Louisiana Nurse Injury Lawyer
Lunsford, Baskin & Priebe PLLC represents injured nurses, nursing assistants, surgical technologists, and other healthcare workers hurt on the job across Louisiana, from New Orleans and Baton Rouge to Lafayette, Lake Charles, Shreveport, and the communities between. Our practice is built around workers’ compensation, and we handle the claims that hospitals, nursing homes, staffing agencies, and their insurers delay, dispute, or deny.
Nursing injuries rarely look like the dramatic accidents people associate with a job site. They accumulate. A lumbar disc gives out after years of repositioning patients, a shoulder tears while catching a falling resident, a needlestick leads to months of anxious testing, or a worker is struck by a combative patient on a night shift. Because the damage often builds slowly, insurers tend to argue that a Louisiana nurse injury lawyer is chasing a degenerative condition or an old injury rather than a workplace one. That argument is the central fight in many healthcare claims, and it is one we have spent years answering with medical records and work history.
Why Nurses Choose Lunsford, Baskin & Priebe for Workers’ Compensation Claims
Lunsford, Baskin & Priebe PLLC is a workers’ compensation firm that represents injured workers throughout Louisiana and Mississippi. Consultations are free, we advance the costs of the case, and we are paid only if we recover benefits or a settlement for you. Hablamos español, and Spanish-speaking clients can work with our team in their own language from the first call to the end of the case.
Healthcare back injuries are among the most common claims we see, and the results reflect that experience: $685,000 for a surgical tech with a lower back injury, $600,000 for a construction worker with a complex back injury, and $385,000 for a project manager with back injuries after being struck in his work vehicle. Brad Baskin and Jennifer Priebe, both partners, have been recognized by Best Lawyers, Super Lawyers, and The National Trial Lawyers, and the firm was ranked by Best Law Firms in 2026 for Workers’ Compensation Law, Claimants, in Jackson. Andrew Rueff has tried dozens of jury and bench trials to verdict, and Keaton Belk and Erin Heimlicher round out the team that handles these cases. Clients consistently describe a team that listens, stays professional, and fights the insurance company at every step.
Injuries and Exposures That Bring Louisiana Nurses Into Our Office
- Patient-handling back and neck injuries: Lifting, turning, and transferring patients in hospitals, nursing homes, and home health settings is a leading cause of lumbar and cervical disc herniations. Insurers often blame degenerative disc disease, and we respond by showing how repetitive physical work caused or accelerated the condition.
- Shoulder and knee tears: Rotator cuff and SLAP tears happen when a nurse catches a falling patient or pulls against a dead weight, and meniscus tears follow twisting on hard floors during long shifts. Employers sometimes call these old sports injuries, which is a position we regularly rebut.
- Violence from patients: Emergency rooms, psychiatric units, and dementia care wards produce assaults on staff, resulting in fractures, concussions, and lasting psychological harm. These are workplace injuries covered by compensation even though another person caused them.
- Needlesticks and bloodborne exposure: A single stick can mean months of testing, prophylactic medication, and emotional strain. Prompt reporting and documentation of the source patient and the exposure protocol are what protect the claim.
- Slips, falls, and fractures: Wet floors, cluttered hallways, and rushed transfers lead to broken ankles, wrists, and hips that may need specialist care and surgery.
- Infectious disease and occupational illness: Nurses exposed to contagious illness on the job may have a compensable occupational disease, though proving where the exposure occurred takes careful medical and work-history evidence.
- Repetitive strain and cumulative injury: Conditions that develop over months of charting, lifting, and standing are compensable when the work caused or worsened them, even without a single dramatic incident.
What a Hurt Nurse Should Do Right Away, and Where the Claim Goes
The first decision is whether to report, and the answer is always yes, immediately and in writing. Louisiana requires notice to your employer within 30 days of the injury, and a compensation proceeding can be defeated without it. Do not wait to see whether the pain improves, and do not let a charge nurse or HR representative talk you into treating it as a minor incident. Tell your supervisor, ask that an incident report be completed, keep your own copy of what you submit, and note the date, time, patient or equipment involved, and any coworkers who saw it. If the injury was a needlestick or exposure, follow the facility’s exposure protocol the same day.
The second decision is about medical care. Get evaluated promptly and describe the work event accurately to every provider, because the first few records become the foundation of the claim, and a vague history (“my back just started hurting”) hands the insurer a pre-existing condition argument. A formal claim generally must be filed within one year of the accident, although payments already made by the insurer can extend that window to three years from the last payment. Because those clocks interact in ways that are easy to misread, speak with an attorney early rather than relying on a payment history to protect you.
Disputes are heard by workers’ compensation judges at the Office of Workers’ Compensation Administration, which operates district courts in Alexandria, Baton Rouge, Covington, Harahan, Houma, Lafayette, Lake Charles, Monroe, New Orleans, and Shreveport. You choose among the parish where you were hurt, the parish where you lived when injured, or the parish of your employer’s principal place of business, and that choice can matter. If the insurer denies a treatment recommendation, such as surgery or an injection your doctor ordered, a utilization review dispute must be filed on Form 1009 within 15 calendar days of receiving the written denial, and the OWC 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 deadlines run from issuance and receipt, not from when you finally get around to reading the letter, so open denial notices the day they arrive and bring them to us immediately. A judge’s final ruling can be appealed to the Louisiana court of appeal for the circuit where the case arose, with the delay running from the signing of the judgment or the mailing of notice, whichever is later.
A common mistake is accepting a return to light duty that your body cannot actually handle, or signing a recorded statement before understanding how it will be used. Another is giving up when the insurer cuts off wage benefits because a company doctor released you. A release is not the end of the dispute, and you may be entitled to a second medical opinion and to continued benefits while the disagreement is resolved.
