There’s no doubt that being a nurse in a hospital is not only emotionally challenging but also physically grueling work. The serious shortage of nurses only compounds the problem. Nurses and other health care workers often have to put in longer hours and take additional shifts to make up for the shortages.
A shortage of personnel and sometimes equipment also means that nurses often don’t have the help they need to lift, roll or otherwise move patients. These repeated physical exertions can cause serious and sometimes debilitating back and other musculoskeletal injuries.
To make matters worse, injured nurses can face challenges getting workers’ compensation when they suffer these and other types of injuries, medical conditions and mental health disorders due to their work. If it didn’t occur in one incident, they may have to prove that their injuries or other harm weren’t at least in part due to non-work-related factors.
What changes would a proposed law make?
California lawmakers are currently considering legislation that would create a “rebuttable presumption” that if an acute care hospital worker who provides “direct patient care” seeks workers’ comp benefits for musculoskeletal injuries as well as conditions like infectious and respiratory diseases, cancer and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), it was caused by their work.
A rebuttable presumption means that, for purposes of receiving workers’ comp, it will be presumed that the condition “arose out of and in the course of the employment.” The employer or workers’ comp insurer would have the burden of proving to an appeals board that it did not.
The legislation passed in the California Senate and is currently under consideration in the Assembly. Meanwhile, nurses and other health care workers can still seek workers’ comp for these conditions if they arose from their work. They may just need to be ready to present evidence that they were caused by providing patient care. Having experienced legal guidance can make all the difference between a successful and unsuccessful claim.
