Adrenaline rushes through the body after being involved in a car accident, making it seem as if someone is fine, even though they are seriously injured. You should wait three days at least to let the adrenaline completely disappear from your body and check for any injuries.
You are likely to have many racing thoughts if you’ve recently been injured in a car accident. You’re probably feeling overwhelmed. The time away from work, the medical bills in the future, and if you’ll ever be able to live like you did before the accident may concern you. Furthermore, you are unlikely to know how severe your injuries are until weeks after your accident.
The amount of additional time you need to take off work may depend on the severity of your injuries, the treatment plan, and your doctor’s recommendations. You will be more likely to re-injure yourself or prolong your recovery if you return to work before you are fully healed. Here are some tips for preparing for your return to work after a serious injury:
Follow Up with Doctor’s Appointments
Document Evidence of Your Symptoms and Complications
Keep in Touch with Your Employer
Respect any Limitations from Your Injury
Do Not Go Back to Work Before You are Ready
Know What to Do If You Re-Injure Yourself or Learn You Can’t Go back to Work
Consider Vocational Rehabilitation
Follow up with Doctor’s Appointments
In most cases, you’ll be provided with a treatment plan after your initial examination with a healthcare professional. Your primary care physician will need to schedule follow up appointments as well. Attending your physician’s appointments and following his or her instructions is important.
The longer you wait, the more likely you are to develop additional symptoms. You will need to document these so that you can revise your recovery plan. It’s also a good idea to let your insurance company know about these symptoms. You will be able to determine your return to work date when you receive your recovery plan and follow up appointments.
Your recovery plan may be impacted if you end up neglecting your medical responsibilities and end your recovery plan early. It is possible for your condition to worsen or to develop new ones. As a result, you may have to extend your recovery time before returning to work. In addition, if you do not follow your doctor’s advice, you may have difficulty getting compensation for your injuries.
Document Evidence of Your Symptoms and Complications
Whenever an accident occurs, the first step should always be to seek medical attention. Document your symptoms, both mental and physical. You will need this information not only for your personal injury case, but to provide your doctor with a clear understanding of your injuries, so they can create the best possible recovery plan for you.
As you recover, continue to keep a journal of your feelings. Your doctor will be able to better gauge your healing process, which will enable him or her to guide you as to whether it is safe for you to resume work. In addition to allowing your doctor to make adjustments to your recovery plan, documenting your feelings can help you identify potential complications.
Keep in Touch with Your Employer
A worker with an injury is required to provide their employer with out-of-work or restriction slips during the treatment period with regular updates that do not contain excessive details. In many cases, employers may help create a reintegration plan for an employee. A lot of these plans take into account the employee’s old responsibilities as well as their current abilities.
It is essential that an injured worker discuss his or her limitations with the employer before being allowed to return to work on light duty so that all parties are aware of the return to work expectations. When an employer cannot accommodate an injured employee’s limitations, the injured worker is entitled to remain out of work and continue to receive benefits until either the employer is capable of accommodating the limitations or the injured worker is able to return to full duty.
Respect any Limitations from Your Injury
When providing a disability certificate, doctors usually explain any limitations an employee may have. Some of these limitations may be:
- Reducing hours an injured worker works during a shift
- Limiting the amount and weight a person is expected to lift
- Regular breaks during a shift.
- Excluding the use of heavy machinery
- Excluding certain work activities, such as bending, stooping, or crawling
It is critical to inform your employer of your limitations before returning to work and keep a copy of it.
When returning to work, employees should pay attention to their own bodies as well. When workers return to work, they usually pour all their energy into it. However, injured workers have a responsibility to inform their doctors of the nature of their employment so that a restriction slip can be issued according to their current medical condition. Those who have suffered work-related injuries do not want to relive the experience again. In order to avoid causing new injuries, it is crucial that employees respect their boundaries.
Do Not Go Back to Work Before You are Ready
You should not return if you haven’t been cleared to do so by your doctor. Your recovery may be affected if you return to work too soon, and you may re-injure yourself. Regardless of whether you feel well enough to return to work, you should still listen to your doctor. Make sure you can perform work tasks to your fullest capacity. Often overextended employees ask for trouble when they return to work before they are ready. In order to achieve a full recovery, your doctor may recommend that you return to work with medical restrictions. Re-injuring yourself after returning to work on your own and against your doctor’s advice can only lead to frustrations for both of you and your employer.
A Florida workers’ compensation lawyer can help if you are concerned about finances after your workers’ compensation benefits have been remitted or revoked. If you cannot work, your attorney may be able to seek benefits on your behalf.
Know What to Do If You Re-Injure Yourself or Learn You Can’t Go back to Work
Despite following your recovery plan and returning to work when you’re ready, there is always a chance you can re-injure yourself or your previous condition can resurface. Your employer will want to know about this and you should make an appointment with a doctor as soon as possible.
Upon returning to your place of employment, you may discover that you can no longer perform the duties of your previous role. You can discuss this with your employer. It may be possible to work in another position until your body heals more. It might also be a good idea to visit your doctor again as well. In order to find out why you cannot return to work yet, they’ll evaluate your injuries. It is possible that they will tell you to take more time off.
Consider Vocational Rehabilitation
An injured worker should determine if permanent work restrictions are appropriate after finishing treatment or when his or her medical care is close to being completed. The physician must indicate the circumstances under which a worker will not be able to return to their previous employment if they are permanent restrictions. If a worker is permanently restricted because of an injury and his employer can’t accommodate his restrictions, he might be eligible for vocational rehabilitation.
In vocational rehabilitation, a professional counselor assists the injured worker in obtaining new employment. During vocational rehabilitation, the injured worker is entitled to the same weekly benefits they received when they were receiving medical benefits and unable to work.
The purpose of vocational rehabilitation is to assist the injured worker in obtaining “suitable gainful employment.” Once the worker obtains such employment, whether with their old employer or a new one, vocational rehabilitation is completed.
The process of recovering and returning to work can be complicated and confusing. If an injured worker is provided with vague or inaccurate documentation, benefits can be terminated unnecessarily. In other cases, employers and insurers deny accommodation requests or vocational rehabilitation requests from injured workers. Therefore, it is imperative that employees who are injured have skilled and experienced legal representation to fight for their benefits.
Contact Calandro Law for Your Claim
To learn more about your rights and the claims you can make, we recommend you speak with an attorney who specializes in car accidents. At Calandro Law we are well versed in fighting for fair compensation for our clients. We’ve seen it all and are prepared to assist you if you’ve recently sustained a serious injury due to work or an auto accident. Contact us here to schedule a free case evaluation.
When it comes to recovering from an injury, it’s your health that matters most. So we suggest that you take the time you need to heal and let us help you seek the compensation you deserve.
