Seven Common Nursing Injuries
Nurses are valuable to the healthcare industry as they assist in providing medical services to patients. You may thus find it fulfilling to work as a nurse, especially when you see patients successfully recovering from injuries and ailments.
However, nurses face different injury risks while working, like slipping and falling while rushing to aid a patient.
It is thus vital to know the most common causes of nursing injuries to keep yourself safe in the workplace. Also, call a workers’ compensation attorney in Glendale to claim benefits if you sustain nursing injuries.
Common Workplace Injuries to Avoid While Working as a Nurse
1. Overexertion
Overexertion happens when you force your body too hard to perform a particular task. It can cause muscle, tendon, and ligament damage like inflammation or tears.
An example of overexertion injuries is back strain and sprain because of lifting heavy loads like a patient on a stretcher.
In simple cases, overexertion may only cause minor discomforts, but worse injuries can cause debilitating pain that requires surgery.
2. Repetitive or Cumulative Stress
Repetitive stress is another common cause of nursing injuries that results from repeatedly performing particular tasks over long periods.
For example, a nurse who uses a computer to encode patients’ information over long hours can sustain carpal tunnel syndrome. This condition results in numbness and discomfort in the arm, wrists, and hands.
3. Slips and Falls
Nurses are also at risk of slip and fall accidents as they are often in a hurry when doing their job.
For example, you may need to rush to immediately reach a patient’s room, especially in critical cases. Moreover, hospitals sometimes have slippery spills on the floor that busy nurses cannot notice.
Depending on where they hit their body upon falling, nurses may then sustain severe injuries like:
- Spine injury
- Bone damage
- Head trauma
- Laceration
4. Equipment Accidents
It is common for nurses to sustain injuries because of accidents due to equipment. For example, you may get injured because of being hit by a machine that falls from the desk.
Moreover, many nurses get injuries from sharp tools like the scalpel and needles. There is also the risk of getting pricked by injection needles. This is risky because the injection needles may carry deadly microbes that could affect the injured nurse and cause severe ailments.
5. Transportation Accidents
Nurses may also suffer from injuries while transporting patients. For example, as mentioned above, you may sustain overexertion injury when lifting patients on a stretcher.
Another example is accidentally slipping or tripping while carrying a patient where you may fall along with the patient.
6. Physical Violence
Nurses may face physically violent incidents while restraining some unruly psychiatric patients. Some nurses may also engage in physical altercations against each other because of personal conflicts.
These violent incidents may cause different injuries like minor bruises or significant physical trauma.
7. Harmful Substance and Environment Exposure
Healthcare workers may also face toxic exposure in their workplace while handling harmful substances like disinfectants or controlling the spread of infectious microbes.
Nurses thus may sustain life-threatening ailments from these exposures or suffer from severe allergies after getting in contact with certain stimulants.
Hire a Glendale Workers’ Compensation Lawyer to Claim Benefits for Nursing Injuries
People working in medical facilities should keep these common nursing injury causes in mind. However, remember to claim the benefits you deserve if you still get a work-related injury. It covers your medical expenses and lost income as you recover.
Consulting a workers’ compensation attorney in Glendale helps you claim benefits for nursing injuries.