She settled at 15% disability, but the only rating the statute counted was 3%
A nurse who injured her neck assisting a patient learned that the wrong number on a medical form can matter more than the right diagnosis.
The Tennessee Court of Workers' Compensation Claims ruled on September 9, 2026, that the worker could not access extraordinary relief - despite two physicians assigning a 15% impairment rating. The statute required that threshold to come from her authorized treating physician, who had assigned just 3%.
The worker was employed by Critical Nurse Staffing as a licensed practical nurse, caring for patients in their homes - lifting them, driving them to appointments, helping with feeding, cleaning, and cooking. On July 9, 2022, she felt a pop in her neck while helping a patient, followed by pain and tingling into her left arm.
Her treating physician diagnosed a disc herniation with cervical radiculopathy and performed a three-level cervical fusion in April 2023. Numbness and tingling persisted. He placed her at maximum medical improvement in October 2023, assigned a 3% impairment, and released her without restrictions.
Two independent evaluations told a different story. Both returned a 15% impairment. Both noted the treating physician had classified the injury as a cervical sprain or strain - not the disc herniation he had surgically treated. One called the 3% rating "clearly wrong."
The parties settled on a 15% permanent partial disability award with future...
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