Wage Benefits, Reduced Pay, and the Realities of Returning to Nursing
Louisiana compensation includes all reasonable and necessary medical treatment plus wage replacement while you cannot work. Temporary total disability benefits replace a portion of your wages during recovery. If you come back at reduced pay or reduced hours, 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, and they apply when you cannot earn 90 percent or more of what you made before. Supplemental earnings benefits can continue until you are released to full duty, return to pre-injury earnings, or reach the 520-week maximum, and weeks of temporary total disability count toward that total. The weekly rate is capped by a figure that is adjusted annually and fixed by the date of your accident, so the date matters.
For nurses, the practical issue is that a lifting restriction can end a bedside career even when you can still work. A nurse who cannot lift more than a modest weight may be unable to return to floor duty, and the question becomes what you can earn elsewhere. Insurers sometimes hire vocational consultants to identify jobs they say you can perform, and part of our work is testing whether those jobs actually exist, pay what is claimed, and fit your restrictions. Permanent disability benefits, vocational rehabilitation, and settlement of the claim all depend on a clear medical picture, which is why the treating physician’s restrictions are so central.
When Someone Other Than Your Employer Is Responsible
Compensation is usually your only remedy against your employer, but it is not always your only claim. A nurse injured by a defective bed or lift, a negligent contractor, or a driver who hits her on the way between patient visits may also have a personal injury claim against that third party. Louisiana’s prescriptive period for most injury claims arising on or after July 1, 2024 is two years from the day the injury is sustained, and recent changes to fault rules mean that a claimant found 51 percent or more at fault for incidents arising on or after January 1, 2026 can be barred from recovering at all. Coordinating a comp claim with an injury claim requires care, because a settlement of one can affect the other, which is why our firm handles both together.
Questions Louisiana Nurses Ask About Injury Claims
Is a nurse injured by a patient covered by workers’ compensation?
Yes. An assault by a patient, resident, or visitor during your shift arises out of your work, and the resulting medical care and lost wages are compensable regardless of whether the patient intended harm or was confused or combative.
How soon do I have to report a work injury in Louisiana?
You must give your employer notice within 30 days of the injury. Report it right away and in writing, because delay gives the insurer an easy argument and a missed notice can defeat the claim.
How long do I have to file a formal claim?
Generally one year from the date of the accident. If the insurer has paid benefits, the deadline may extend to three years from the last payment, but you should not count on that without having an attorney review your payment history.
What if my back problem was already there before the injury?
A pre-existing condition does not automatically end a claim. If your work caused, worsened, or accelerated the condition, you may still be entitled to benefits. Nursing is physically demanding, and we use medical records and work history to show how the job contributed.
Can I choose my own doctor?
Louisiana gives injured workers a right to choose a treating physician in a given specialty, though there are rules about how that choice is made and when you can change. Because the treating doctor’s opinions drive your restrictions and disability rating, talk to us before you settle on a provider or switch.
Do I need a lawyer if the insurer is paying my bills?
Not every claim requires one, but benefits are often paid until a surgery request, a return-to-work release, or a settlement offer arrives. Having an attorney before those points, rather than after they have gone wrong, gives you much more control.
Can my hospital or nursing home fire me for filing a claim?
Louisiana protects workers from retaliation for filing a compensation claim. If you were terminated, disciplined, or had your hours cut after reporting an injury, tell us so we can review what happened.
My insurer denied the surgery my doctor recommended. How fast must I act?
Very fast. A utilization review dispute must be filed on Form 1009 within 15 calendar days of receiving written notice of the denial. Missing that window can seriously complicate your ability to get the treatment approved.
I work for a staffing agency and was hurt at a hospital. Who is my employer?
That depends on the arrangement, and sometimes both the agency and the facility have obligations. Travel nurses and per diem staff are frequently surprised by how this works, so bring your contract and any paperwork you received so we can sort out who owes benefits and whether a third-party claim exists.
Will I lose my nursing license if I cannot work or take medication for the injury?
An injury alone does not cost you a license, but impairment concerns and medication use can raise questions with employers and licensing authorities. Discuss your prescriptions and restrictions openly with your treating physician and with us so your records accurately reflect that you are following medical direction.
What happens if I was partly at fault for the accident?
Workers’ compensation is generally a no-fault system, so your own carelessness usually does not eliminate benefits. Fault matters more in a separate third-party injury claim, where recent Louisiana changes can bar recovery for a claimant found 51 percent or more responsible for incidents arising on or after January 1, 2026.
Serving Injured Nurses Across Louisiana
We represent injured healthcare workers throughout South Louisiana and the rest of the state. From the hospitals and clinics of New Orleans, Metairie, Kenner, and Harahan, our team also serves nurses in Slidell, Covington, Mandeville, Houma, Thibodaux, and the River Parishes. Across the Baton Rouge area, we help workers in Baton Rouge, Gonzales, Denham Springs, and Zachary, and in Acadiana we serve Lafayette, New Iberia, Opelousas, and Crowley. Farther west, we represent clients in Lake Charles, Sulphur, and surrounding Calcasieu communities, and in north Louisiana we work with nurses in Shreveport, Bossier City, Monroe, and West Monroe. Whether you were hurt at a large medical center, a rural clinic, a nursing home, or in a patient’s home, we can take your claim before the workers’ compensation judge in the district that fits your case, and we also represent injured workers in Mississippi.
Talk With a Louisiana Nurse Injury Attorney Today
If you were hurt caring for patients, you do not have to sort out reporting deadlines, medical disputes, and an insurer’s questions on your own. A Louisiana nurse injury attorney at Lunsford, Baskin & Priebe can review what happened, explain which deadlines apply to you, and take over the dealings with your employer and its carrier. Call us any time, day or night. The consultation is free, and you pay no fee unless we recover benefits for you.
