Sheldon Minkow Argues that Hospitals Need to Do More to Protect Nurses

Chicago, illinois, March 10, 2015 (Newswire.com) - According to new data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, more than 35,000 nurses and nursing assistants in the United States suffer back injuries every year. That's enough to make nursing the most dangerous profession in the country when it comes to back health. Workers compensation attorney Sheldon Minkow has argued that hospitals need to do more to protect nurses.

Nursing assistants suffered the majority of the injuries. According to the data, nursing assistants suffer back injuries at a higher rate than construction workers, warehouse employees, and truck drivers. Nurses and nursing assistants are also vulnerable to other musculoskeletal injuries, like broken bones, torn tendons, and strained muscles. In total, the nursing industry suffers musculoskeletal injuries at three times the rate of the construction industry.

According to Mr. Minkow, a workers' compensation attorney in Chicago, there are a number of reasons why nurses are at risk. "Nurses work long hours. Over the course of a week, it may even out to around 40 hours, but it's usually in 12-hour shifts. At the end of those long shifts, your body is just more vulnerable to injury," Mr. Minkow argued.

He also claimed that the demands of the job make nurses prone to injury. "They're on their feet almost their whole shift. They're constantly bending over beds. And, of course, nurses - and especially nursing assistants - have to lift heavy patients from bed-to-bed," he claimed.

Mr. Minkow regularly advocates on behalf of injured nurses. However, he wishes that hospitals would do more. "Nurses need more sensible scheduling," suggests Mr. Minkow. "Working eight-hour shifts would do a lot of good because it would give the body more time to heal in between shifts."