Oakland Hospital Worker Injury Attorney

Workers' Comp for Hospital Worker Injury & Illness

Doctors, nurses, healthcare specialists, and any other hospital staff member can be subjected to a workplace hazard not seen in many other professions: pervading and dangerous illnesses. Hospital management must be careful to supply all hospital workers with appropriate training and precautionary tools to avoid infection and the spreading of disease. Otherwise, any worker in the hospital – from a surgeon to a clerk to a janitor – is put in unfair risk and may fall ill.

If you work at a hospital and were injured or stricken ill, you should consider filing for workers’ compensation to make up for any time you needed to take off work to recover. Our Oakland hospital workers injury lawyers at Pacific Workers', The Lawyers for Injured Workers are here to make this process easy for you by providing trusted legal counsel and guidance. If you did file a claim but got denied, we are also primed to fight for your rights through an appeal.

Talk to our team today by calling (888) 740-6434 and asking for a free consultation.

Proving Your Illness Came from Your Workplace

Workers’ compensation claims filed due to a workplace injury may sometimes be straightforward when it comes to proving that the injury happened at work, as eyewitnesses or security footage can witness the event clearly. Workplace illnesses that afflict hospital staff members are a different story altogether. Pinpointing where the illness originated can be difficult, especially if an ill worker does not get diagnosed right away.

To help prove that your illness originated from the hospital you work in, consider using:

• Hospital patient records that show illness outbreak
• Your itinerary that shows you worked with or around sick patients
• Your health records to show you did not have this illness before
• Any evidence that indicates a lack of safety standards at the hospital

With the eyes of our Oakland workers’ compensation attorneys on your case, we can put our minds together to try to determine what evidence is useful for your claim in case it is denied or delayed. Our goal is contesting the denial readily and achieving a fast victory so you spend as little time as possible not knowing if you will be compensated for your losses or not.

Common Injuries Healthcare Workers Face in the Workplace

In addition to unusual or persistent illnesses, a hospital worker may be harmed through other means. Strict safety regulations must be maintained at the hospital to protect people from accidents. This is quite important considering that neglect could feasibly also harm a patient at the hospital.

Depending on their role at a medical clinic, a hospital worker could commonly be injured by:

• Fractures: The nature of work in any healthcare setting involves lifting and moving patients and equipment, which sometimes can lead to back injuries and sustained trauma. Healthcare professionals suffer from fractures such as sprains and dislocations, often from lifting and moving patients.
• Infectious Diseases: Healthcare workers often deal with the after-effects of illness or accidents and may be exposed to potentially infectious diseases, including HIV, Hepatitis C, and Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA).
• Violence: While every business has to deal with the occasional angry customer, healthcare workers are almost always at risk of unwanted contact. Caring for people is a noble profession, and healthcare workers are often the first to receive a patient's ire when a medical error is made. The consequences of this contact can range from verbal abuse to actual physical violence.
• Slip and fall accidents: Slip and fall accidents are among the most common injuries suffered by workers in all employment settings. Healthcare workers often work in locations with slippery surfaces or places with a high risk of being bumped into or tripping on debris.
• Repetitive Stress Injuries: Repetitive stress injuries occur when a worker is required to perform an activity or task that causes an injury to a repetitive motion such as lifting, carrying, pushing, pulling, balancing, walking, and standing. Specific medical procedures also create a repetitive motion risk. Healthcare workers may suffer from repetitive motion stress injuries to their wrists, arms, hands, fingers, and shoulders.
• Burns: The nature of some healthcare jobs requires workers to handle sterile materials, operate electrical and mechanical tools, or work with chemicals and hot water. These activities can lead to scalding, electrical shock, or third-degree burns.
• Lacerations from sharp utensils
• Electrocution from frayed wiring

No matter the type of injury and whether or not you are to blame for your accident, you still deserve workers’ compensation to cover your expenses while you recuperate. Liability is not considered a factor in workers’ comp claims unless there is ample evidence to suggest the injured worker was intentionally trying to be hurt.

Workplace Violence In Hospitals

​Nurses can no longer stay silent about one terrible aspect of their jobs: workplace violence. A new OSHA report indicates that over 75% of all workplace assaults occur in the health and social services industries. Healthcare workers are 20% more likely than other workers to experience on-the-job violence. As frontline workers responsible for most of the day-to-day care of patients, nurses and in-home healthcare workers bear the brunt of this terrible statistic.

How often does workplace violence against nurses occur?

Over 20% of nurses say they’ve been physically assaulted on the job. Over half report that they’ve been verbally abused. Sexual violence and harassment are included in these statistics. Violence results in over 650,000 workplace injuries a year for nurses and other healthcare workers.

Who perpetrates violence against nurses and healthcare workers?

The culprits of most violence against healthcare workers are patients or their families and loved ones. The perpetrators of violence against nurses are often in an altered state, affected by head injuries, intoxication, or dementia.

Prison inmates receiving treatment at hospitals also play a role in workplace violence against nurses. 29% of hospital shootings involve inmates.

What are some other risks to nurses and healthcare workers?

Healthcare is a physically and emotionally taxing field. Repetitive motion injuries are common, as are slip-and-falls and back issues. Healthcare workers may experience burnout or psychological trauma. Workplace violence isn’t the only issue harming nurses, but it is a major one. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistic, over 35% of on-the-job fatalities in the healthcare industry are caused by violence.​

What can be done to protect nurses and healthcare workers from workplace violence?

The Join Commission issued a 7-step recommendation for preventing violence against healthcare workers. All healthcare providers should take heed of these recommendations and establish clear reporting systems, thoroughly train staff, and track and analyze incidents of workplace violence so they can make necessary changes. Healthcare providers must also provide support to victims of workplace violence, including counseling and other mental health services.

We Offer Free Consultations & Contingency Fee Agreements

If your workers’ compensation claim was already denied after you got hurt as a hospital worker and an appeal is not possible, you can find some confidence to move your case forward in knowing that we do not expect payment for our services out of your own pocket.

When we take a case in pursuit of a settlement or jury award, it is through contingency fee agreements, which means you only pay our attorney fees if we win your case. Plus, we offer free case evaluations so you can learn if your claim has legal validity without paying upfront for our time. It is all part of putting the clients’ needs first and foremost.

Call our offices today to get started with your case!