New Orleans Nurse Injury Lawyer
A patient lunges during a transfer, a hallway floor is wet and nobody put out a sign, or a needlestick happens in the middle of a twelve-hour shift, and suddenly a nurse who spends every day caring for others needs care herself. Lunsford, Baskin & Priebe PLLC is a workers’ compensation law firm that represents injured workers across Louisiana and Mississippi, and a New Orleans nurse injury lawyer from our team can take over the claim while you focus on getting well.
Nursing injuries are different from the injuries in most comp files. They tend to build up over years of lifting and standing, or they come from an exposure that is hard to pin to a single minute. Insurers know that, and they use it. The patient-handling back injury gets labeled “degenerative.” The exposure claim gets questioned because the paperwork was not perfect. We build these claims around the realities of clinical work.
How Nurses Get Hurt, and Why Insurers Push Back
The most common serious nursing injury is the one nobody films: a back or neck injury from moving a patient who cannot move themselves. Lifting, repositioning, catching a falling patient, and pulling a stretcher through a doorway put a nurse’s lumbar and cervical spine under load that adds up shift after shift. When an MRI shows a herniated disc, the insurer will often point to age-related wear. Our answer is medical evidence tying the job duties to the injury, including the treating physician’s causation opinion and a clear work history showing what you actually lifted and how often.
Shoulder and knee injuries follow close behind. Torn rotator cuffs and meniscus tears are common among nurses who spend long shifts on their feet and in awkward positions, and insurers sometimes call them old sports injuries. Violence is another real source of harm. Emergency departments, behavioral health units, and nursing homes see patients who strike, kick, or grab, and a fractured wrist or concussion from an assault is a work injury. Louisiana comp is a no-fault system, so what matters is that the injury arose out of and in the course of your employment, not whether anyone was careless.
Why Choose Lunsford, Baskin & Priebe for a Nurse Injury Claim
Lunsford, Baskin & Priebe PLLC represents injured workers throughout New Orleans, Orleans Parish, and communities across South Louisiana and Mississippi. Workers’ compensation is the center of our practice, not a side matter we take when it walks in the door, and our attorneys bring over 75 years of combined experience to claims that have been denied, delayed, or cut off. We have recovered more than $100 million in settlements for our clients, and we work on a no recovery, no fee basis, with free consultations, case costs advanced by the firm, and phones answered 24 hours a day. Spanish-speaking clients can work with us in their own language.
Several of our results involve the kind of injury nurses suffer. We obtained $685,000 for a surgical tech with a lower back injury, which is a hospital-based job with many of the same physical demands as bedside nursing. We also recovered $600,000 for a construction worker with a complex back injury and $385,000 for a project manager injured after being struck in his work vehicle. Partners Brad Baskin and Jennifer Priebe have been recognized by Best Lawyers, Super Lawyers, and The National Trial Lawyers, and the firm was ranked by Best Law Firms for Workers’ Compensation Law, Claimants, in Jackson. Andrew Rueff has successfully tried dozens of jury and bench trials to verdict, and the team also includes Keaton Belk and Erin Heimlicher. Clients consistently tell us we were easy to work with, took time to listen, and stood up to the insurance company at every step.
Common Nursing Injuries and Claims We Handle
- Patient-Handling Back and Spine Injuries: Lumbar and cervical disc herniations from lifting, turning, and catching patients are the backbone of nurse claims. Insurers lean on degenerative disc disease; we answer with causation opinions and a detailed account of your physical duties.
- Shoulder and Knee Injuries: Rotator cuff tears, SLAP tears, and meniscus tears from pushing beds, assisting transfers, and long hours on hard floors. These often need surgery and months of therapy.
- Assaults by Patients: Emergency rooms, psychiatric units, and long-term care facilities produce fractures, head injuries, and psychological trauma. The injury is compensable even when the patient was confused or ill.
