Health Care Workers

Injuries at Work

Health care workers care for the injured and the sick, and in the process can be injured or become sick on the job themselves. Whether your injury or illness occurs suddenly in an accident at work or gradually over time because of the physically demanding or repetitive work that you do, when you are hurt at work, the Minnesota workers' compensation system is available to pay benefits to you. Regardless of what you call an injury that you get at work: workers' compensation, work comp, workers comp, workman's comp, work-related or workplace injury, if you are injured at work or on the job, you may be entitled to benefits under Minnesota's workers' compensation statutes. Your work-related injury generally will be covered even if it was partly or completely your fault. Also, even if your employer does not have workers' compensation coverage, you may still be eligible for benefits.

Employers frequently deny employee claims for work comp benefits even when the employee has a clear claim to benefits. When that happens, getting work comp benefits from your employer can be uncomfortable, confrontational and upsetting. That's where Nelson Law Office can help. We can step in to advocate for you and advance your claim when you need help jumping through the hoops necessary to obtain your benefits. We have successfully handled work comp claims of all kinds for health care workers over the years.

Tips for Injured Workers

If you are injured at work:

• Immediately report your injury verbally or in writing to your supervisor and/ or a member of your company's human resources department (or risk management department, if they have one), and obtain a copy of your employer's work comp rules.
• Seek medical care from your usual treating doctor, or, if it's an emergency, from an urgent care center or emergency room. You have the right to seek medical care from a doctor of your choice. There are very few situations in which your employer is allowed to choose your doctor for you, such as when a managed care plan has been selected and implemented by your employer.
• Read "An Employee's Guide to the Minnesota Workers' Compensation System," which is provided by the Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry and is available on the DOLI's website. It contains a lot of information that will be helpful to you.
• Depending on the type, severity and length of your injury, you may have a right to the services of a Qualified Rehabilitation Consultant (QRC). You have the right to select your own QRC and Nelson Law Office can help you choose one. If your employer or its insurer assigns a QRC to you and you want to change QRC's, you can, but you must do so within a statutory 60 day deadline.

Our Fees are Contingent

Our fees are contingent, which means that we do not charge you a fee for our services unless we win or settle your case. Our fees are paid out of the benefits that are paid to you.