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The Real Goals Of Workers' Compensation Nurses

The term, “medical rehabilitation” refers to the planning and coordination of health care services. 


The workers' compensation rules provide that the goals for medical rehabilitation are: “To assist in the restoration of injured workers as nearly as possible to the worker’s preinjury level of physical function.” 



These medical rehabilitation professionals are usually registered nurses.  The rules contemplate that medical case management include, but is not limited to:  “Case assessment, including a personal interview with the injured worker, development, implementation and coordination of a care plan with health care providers and with the worker and family; evaluation of treatment results; planning for community re-entry, return to work with employer of injury and/or referral of further vocational rehabilitation services.”

 

The injured worker’s primary contact with a medical rehabilitation professional is at the doctor’s office.  These medical rehabilitation professionals almost always insist on accompanying the worker on every trip to their doctor’s office.

As a practical matter, their function is to try to persuade the doctor to employ as little and as inexpensive treatment as possible, and to encourage the doctor to sign forms stating that the employee is able to go back to work and to minimize or eliminate the return to work restrictions set by the doctor. 

 

Towards that end, many of these nurses seek private conferences with the doctor, outside the presence of the employee.  During these private conferences, the nurses use all their powers of persuasion to try to convince the doctor that the employee is not injured as seriously as the employee claims, and that the employee is capable of greater physical activity that the employee claims.  We hasten to point out again that there are some nurses who exercise their independent judgment and who genuinely are concerned about the welfare of the employee.  Hence, although such nurses are in the minority, abuses are not as widespread in the case of medical rehabilitation counselors as exits in the case of vocational rehabilitation counselors.

 

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