- Needlesticks and Infectious Exposure: Exposure to blood-borne pathogens or contagious illness can mean testing, preventive treatment, and time away from work. Prompt reporting and documentation matter enormously here.
- Slips, Trips, and Falls: Wet floors, cluttered corridors, and poorly maintained equipment cause fractures of the ankle, hip, wrist, and foot, sometimes requiring specialist surgery.
- Repetitive Strain and Cumulative Injuries: Wear that develops over years can still qualify when your job caused or accelerated the condition, though proving the timeline takes careful medical work.
- Home Health and Agency Nurses: Nurses who travel between patients’ homes, or who work through staffing agencies, can have questions about who the employer is. We sort that out early so the claim goes against the right carrier.
- Third-Party Injury Claims: When a negligent driver hits you on the way to a home visit, or a contractor or equipment maker created the hazard, you may have a personal injury claim in addition to comp benefits.
What to Do After a Nursing Injury in New Orleans
Report it in writing, and do it quickly. Louisiana requires that your employer receive notice within 30 days of the injury, and a formal claim generally must be filed within one year of the accident. If the insurer has already paid benefits, that deadline can stretch to three years from the last payment, but do not count on that exception. Tell your supervisor, ask that an incident report be made, and keep your own copy of everything. Nurses often hesitate because the unit is short-staffed or because they feel the injury is just part of the job. Waiting is how claims get weakened.
Get medical care and be specific about how the injury happened. Describe the patient transfer, the fall, or the exposure so that your medical records match your account. Gaps and vague entries are what adjusters seize on later. Keep a log of symptoms, missed shifts, and work restrictions, and do not give a recorded statement to the insurance adjuster before you have talked to a lawyer.
If the carrier denies or delays treatment, there are short windows to act. A dispute over a treatment denial goes through the utilization review process: you have 15 calendar days from written notice of the denial to file Form 1009 with the Office of Workers’ Compensation Administration, and the medical director then has 30 calendar days to decide. If you disagree with that decision, you have 45 days from the date it was issued to file Form 1008. These clocks run from specific dates and are easy to miss, which is one reason people with denied treatment should call us right away.
Disputed claims in New Orleans are heard by a workers’ compensation judge at the OWC district office here. In Louisiana you have a say in the venue: you can elect to proceed in the parish where you were hurt, the parish where you lived when injured, or the parish where your employer has its principal place of business. A final judgment can be appealed within 30 days if it suspends the judgment, or 60 days if it does not, with the delay running from the day after the judgment was signed or notice was mailed, whichever is later. Appeals from Orleans Parish go to the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeal, and a party can then ask the Louisiana Supreme Court to review by applying for a writ within 30 days of notice of the judgment.
Wage Benefits and Medical Care for Injured Nurses
Louisiana comp pays all reasonable and necessary medical treatment, and it replaces part of your lost wages while you cannot work. Temporary total disability benefits cover the period when you are completely unable to work. If you return to lighter duty or a lower-paying position, supplemental earnings benefits can make up part of the gap. They equal two-thirds of the difference between your pre-injury wages and what you earn or are able to earn, when you cannot earn 90 percent or more of what you made before. Those benefits can continue until you are released to full duty, you are back to earning your pre-injury wage, or you reach the 520-week maximum, and weeks of temporary total disability count toward that total.
The weekly rate is capped, and the cap is set each year by reference to the statewide average weekly wage and fixed by the date of your accident. For nurses with higher salaries, that cap matters, because your check may be well below your normal pay. Permanent disability benefits come into play if you do not fully recover, and an honest assessment of your restrictions is what decides whether you can return to bedside nursing or need vocational help. Many nurses cannot go back to heavy patient handling after a spine surgery, and that reality should shape how the case is valued and settled.
Frequently Asked Questions About Nurse Injury Claims
Can a nurse get workers’ compensation for a back injury from lifting patients?
