Nurisng Injuries and Workers Compensation? Please need advice!!

woody62, RN · Jul 3, 2008

I was working as a CNA in Assisted living and hurt my back. Probably just muscle strain because the psin is under control for the most part. Too prescription NSAIDS and for 3 wks and it's pain almost gone-just intermittent at times.
Had to lift 170-250 immobile pts wiht one assistant!!!! crazy. So much unethical illegal practices goin on in that place. Are they allowed to call themselves assisted living with so many wheel chair bound residents. Only 3/15 could rise out of chair with little help!!
They cut my hours to nothing but didn't fire me. treated me soooo rudely all of a sudden. insulting accustations, hostility.
Filed injury report and workers comp claim.
Don't trust lawyers, they just want you to rack up a bill right away with MRI, PT, orthoped when my doctor wanted me to see if meds work first, to see if its just muscle strain.
employers insurance agent filed supeona for medical records. I filed refusal to provide.
What am i obligated to give the insurer? The relevenat medical bills from my doctor? One lawyer told me don't talk to the adjuster. She tried to get me to have a recorded interview-watch out for that. You're not obligated to do that.
Thanks

What you are obligated to do is what your state laws concerning WC injuries hold. If you make a claim to WC, in most states, your medical records regarding your injury must be provided to the insurance company. I do not know what state you were injured in, but I doubt you will be successful in withholding your work related medical records. I live in Florida and suffer a WC injury in 1988. I filed a claim and had to speak to the adjuster. My physician had to provide copies of my treatment records, regarding my my injury. I did get an attorney, to whom I am grateful for his representation.

And by the way, I was a major case manager, for a private company, for ten years, dealing with WC injuries. Not even my inside knowledge helped me much.

Woody:twocents:

lpnornot · Jul 4, 2008

Thanks so much.

Yes I do need to give them my medical records pertaining to the injury. My doctor told me so. I just didn't like the idea of them having all of it, too invasive for me. Dr told me to allow records from such and such date only pertaining to back injury. that makes sense.

So I have a hearing in August and will try my best on my own. At the very least I will rack up bills for employer, aggravate them and have it on record for them. Maybe in some way, but prob not, I can make a difference for other caregiveres there.

I feel bad for the ones still there lifting incredible dangerous weights and being intimidated by bosses not to do anything about their pain.

Thanks

I fee

woody62, RN · Jul 5, 2008

Thanks so much.
Yes I do need to give them my medical records pertaining to the injury. My doctor told me so. I just didn't like the idea of them having all of it, too invasive for me. Dr told me to allow records from such and such date only pertaining to back injury. that makes sense.
So I have a hearing in August and will try my best on my own. At the very least I will rack up bills for employer, aggravate them and have it on record for them. Maybe in some way, but prob not, I can make a difference for other caregiveres there.
I feel bad for the ones still there lifting incredible dangerous weights and being intimidated by bosses not to do anything about their pain.
Thanks
I fee

Without knowing which state you live in, I can only tell you what happen to me and my daughter. I was injured under old Florida law, under which rehab was stressed and temporary total disability was kind of unlimited. In October 2003 the law changed. TTD has been severely limited. Rehab is no longer stressed and the push was on to either return the employee to work or terminate him. It is my understanding that a lot of states have turned in this direction.

I suggest getting a lawyer because he can file different motions for you. I was lucky, I knew many of them and who was good. Peter handled my case for seven years, taking my insurance company to court numerous times to get authorization for various on going surgeries and treatments. I obtained SSDI because on my primary job I made a great deal more money then on the one I was injured on. For this reason I was able to collect both SSDI and my WC benefits.

