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Nurses face serious health risks while caring for others

On Behalf of | Feb 9, 2021 | Workplace Injuries

Nurses have chosen a career centered around caring for those who need it most. They provide far more hands-on care to sick and injured individuals than doctors, who typically have numerous patients and rush from one to the next. A nurse takes on more of the daily tasks and spends extended amounts of time around these patients.

Even though these nurses are offering care and working in a state-of-the-art medical facility, they still face serious injury risks themselves. This is an occupation that can cause catastrophic injuries that are life-changing. It’s important to understand both these risks and the proper response.

2 types of hazards

According to the National Center for Biotechnology Information, there are two general categories that most of these risks can fall into. Nurses are exposed to both every day.

First, there are exposure risks. A nurse may have to care for a patient with an infectious disease, and he or she could contract that disease. Nurses may also have to work with toxic substances and substances that qualify as biohazards. Furthermore, some treatment options produce dangerous side-effects, such as exposure to radiation while doing X-rays.

The second category focuses more on physical risks. A nurse may have to lift an overweight patient, for instance, and could suffer a spinal cord injury. Nurses can be cut or stabbed with needles, scalpels and other dangerous tools. Slip-and-fall accidents can happen on slick floors, leading to serious head injuries.

In some senses, there is also a third category of risk, which is stress. It can take a serious toll on someone’s health. It can lead to mistakes, rushing, oversights and injuries. This will always be a stressful industry to work in, and nurses can’t ignore that risk.

Seeking proper compensation

These are just a few of the many injury risks nurses face. Those who are injured must know exactly what their rights are so that they can get proper workers’ compensation.