Did you know that some nursing homes have bariatric wards where Certified Nurse’s Aides (CNA’s) must care for obese patients? What happens when, due to staffing issues, the direct caregivers get little or no co-worker assistance with these patients and must care for these extra-heavy patients alone?? And must at all times ensure that their patients are safe?
Worker injuries can and do happen. Serious injuries. (Nursing home patients sometimes get hurt too, unfortunately, but they can sue. In cases where there is no one responsible for an injury except for the employer, injured workers cannot sue.)
My client Jean, a CNA in New York, tried to catch her 300 pound patient who was falling. Jean injured her neck and her back in that accident. As time went on she suffered “progressive quadriparesis” (loss of function of her arms and legs,) slowly lost bladder control and could not walk. She moved to Connecticut to be cared for by siblings and one day could no longer function at all. She went to a Connecticut hospital, was admitted as an emergency, and had an 8 hour emergency spinal surgery that showed severe spinal damage.
Truth #1: Jean has no right to sue anyone. Workers’ Comp protects the employer nursing home from being sued. She can only receive, at most, two-thirds of her CNA salary while she is out of work. Her only legal remedy? Workers’ Compensation.
Truth #2: The nursing home’s (employer’s) insurance company is not doing the right thing by Jean. It is refusing to pay for the surgery, for her recovery, or anything else related to the surgery, because Jean, it says, has not yet proven that the surgery was due to the work accident. (We are waiting for a hearing to argue this case before the Judge.)
Observation #1: Many different professions lay their bodies on the line day to day just performing their work (yes, our cops, firemen and emergency workers do, and should be thanked and thanked again. But other jobs—like those occupations that provide direct care for the elderly—can be quite dangerous too. Just ask bariatric direct care givers.)
If you or someone you know has been injured at work or can no longer work due to illness or injury, give us a call. Consultations are free. We handle BOTH Workers’ Comp and Social Security Disability cases.
Dan Morrin
“We Work for You When You Can’t Work”