Please inform me

[sensorsated]

I am 17 and I work at Mcdonalds. Yesterday the deep freezer door < which is very heavy and shuts automatically> slammed into my middle finger. The immidiate side effect was that I became nausious, broke out into a sweat, and nearly passed out. I left work early after explaining what happened to the managers on the shift. However, as I returned home I found that the pain would not go away and was gradually getting a lot worse. My whole nail is purple, blue, and there is a rather greenish tint to the skin around it. I went to the emergency room because I was really in quite a lot of distracting pain. Perhaps you guys will think i'm rather pathetic- but it really hurts! And it's swollen. Anyways, I was given a prescription of pain pills for severe pain and a sheet to give to the manager stating the restricted use of my right hand. I am also given a day off and must follow up in one week with the doctor. Am I eligible for workers compensation? and what exactly is worker's comp? Please give me an answer.

[1171]

yes. generally a couple basic requirements: you need to be an employee and have a work related injury or medical condition at the time of employment.
workers compensation is a collection of benefits (primarily disability and medical) paid for by the employer.
you need to notify your employer of the injury so they can either report it to their work comp insurance carrier or adjusting agency. Each state has different level of benefits and rules.

at this point your injury would seem to require only medical benefits.

[capricorn]

Hi>>>> I just want to say that I have done something similar to a finger. Please don't think any of us would think this is small. The pain is horrible and the reaction you had when it happened is normal. You will probably lose your nail. Sounds like the coloring is bruises. Is your supervisor able to accommodate your restriction of using one hand for any work?

CAP