How Do Hospital Workers Suffer Back Injuries?

Back injuries can happen in almost any type of job in Maryland, in nearly any field or industry. Yet back injuries are more common in some professions than in others. In particular, health care workers in hospital settings are especially prone to suffering back injuries. These injuries can affect different parts of the back, and they can occur as traumatic injuries or as injuries due to repetitive motions over time. Why are so many hospital workers at risk of sustaining back injuries on the job? And what can hospital workers do to prevent these injuries?

Our Maryland hospital worker injury lawyers can tell you more about back injuries in health care settings, and we can also provide you with assistance with your workers’ compensation claim if you sustained a back injury while working at a medical facility in Maryland.

Lower Back Pain is Especially Common Among Health Care Workers 

Health care workers in hospital settings can suffer any type of back injury, but lower back pain is especially common, according to data from the National Center for Biotechnology Information and the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Indeed, the NIH data says that “low back pain among health care workers [is] greater than among those working in heavy industries.” The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) further highlights that the rate of musculoskeletal disorders among health care workers exceeds “that of workers in construction, mining, and manufacturing.” When hospital workers sustain lower back pain, it is often “short lived,” the NIH indicates, but it can become chronic. Chronic lower back pain among hospital workers can “cause significant disability,” according to the NIH.

What causes lower back pain and general back injury among hospital workers? The following are the most common causes of back injuries, and they most often impact nurses, nursing staff, and operating room staff:

• Repositioning patients;
• Moving patients; and
• Transferring patients.

Preventing Back Injuries Among Hospital Workers 

What can prevent back injuries among nurses and other hospital staff? According to the CDC, the following could be a good start:

• Improved training on safe patient handling;
• Replacing outdated patient handling techniques; and
• Developing specific handling techniques for “bariatric” patients, meaning “patients whose weights exceed the safety capacity of standard patient lifting equipment” or “who otherwise have limitations in health, mobility, or environmental access due to their weight/size.”

For any health care worker who does suffer a back injury that requires time away from work to heal and medical treatment for the back injury, it is important to find out about your eligibility for workers’ compensation coverage in Maryland.

Contact a Maryland Workers’ Compensation Attorney 

Are you a hospital or other health care worker who recently sustained a debilitating back injury on the job? Whether you suffered a traumatic back injury or have been recently diagnosed with a repetitive stress back injury, if your injury is preventing you from working, you may be able to obtain workers’ compensation benefits. One of the experienced Maryland hospital worker injury lawyers at the Law Offices of Steinhardt, Siskind and Lieberman, LLC can speak with you today to learn more about the circumstances of your back injury and to begin helping you with your workers’ compensation claim. Contact us for assistance with your case.

Sources:

ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK519066/

pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8519806/

blogs.cdc.gov/niosh-science-blog/2008/09/22/lifting/