According to surveys by the Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), there are tens of thousands of back and other injuries among nursing employees every year. Many of these injuries are severe enough that an employee must miss work or have to give up working altogether.

It may come as some surprise that nursing assistants and orderlies each suffer roughly three times the rate of back and other musculoskeletal injuries as construction laborers. In fact, BLS data reflects that nurses and nursing assistants suffer from more MSD injuries than any other occupation.

The number one reason why nursing employees get these injuries is by doing their everyday jobs of moving and lifting patients. Lacking proper lifting machinery or adequate staff, healthcare workers risk injury when helping patients get in and out of bed, particularly if the patient is among the growing number who suffer from obesity. Nursing employees in a typical hospital lift heavy patients a dozen or more times every day, some of whom weigh in at 300 lbs. or more.

Despite the growing problem, little action has been taken by hospitals and clinics across the country to protect healthcare workers from these types of back and neck injuries. Although some states are providing a legal means for healthcare workers to push back, injuries of healthcare professionals persist in many hospitals and clinics nationwide. Unfortunately, for healthcare workers across the country, these injuries are not mere inconveniences – they are often life altering and career ending.

Contact an Experienced Iowa Nursing and Healthcare Back Injury Attorney

If you work in the medical industry and have been injured at work, contact the Iowa workers’ compensation and personal injury law offices of John T. Hemminger for help today. If you have been hurt at your Iowa workplace, you may be eligible for compensation to aid in your recovery and cover your lost wages. Call us today for a free consultation at 515-283-2116.

What’s in a name? Apparently, the term ‘accident’ may have something to do with how people view their responsibilities as drivers. Typically, when a reference is made to automobile collisions, people call it an accident. However, safety advocate groups would like to see these incidences called ‘crashes’ in order to focus attention on the problem of human error. They believe the use of the word accident implies that no one is at fault when crashes occur, fueling widespread apathy among drivers. With roadway fatalities increasing at a rate not seen in 50 years, many are calling for a change in semantics.

According to the nonprofit National Safety Council, fatal car crashes rose by approximately 6 percent in 2016 over the previous year, killing nearly 40,000 people, and 2016 fatal car crashes were the highest in nine years.  Fatal car accidents increased an alarming 14% in just two years. The most drastic increase in fatal car accidents in 53 years. Motor vehicle deaths in 2016 are estimated to be the highest in almost a decade. Most of all fatal crashes are a result of driver behavior such as distracted driving, driving while intoxicated and other risky behaviors. Less than 10 percent are linked to vehicle malfunctions or weather. Since, the cause of many of these wrecks result from negligent actions taken by one or more drivers, some say ‘call it what it is’ – a crash – rather than referring to it as an accident outside of a driver’s control.

As of 2014, New York City’s policy states the city “must no longer regard traffic crashes as mere accidents, in an effort to reduce roadway injuries and fatalities. San Francisco and other cities and at least 28 departments of transportation have adopted similar policies. Last year, the Associated Press announced a new policy stating that, when negligence is claimed or proven in a crash, reporters should avoid using the term ‘accident’, which can be read by some as a term exonerating the person responsible.

Contact a Fatal Car Crash Attorney

Many, including a number of aggrieved families who have lost someone to a car crash, hope that changing the language will lead to more responsible driving. With the rate of traffic fatalities rising, calling out negligent drivers may be a step in the right direction. If you or a family member has been injured in an Iowa motor vehicle crash, it is important to hold negligent drivers accountable and to seek compensation to aid in your recovery. Contact our Iowa personal injury lawyers at John T. Hemminger Law Offices for help at 515-283-2116.

Electrocution is a recognized hazard for construction workers and tree crews. According to OSHA, the major types of hazards for those working in these industries are contact with overhead power lines, contact with energized sources (e.g., vehicles, live parts, damaged or bare wires, defective equipment, machinery or tools) and improper use of extension and flexible cords.

Overhead and buried power lines are especially hazardous because they carry extremely high voltage. Fatalities from electrocution are possible as are burns and falls from elevations when workers are exposed to high voltage. Not only do cranes reach overhead power lines, but so do many high profile vehicles and workers on ladders or in man-baskets.

When employers fail to adopt or follow safety protocols and training is not regularly provided, construction workers and tree crews are at increased risk of injury from electrocution. Employers are required by law to provide safe and healthful working conditions for their employees and must act to prevent workplace accidents.

Iowa Workplace Electrocution Accidents Attorneys

If you or your family member has been injured in an Iowa workplace electrocution accident, contact the personal injury and workers’ compensation attorneys at The Law Offices of John T. Hemminger for free consultation at 515-283-2116.

Nursing homes designated as special focus facilities are required to fix lapses in care or risk losing federal funding of Medicare and Medicaid. Special focus status is reserved for the worst of the worst nursing homes across the country and is considered the federal government’s strictest form of oversight.

Unfortunately, despite the increased scrutiny that comes with the title, a recent analysis found that more than 50 percent of nursing homes that graduated from special focus status went on to provide dangerous care.

In fact, recurrences of patient harm rarely translate into a return to the watch list and, more often than not, nursing homes do not lose Medicare and Medicaid reimbursements so there is little incentive to improve.

Many nursing home abuse and neglect violations include giving patients the wrong medications, failing to protect residents from violence and harm at the hands of other residents or staff, and neglecting to tell families and physicians about patient injuries that may worsen without intervention. Most care facilities have too few nurses or staff to provide needed care.

The recent findings are disheartening for many who have family members who receive nursing home care. It is unacceptable that poor performing facilities entrusted with the care of the elderly can continue to operate putting patients at risk for injury or death.

Contact an Iowa Nursing Home Abuse and Neglect Attorney

If you or a family member has been injured in an Iowa nursing home, it is important to contact an experienced nursing home neglect and abuse lawyer to hold the facility accountable and get the compensation needed to recover your losses.  Des Moines personal injury lawyer John T. Hemminger can help.  Contact our Iowa Nursing Home Abuse and Neglect team for a free consultation of your case today at 515-283-2116.