When most people think of nurses, they imagine a person who is there to care for the sick and injured. However, it is becoming a more common scenario for nurses to end up on the other end of the stethoscope and in need of medical care themselves. According to data gathered from the Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), nurses suffer from over 35,000 occupational back and other injuries every year. These injuries are serious enough to cause a halt to lifestyle and missed days at work.

Those particularly susceptible to back injuries are nursing assistants and orderlies. In fact, musculoskeletal injuries to nursing-field workers occur triple the amount than they do for construction workers. Moreover, these workers have more of these types of injuries than truckers, warehouse workers, and stock clerks. The BLS statistics also reveal that the main way these injuries occur is from lifting and moving patients.

The hospital industry has recently come under fire for failing to develop safe patient handling protocols in order to protect nursing staff from chronic back injuries. There has been much criticism of hospital administrators for not making this issue a top priority, even from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). A spokesperson from OSHA says the agency’s hands are tied in protecting nurses unless new laws are passed granting OSHA the powers to do so.

There are safety protocols which could easily be put in place to protect nursing staff, and some hospitals have already implemented them. One hospital, which uses a procedure referred to as “safe patient handling” has already seen an 80 percent reduction in back injuries to nurses—their staff has received extensive training on safe lifting and special machines are used to lift the patients.

If you are a member of the nursing field and have suffered from back, neck, or other musculoskeletal injuries, contact an experienced Westport personal injury attorney to find out what legal recourse you may have for your pain and loss.