workplace injury

[Canada eh]

I work in a very busy cardiovascular lab in a tertiary care hospital. We do approximately 5000 angiograms/angioplasties a year.I have worked there for 9 years and after wearing 15 lb.lead aprons for 5 days a week- average 5 hours/day plus on-call additional hours I find myself off work on sick leave for muscle injuries to my neck and shoulders. W.C.B does accept this injury is directly related to my work area.The problem is my managemant group do not have any concern for my problem.They seem to feel this is not a wide spread problem as there seems to be little documentation of other hospitals having the same problem. I am wondering if there are other nurses out there who have this injury or know of others who do and what your management have done to change the ergonomics of the work environment to improve the health of their staff.

[Larry]

Of course your hospital doesn't want litigation, who does ? Back problems are a norm, and I speak from experience. Get your union involved and read carefully the terms of your contract.

Some websites for you to gather info

http://www.soon.org.uk/problems/disability.htm

http://www.rcn.org.uk/rcn_extranet/personal_support/rcn_nurseline/rcn_work_injured_nurses_group.php3