Our lawyers help injured nurses obtain workers compensation benefits and settlements.
Workers in the healthcare sector face a disproportionate number of work-related injuries and diseases, and Virginia nurses are not the exception.
As a nurse, you dedicate your life to patient care, often at great personal risk. You provide care when others are sick and hurt and give emotional support to injury victims and their families.
But sometimes, nurses become the injured person who needs help.
Whether you are a registered nurse (RN), licensed practical nurse (LPN), certified nursing assistant (CNA), or nurse practitioner, you face unique workplace hazards—from lifting patients to exposure to infectious diseases to violence from mentally ill patients.
Fortunately, you can seek workers compensation benefits under Virginia law when injuries or illnesses occur in a hospital, an assisted living facility, a medical practice, or even while traveling and attending to a patient at home.
Our work injury law firm advocates for nurses injured or made ill due to their work. We understand the nuances of the Virginia Workers Compensation Act. And our team commits itself to helping you navigate the system to secure the benefits or workers comp settlement payout you deserve.
As a nurse working in Virginia’s healthcare sector, you will encounter a variety of occupational hazards. Some of the most common injuries we have helped nurses obtain workers comp benefits and settlements for include:
These injuries can be acute or develop over time, but all may qualify for benefits under Virginia workers compensation law.
Under Virginia law, workers compensation insurance is a mandatory requirement for most employers.
Any business that employs more than two part-time or full-time workers must carry this coverage.
Hospitals and medical practices are no exception. Most, if not all, businesses and organizations employing nurses will need to provide workers comp coverage to their employees.
Covered claims generally fall into two categories under the Virginia Workers Compensation Act: “Injury by accident” and “occupational disease.”
As an injured nurse trying to recover benefits under a compensable injury by accident theory, you must prove the following:
An occupational disease is also potentially covered, but to qualify, it must:
Injuries and medical impairments caused by gradual wear and tear or repetitive motion are generally not covered as “injuries by accident” or “occupational diseases.”
However, you can receive lifetime medical care and disability benefits for degenerative disc disease of the spine or degenerative joint disease if you prove that your “injury by accident” aggravated or exacerbated a chronic condition that was asymptomatic before the incident.
Virginia’s workers compensation system provides several benefits to injured workers, including nurses.
Under Virginia Code § 65.2-603, employers must provide necessary medical treatment to injured employees. This treatment includes:
These medical benefits are provided at no cost to the injured nurse and are essential for recovery.
If disability from your injury leads to wage loss, you may receive the following income replacement benefits:
It’s important to note that there is a waiting period: no wage loss compensation is payable for the first seven calendar days of incapacity. However, compensation will commence on the eighth day if incapacity extends beyond that period. If incapacity continues for more than 21 days, compensation for the first seven days is also payable.
Also, you can combine wages from substantially similar employment you had when you were hurt.
For example, many of the injured nurses I represent in Virginia have a full-time nursing job and pick up part-time shifts with other healthcare systems.
You can combine wages from these two employers and seek wage loss benefits if the work-related injury allows you to return to one nursing job but not the other.
In Virginia, injured workers or surviving dependents receiving temporary total disability, permanent and total disability, or death benefits may receive an annual Cost-of-Living Adjustment (COLA).
COLA offsets the impact that inflation has on wage replacement benefits.
To qualify for COLA in a given year, the combined amount of your workers compensation payments and any Social Security disability benefits must total less than 80% of your average weekly wage at the time of the injury. If this threshold is met, you may receive an annual increase in your compensation to help maintain your standard of living.
You may be eligible for vocational rehabilitation services if your injury prevents you from returning to your previous job. These services can include job training, education, and job placement assistance to help you transition to new employment.
If a work-related injury or occupational disease results in death, Virginia workers compensation law provides benefits to surviving family members.
Eligible dependents—such as a surviving spouse, children, or certain other financially dependent relatives—may receive wage loss replacement benefits to help offset the loss of income.
In addition, the employer or insurer is responsible for covering funeral and transportation expenses up to the limits set by the Virginia Workers Compensation Act: “The employer shall also pay burial expenses not exceeding $10,000 and reasonable transportation expenses for the deceased not exceeding $1,000.”
While workers compensation’s purpose is to support injured workers, nurses often face unique challenges:
Navigating these challenges requires experienced legal representation to ensure your rights are protected.
Our firm helps Virginia nurses obtain the compensation benefits and lump sum settlements they deserve.
We have helped hundreds of nurses like you take on Virginia’s largest healthcare systems (HCA, Bon Secours, Inova, Carilion, Riverside, and Sentara) – and win their workers comp claims or negotiate nursing injury settlements. Our firm even won a case of first impression for a nurse – Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) from exposure to Covid patients early in the pandemic.
We understand the nuances of the Virginia Workers Compensation Act and how it applies to each particular type of nursing practitioner. And we will take the time to understand your unique situation and tailor our settlement and litigation strategy to your needs.
Our team of attorneys is passionate about recovering workers compensation for injured nurses. We work on a contingency basis, meaning you pay no fees unless we win your case.
If you’ve been injured on the job, it’s crucial to take the following steps:
If you’re a nurse in Virginia who has been injured or made ill due to your work, don’t navigate the workers compensation claim process alone. Let us help you get the care and compensation you deserve.
Call us at 804.251.1620 or email us at cpollardjba@gmail.com to schedule a free consultation with one of our workers compensation attorneys specializing in nursing accidents and injuries.