Yes. A lifting injury at work is a classic comp claim. The harder issue is usually proof: insurers argue the disc problem was already there. We counter with medical opinions and a clear description of the lifting your job required.
How long do I have to report a work injury in Louisiana?
Your employer must receive notice within 30 days of the injury. A formal claim generally has to be filed within one year of the accident, with a possible extension to three years from the last payment if benefits were being paid.
Does workers’ comp cover needlesticks and exposure to infectious disease?
It can. Testing, preventive treatment, and resulting illness may be covered when the exposure happened on the job. Report the incident immediately and document the source, the time, and the care you received.
What if a patient attacked me?
An assault by a patient during your shift is a work injury, and comp does not depend on fault. You may also have a separate claim if the facility ignored known safety risks, though that depends on the facts and is a question we review with you.
Can my employer fire me for filing a claim?
Louisiana protects workers from retaliation for filing a comp claim. If you were disciplined or let go after reporting an injury, tell us during your consultation so we can look at your options.
What if my injury was caused partly by a pre-existing condition?
A prior condition does not end your claim. If the job caused, worsened, or accelerated the problem, you may still be entitled to benefits. Strong medical evidence is what resolves that dispute.
I work for a staffing agency and was injured at a hospital. Who is my employer?
That depends on how your assignment was structured, and it can involve both the agency and the facility. Identifying the right employer and carrier early avoids delay, and it is a question we sort out at the start of a case.
Will my health insurance pay for treatment while my comp claim is pending?
Work injuries are generally supposed to go through comp, so health insurers often resist paying. If the carrier is denying treatment, tell us before you run up bills, because the denial can be challenged through the Form 1009 process, which has a 15-calendar-day filing window.
What if I was hit by a car while driving between patient visits?
You can have a comp claim and a separate personal injury claim against the driver. Louisiana’s two-year deadline for most injury lawsuits applies to accidents on or after July 1, 2024, and fault is weighed under a rule that can bar recovery if you are found 51 percent or more at fault for causes of action arising on or after January 1, 2026. We coordinate both claims so they work together.
Can a hospital or nursing home fire me because I cannot lift anymore?
Restrictions can change your job situation, but an employer cannot punish you for filing a claim. If your restrictions limit what you can do, your comp benefits, including supplemental earnings benefits, are designed to address the loss of earning capacity.
Do I need a lawyer if the insurer is paying my medical bills?
Not every claim needs one. But if benefits are denied, delayed, cut off, or reduced, or if you will be out of work for a long time or need surgery, having an attorney makes a real difference. We charge nothing unless we recover for you, and fees in comp cases are limited and approved under state law.
Serving Injured Nurses Across New Orleans and South Louisiana
From the Uptown and Garden District hospital corridors to Mid-City, the Lower Garden District, Bywater, and Gentilly, we represent nurses hurt in New Orleans and throughout Orleans Parish. We also serve nurses working in Metairie, Kenner, Harahan, Gretna, Marrero, and the rest of Jefferson Parish, as well as those in Chalmette and the other St. Bernard Parish communities and in Plaquemines Parish. Across the Lake, we help healthcare workers in Slidell, Covington, and Mandeville in St. Tammany Parish.
Our work reaches Baton Rouge, Lafayette, Lake Charles, and Shreveport, and extends to injured workers throughout South Louisiana and north Louisiana. In Mississippi, we represent injured workers from Jackson and Madison to the Gulf Coast, Hattiesburg, Southaven, and the Delta, and across north Mississippi. Wherever you work as a nurse, a patient transfer or an exposure on the job should not leave you without medical care or a paycheck.
Talk With a New Orleans Nurse Injury Attorney Today
If you were hurt caring for patients, a New Orleans nurse injury attorney at Lunsford, Baskin & Priebe can review what happened, explain the deadlines that apply to you, and take on the insurance company. Consultations are free, we advance the costs of the case, and you pay no fee unless we recover benefits for you. Call our team any hour of the day and let us start working on your claim.
