Healthcare Worker Injury Attorney Minneapolis, MN

Healthcare workers provide vital care to individuals experiencing various injuries and illnesses. However, they can also become injured or ill due to their work conditions. If you are a healthcare worker who was injured on the job, understanding your rights is essential for seeking the compensation you need.

Contact Meshbesher Law Firm for a free consultation with a knowledgeable workers’ compensation lawyer about your case. Our team is dedicated to helping injured healthcare workers seek the medical, wage loss, and vocational benefits they deserve after a workplace injury.

Common Injuries Among Healthcare Workers

The injuries sustained by healthcare workers are varied, ranging from musculoskeletal injuries to exposure to disease to high stress and fatigue. Some of the most common of these injuries include:

Musculoskeletal Injuries: Back injuries, sprains, and strains are common injuries caused by lifting patients and standing for long periods.
Needlestick Injuries: Accidental punctures with used needles and other sharp objects can expose workers to HIV, hepatitis, and other diseases and infections.
Exposure to Infectious Diseases: Healthcare workers often come into contact with highly infectious diseases as they treat patients with serious illnesses.
Slips, Trips, and Falls: Wet floors and cluttered hallways can increase the risk of healthcare workers slipping, tripping, and falling, causing broken bones, head injuries, and more.
Work-Related Stress: The high-pressure environments healthcare providers work in can lead to anxiety, sleep disorders, and other symptoms that disrupt their daily lives.

Does Minnesota Workers’ Compensation Cover Healthcare Workers?

In Minnesota, nearly all workers, including full-time and part-time healthcare workers, are covered by workers’ compensation. While some other states don’t require workers’ compensation insurance for employers with few employees, this is not the case in Minnesota. All employers must have coverage.

Workers’ compensation also covers various types of healthcare workers, regardless of where they work, including CNAs, nurses, doctors, EMTs, lab technicians, and administrative healthcare staff. As long as your injury results from your work, including both traumatic and repetitive stress injuries, you may be eligible for workers’ comp benefits.

Workers’ Compensation Benefits Available in Minnesota

Minnesota’s workers’ compensation system provides injured healthcare workers with several types of benefits, including medical, wage loss, and vocational benefits. If your loved one died as a result of injuries sustained on the job, you may also be eligible to seek death benefits.

Medical Benefits

Workers’ comp medical benefits cover all reasonable and necessary medical treatment related to the injury or illness. This includes hospital stays, surgeries, doctor visits, physical therapy, prescription medications, medical devices, and other medical treatments.

Unless your employer has a workers’ compensation certified managed care plan and makes you aware of it, you can see any doctor you choose for your treatments. If your employer has a certified managed care plan, you may have to seek treatment from pre-approved physicians.

Wage Loss Benefits

If your injury prevents you from working or forces you to work in a lessened capacity, such as with restrictions, you may be eligible for wage loss benefits. Depending on the extent of your injuries, there are four types of wage loss benefits you could seek:

Temporary Total Disability: TTD benefits are for workers who are completely unable to work while recovering from their injury or illness.
Temporary Partial Disability: TPD benefits are for workers who can return to work with limitations that result in lower wages while recovering.
Permanent Total Disability: PTD benefits are for workers who are permanently unable to return to any kind of work because of their injuries.
Permanent Partial Disability: PPD benefits are for workers who suffer permanent loss of use of some part of their body but who can still work.

Vocational Rehabilitation

If your injury prevents you from returning to your previous job, you may be able to seek vocational rehabilitation benefits through workers’ compensation. Vocational rehabilitation involves assistance and/or training to help you secure a new job that meets your work restrictions.

For example, if you worked as a nurse in a hospital but can no longer be on your feet for extended periods due to your injury, vocational rehabilitation could provide you with the training needed to perform administrative work instead. Vocational rehabilitation aims to assist injured workers with staying in the workforce in some capacity.

Steps to Take After a Workplace Injury as a Healthcare Provider

After sustaining a workplace injury as a healthcare provider, you should take the following steps to protect your right to seek workers’ compensation benefits:

Report the Injury: It’s crucial that you report your workplace injury to your employer or supervisor as soon as possible. You must do this within 14 days, although the deadline can be extended in certain situations. There are certain limited circumstances that allow up to 30 or even 180 days from the date of the accident (or the date your injury became apparent) to report it to your employer, but your benefits may be affected due to late reporting. There are exceptions to these rules, such as actual knowledge of the employer, that can be the subject of litigation. Best practice: once you know you’ve been injured, report it immediately. The clock starts ticking the day you get hurt or discover your condition is work-related. Failing to report it on time can jeopardize or even eliminate your right to benefits.
Seek Medical Treatment: You must seek medical treatment for your injuries or risk the worker’s compensation insurer claiming that your injuries are not real or not as severe as you say. Make sure you tell your healthcare provider that the injury is work related.
Document the Incident: Write down what you remember of the incident and how your injuries impact your ability to work and your daily life. If applicable, take photographs of the injury and/or where it happened.
Consult a Workers’ Comp Attorney: The best way to protect your rights is to work with an experienced workers’ compensation attorney such as the lawyers at Meshbesher Law Firm. Consulting an attorney early on in your case will allow them to provide the best legal assistance.

Challenges Healthcare Workers May Face When Seeking Workers’ Comp Benefits

While seeking workers’ compensation benefits, healthcare workers may face several challenges. The first may be that the insurance company denies your claim. They may state that the injury was not work-related. If your injury develops over time, it’s essential that you work with a lawyer who can help you properly document its connection to your employment.

If the insurance company accepts your claim, it may still attempt to reduce or delay your payments. A lawyer can help protect your rights by fighting back against these tactics used by insurers.

Injured workers may also face pressure to return to work before they’ve fully recovered or retaliation from their employers in the form of job loss, demotions, or unfavorable work schedules. Your lawyer can negotiate with your employer and their insurer to relieve pressure for you to return to work, and they can help you document instances of suspected retaliation.

How Our Workers’ Compensation Lawyers Can Help

When you work with our team of dedicated workers’ compensation lawyers, you can rest assured that your case is in good hands. We’ll handle all aspects of your case while you focus on recovering from your injury or illness. Some of the key services our firm provides include:

Investigating the incident and gathering evidence supporting your workers’ comp claim
Handling all communication between you and your employer or their insurance company
Representing you in settlement negotiations and seeking the maximum benefits
Appealing denied claims and presenting evidence on your behalf in hearings

Contact Our Minnesota Workers’ Compensation Lawyers

If you are a healthcare worker who was injured on the job in Minnesota, contact Meshbesher Law Firm for a free consultation with one of our experienced workers’ compensation lawyers. Our firm provides high-quality legal services to injured workers throughout Minnesota and is committed to seeking justice and results for our clients.

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