Nonfatal injuries and illnesses resulting in days off work among nurses up 291 percent in 2020

In 2020, there were 78,740 cases of nonfatal workplace injuries and illnesses that resulted in at least one day away from work among registered nurses in private industry. This was a 290.8-percent increase, about four times as many cases, compared with 2019, when there were 20,150 such cases. The increase in days away from work cases for registered nurses in private industry was driven by a drastic increase in cases due to exposure to harmful substances or environments. There were 660 of these cases in 2019 and 55,750 in 2020. Cases of work-related COVID-19 were coded within this category.

Among the states, the largest percentage increases in private industry days away from work cases for registered nurses from 2019 to 2020 were in Illinois (522.2 percent), Missouri (591.7 percent), New Jersey (705.9 percent), Iowa (937.5 percent), and Michigan (1,007.1 percent).

These data are from the Injuries, Illnesses, and Fatalities program. To learn more about injuries and illnesses in the workplace, see “Employer-reported Workplace Injuries and Illnesses – 2020.” Also see more charts on nonfatal work injuries and illnesses page. Explanation of events or exposure is in the Occupational Injury and Illness Classification Manual. Information on how COVID-19 is reflected in the nonfatal injury and illness data is in our COVID-19 Fact Sheet.