

What does your union have to say about all this?

Be prepared for the possibility, as harsh as this may sound, that your workplace would prefer that you simply disappeared/died and dropped the entire matter. They could care less about what happens to you, both now and in the future, but want to keep their WC rates down. Ditto for the OC and the WC program in your state. They often count on your pain, declining health, decreased ability to get around, etc. to keep you from doing anything about it.

In most cases, you can count on nobody will stick up for you unless you do so yourself AND hire a junkyard dog of an attorney to represent you.

Remember:

It was an injury that occured on the weekend,..no offices were open...and I could not afford a huge er bill..so i waited till monday...but since then my unit manager has spoken with the charge nurse and he did tell her that he did not give me the option of going to the er.

I love my job.I am probably one of the few rn's out there who really enjoyed their job.But now.....I have a bent c spine.I am 33 y/o and walk all bent over like a 90 y/o lady.The good thing is I did have the presence of mind to go on to my PCP......on my own after the work comp dr....and she is the one who ordered the mri,not the work comp dr.after the work comp dr reviewed the mri he immediately took me off work.

so...now I am left wondering......is physcial therapy manipulation good when I have what the radiologist described as huge 2 protruding disks????????also I dont want to get an attorney......but if I have to to get my neck fixed I will......I am worried about secondary arthritis.......GOSH......I am worried about my bills!!!!!I only have like 60 hrs of vacation and sick time ......and I am sure that is almost used up.What happens then?Is work comp mandated to pay while I am off????I am worried!!!!

"also I dont want to get an attorney......but if I have to to get my neck fixed I will......"

Few people WANT to hire attorneys. People who wish to have their interests protected in cases like this, do so regardless.

sjoe gave you great advice,get an attorny STAT!

You should not have yo use your vacation and personal funds to pay for this!

Run,don't walk to an attorney that specializes in workmans comp issues.

Originally posted by TNNURSE

I need advice.

There are workers' comp lawyers that don't get paid unless YOU do. I would say, find one quick! The hospital messed up BADLY by making you go back to work and not referring you to the ER or occupational health immediately.

GO!

It has been my experience that workers comp is not your friend. Sure, they take money to take care of you should you become injured, but that doesn't mean they want to give it to you. They have a way of prolonging hearings (while you are penniless) that makes you want to give up and forget about them. Listen to your friends here and get an attorney that specializes in workers comp. I think you will find nothing will get done until you have an attorney.

Get a lawyer and go to your own doc in addition to whoever they make you go to. Their doc is rewarded for lessening costs, while your doc has you best interests in mind.

You got injured on a Friday morning, correct?Were all the emergency rooms closed? How about Urgent Care centers-do you have them? I feel your first mistake was not to seek care. Let's face it, if this happened to a friend of yours, what would you tell her? Then when you were VOMITING from pain??? You did not seek care? And you went back to work through all of this? Why did you wait for permission to seek care? I don't mean to come across badly, but, why did you not just refuse to continue to work-they knew what happened?

We need to take care of ourselves first...No position is worth what you have been through. I would agree with the others-get a lawyer. But from a non nursing perspective-I think you will be asked the obvious-why did you not seek care if it hurt that much, and CONTINUED to work even when the injury was getting worse? Also as a nurse-the permission thing bothers me. Who is going to make your medical decisions if not you. Why give that charge nurse the power. Now the only person who is hurting is you-the charge nurse could probably care less. Good luck-I hope you can get them on some sort of negligence for not suggesting you get care and take care of yourself.

With the situation you describe and them making you use your own vac time and sick leave for an OTJ injury, makes me think that no one there knows the law.

Sounds like your employers do not have injury policies in place or if they do, no one knows them.

When I read this thread, my first instinct was get a lawyer, stat!

One that specializes in OTJ injuries and workman's comp.

Keep copies of all paperwork involved, and document what was said, when and by whom.

If your employer gets upset, remember, there are lots of jobs out there, but you have only one back.

I'm speaking from experience as a nurse in pain 24/7 from OTJ back injuries.

Wishing you comfort and healing.

You got some great advice already ~ just wanted to wish you a speedy recovery.

:)