Was Nurse on COVID Front Lines Entitled to Workers’ Compensation Benefits for PTSD?

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In Virginia, an “ordinary disease of life,” such as the flu or COVID-19 is not compensable unless evidence directly links it to the claimant’s work. A case involving a nurse whose unit suddenly became a COVID-19 unit as the pandemic began highlights some factors that can show that a worker was infected because of her job.

The registered nurse worked in a post-operative surgical unit. When the pandemic started, her unit was converted to a COVID unit. Although she had no training in respiratory diseases, she had to transport patients to be intubated and saw many people die and frequently worked with infected patients. 

She began to have panic attacks, suicidal thoughts and other symptoms of PTSD. Her psychiatric physician’s assistant determined that her “PTSD followed as a natural incident of her work. Per the PA, the claimant’s lack of preparedness and high degree of exposure "to severely ill patients and death" negatively impacted her mental health. The claimant was also diagnosed with major depressive disorder.

The nurse filed a worker’s compensation claim, which the worker’s compensation commission eventually allowed. The employer challenged that decision contending that the claimant did not have a compensable claim.

An ordinary disease of life is compensable if the disease: 1) exists and arose out of and in the course of employment and did not result from causes outside of the employment; and 2) the disease is characteristic of the employment and was caused by conditions peculiar to such employment. 

Did the nurse have a compensable injury?

A. No. A mental health condition is not considered an ordinary disease of life.

B. Yes. She developed the conditions by being exposed to so much death in a medical role for which she was not prepared.

If you selected B, you agreed with the court in Inova Alexandria Hospital v. Santora, No. No. 1837-24-2 (Va. Ct. App. 03/24/26, unpublished), which found the claim was compensable. 

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The court noted that according to the claimant, caring for COVID-19 patients caused her PTSD and major depressive disorder because she witnessed an immense amount of death in a short period of time and had no experience treating people with respiratory conditions. Moreover, her mental health provider directly linked her experience treating COVID patients to her PTSD.

Therefore, there was credible evidence to support the Commission's conclusion that the claimant’s PTSD and major depressive disorder were compensable ordinary diseases of life arising out of and in the course of her work as a nurse caring for COVID-19 patients.

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