Good luck

Woody:twocents:

NJLaurenRN · Jul 13, 2008

:nurse:if i had to do it all over again i would have never used workman's comp. once you do they hold you by the balls. heres my story. pt 450lb f 1st day p/o B/L total knee replacement getting from a chair bedside to bed. with the help of 2 RN's and a walker she went up then down. 1st day post op knees were on the floor bend all the way back. staples splitting bood...u get the pic. (worst part not even my pt, just being a good coworker and helped ou and go hurt).:madface:so no time to think just react. finally called security males to help. they sent us 3 70yr old men, ended up laying her flat with the hlp of 7 people used a back board and got her to bed that way. ended up hurting my back 1/23/08 its now 7/12/08 and im in just as much pain as day1. went to the employee health for 3 wks, sent to 7 wks of PT no help. left at exactly the same flexion and extension as i started. i am a very fit active 27y female with no med probs or any previous back injuries. ended up going for 2 mri's. dealing with pain and numbess in the back of my left calf and toes. sent to an ortho dr. his plan was a series of 3 fasct joint steriodal injections 2wks apart. usually have relief from 2nd. so i go have the one at an ambulatory surgery center under conscious sedation, 2wks go by andthe day before the 2nd injections i get a call from the ortho office saying i was only approved with workmans comp for this injection only. because it was done at a privately owned surgi center and not the corp that owns my hosp. so now i had to start all over again...see a new dr that noone knows about and go to a hospital an hr away. met him and don't like him, arrogant surgeon. and the worst part is that since the case is still open with workman's comp insurance i have to see whoever they say. i can't evn use my own insurance. the only benefit is i pay for none of my meds, no PT, no co-pays, and got a home TENS unit (useless) for free. i am missing out on so much. it sucks. have been in pain for 6mths. now i am not allowed to lift anything heavier that 10lbs. ***! can't go white water rafting surfing jet skiing.. the whole nine. nothing that will affect my back. THE BIGGEST ADVISE I CAN GIVE TO NEW, FUTUTE, AND SEASONED RN'S. SAVE YOUR BACK.MY MOM'S ALSO A NURSE FOR 30+YRS AND NOW HAS SIATICA AND SPINAL STENOSIS ALL COURTSEY OF THE LOVELY WORLD OF NURSING. Not one to sue but if u do get a lawyer i know NJ state law is u have up to 2yrs from date of injury to do so, or start doing so. your back will go out again, prob not at work, and you will be screwed. i can't evn touch my toes, can only go down to my knees without expierencing pain.....good luck to all and i would like to hear about other nursing injuries////:bowingpur

lpnornot · Jul 16, 2008

I'm so sorry about your situation. That pt should not have been moved by human beings but by standing device. When are the facilities in this country going to protect pateints and nurses from this kind of inhumane patient handling!!!!

We need no-lift policies. If they were in place it would helpl witht the nursing shortage. Because nurses get injured so much I'm switching gears. I wanted to pursue LPN but now I'm studying for lab tech until policies change.

Silverdragon102, BSN · Jul 17, 2008

I does surprise me that the US does not have lifting policies to protect workers backs. In the EU there is and in the UK it is very strict and patients and families are informed on this plus plenty of posters with information

lpnornot · Jul 17, 2008

It's so frustrating .....I love biology so being a lab tech will be interesting in that way but I'll really miss the patient interaction.

What can we do to promote safe pateint handling for caregivers and pateints. i'll have to write the american nurses assoc and NIOSHA to find out.

NJLaurenRN · Jul 18, 2008

silverdragon..., all fellow injured nurses...and some advise for those who aren't injured yet........... :cry:

