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Nurses in Pennsylvania are exposed to many safety hazards that can contribute to an injury or illness. If someone has been injured on the job, they may file for workers’ compensation benefits. Employers have the right to deny benefits if injured employees were at fault for their own injuries, so nurses may want to consider the following ways that they can normally avoid injuries and illness. If a nurse did not do anything contrary to these directions, there would be no reason for the employer to deny the claim.

Nursing is challenging work and can cut in on the time that they have for sleep. Study after study has shown that fatigued nurses put themselves and others at risk. Next, nurses should maintain good physical health through exercise and good nutrition.

The best way to prevent illness is for nurses to wash their hands regularly. Nurses, like anyone else working in a hospital or other care setting, run a higher risk for catching influenza, so getting vaccinated is important, too. These workers should also be current on their vaccinations for Hepatitis B, tetanus, diphtheria, measles, mumps and rubella.

OSHA says there are some 1,000 needlestick-related injuries every day among hospital personnel, so nurses must be careful in handling needles. Ergonomics injuries are common as well, but these can be avoided through healthy ways of standing, sitting, lifting, bending and so on.

Nurses should watch for safety hazards that might cause a slip, trip and fall. When faced with an unruly patient or other potentially unsafe situation, nurses should ask for assistance and, in turn, give assistance to their colleagues when they face those situations.

An injured employee may want an attorney to help with the case so that they can pursue the workers’ compensation they are entitled to. Benefits could include wage replacement and cover all medical expenses, among other things. The attorney may assist with an appeal should this become necessary.