no, i don't think we have guidelines or at least i don't know about them. there's no signs like you have in your hospital....it would be nice if we did. anyways when you are stuck in an emergency situation, you really don't have time to think, as a nurse you just react. this poor woman was post-op day of a bilateral total knee replacement. it was her first time OOB and when we attempted to put her back to bed( she was in a chair that was directlyu next to her bed) she went up and then down. not sure if u know much about orthopaedics but usually at day post-op day one, their knees only go to 30-45 degrees. now picture this her knee caps were touching the ground. completely "frogged out" behind/underneath her. not to mention she was morbidly obese at 450lbs. staples were popping, blood, etc... (not to mention her foley was wrapped around her leg pulling its way almost out) i think you get the picture. Oh and she had the attitude of like "i don't want to work, you do it for me" (she didn't say that but thats the impression she gave us) lets put it this way it wasn't a pretty picture and like i said in a panic with her knees freshly operated on the day before; blood squirting out, screaming and cying in pain with family right outsife the door; you don't think about body mechanics or saftey, you just react. It comes second nature to a nurse; sometimes we do that to our detrement trying to save/or help our patients and harming ourselves in the process. :nurse: :saint:its not fair but it happens. unfortunately it happened to me. today is july 17th this incident happened on january 23rd (6 mths ago) and i am in as much pain as the week it happened. i'm only 28yrs old 5'1" @ 105lbs,was very active and athletic, and now i'm in chronic pain, waking up in pain and going to sleep in pain; can't even touch my toes. I even bought a new mattress thinking that would help. nope didn't at all. had my 3rd epidural this past monday and have no pain relief. had numbess and tingling in my back of left calf and toes (thats decreased a lot, but the pain is still horrible)..... i guess thats the name of the game. i just want to feel normal again. sucks :madface:

Silverdragon102, BSN · Jul 18, 2008

Sorry to hear this, In the UK I have nursed since 1988 long before nurses backs was protected. Yes there will always be situations that come out of the blue and believe me it has happened to me. 1 case I can remember we had a patient crash in her chair and we had no option but to commence resus on the floor as only 2 of us and she was obese that was the safest option, yes I know it isn't nice but that is what we had to do and once things settled she was returned to the bed. She did recover. Most wards in the UK have lifting equipment so a patient like you described would have been returned to the bed using a hoist.

Sorry that you are in pain and I hope something settles soon for you but I do think it is a shame that US do not invest more in equipment and look after the staff

woody62, RN · Jul 19, 2008

I am sorry but trying to ambulate a 450 pound patient with just two people is, well, stupid. Sorry to be so blunt but there is no way that I would ever attempt to ambulate such a morbidly obese patient. I once assisted, along with seven other people assisting a 550 pound patient to stand along side her bed. Note, there were eight of us. No one can be forced to do anything that places their physical well being in harm's way. No employer can force one to get a patient out of bed, with just one other to assist, who weights 450 pounds. No we do not have written guidelines but I think we have enough calmn sense not to put ourselves in harms way.

By the way, it doesn't take 450 pounds to hurt one's back. I herniated L4-5 assisting a 100 pound, little, old man up in bed. Enough said.

Woody:twocents:

ilmbg · Sep 26, 2008

I am sorry, because I am afraid you may be going down the same road I did- I had a 500# +pt who was mentally challenged, and did not want to get out of bed- even with several of us attempting to get her up.

She threw me against the wall and fx c5-6, damaged l-5, s-1 badly.

Don't let the hospital back you into a corner saying it is 'a no lift facility'. There is no such thing. Hoyer Lifts only go to 350#. A slide board is not big enough, and you would still have to drag that pt across the board. No lift? Bull.

DO find an attorney that is honest/good with Work Comp. As it is illegal to sue an employer who has Work Comp, an attorney is the one who will get you help/financially for you for the rest of your life.

The monetary amount that an attorney takes for getting you on Social Security is minimal- the amount is $5,000.00 at this time. (unless it has gone up a bit). The money comes out of the Social Security back-payments. He will tell you ahead if you qualify.

My attorney goes to court for me several times every few years- Work Comp tries to deny paymentof something- they have tried to back me into a corner- get me so upset that I will either not have testing/treatment/whatever done because they don't want to pay. Attorney calms me down- says not to worry- if the doc ordered it they HAVE to pay. Each time they end up paying - the lawyer loves it! It does not cost me a cent- when he is fighting to make them pay for something WC has a double whammy- they have to pay the bill, and then pay the lawyer also.

If I knew then, what I know now- I would have refused to care/turn/move this pt- if I got fired it would have been better than what I am now.

You deserve to be taken care of. Yes, I HATE con-artists who try to scam Work Comp- but if you are truely hurt they should pay for all related cost- you paid for that insurance every paycheck.

I hope you are doing better than when you posted.......