A nurse advocate says nurses should consider purchasing liability insurance

In a occupation that involves frequent contact with patients, nursing can even end in liability, in response to Nurse.com legal information columnist Nancy J. Brent, MS, JD, RN. For this reason, “every nurse should have their own insurance,” Brent said. We met with Brent, who offers useful details about skilled liability insurance, or so-called medical malpractice insurancethat each nurse should know.

Q: Do most nurses have basic insurance through their employers?

Healthcare employees are sometimes mechanically included within the group. However, it is usually value asking to make sure.

Q: Why should nurses consider purchasing their very own individual skilled liability insurance?

A: I even have at all times supported nurses carrying their very own skilled liability insurance policies as individuals because nurses are so involved in patient care. Nurses are crucial. They carry loads of potential responsibility on their shoulders because they’re there 24/7. While it’s nice when your employer provides you with coverage through a gaggle policy, there are advantages to having a policy that covers just you. Only you’re covered by your personal policy, which suggests you’ve access to additional limits and other policy protections.

Q: How is individual nurse insurance coverage different?

A: Nurses are playing an increasingly necessary role in practice. For example, in lots of states they will diagnose, treat, and prescribe medications. Thus, their role in patient care is way more involved than that of the RN. In some states, they’ve complete independence within the treatment of their patients. If you’re a licensed NP, your liability insurance policy should expressly reflect this increased skill level in order that your policy will cover your entire scope of practice should you are sued.

Q: What variety of protection should individual skilled liability insurance cover? And how can nurses ensure they’re adequately covered?

A: A nurse should consider several various factors if he or she intends to buy her or his own malpractice insurance.

The very first thing to contemplate is the variety of policy you prefer to to have – in other words, whether you favor a claims-based or an occurrence-based policy.

The Claims Claims Policy only covers claims made in the course of the policy period. Therefore, if a lawsuit is filed after a nurse leaves an employer, it can not be covered since the claim was not filed in the course of the policy period. An incidental policy is easier but is costlier since it covers a claim so long as the alleged damage occurred in the course of the policy period. This could be very necessary to have a look at. Another consideration is the quantity of insurance the nurse will need.

The limit of liability is the quantity the policy pays for a settlement or judgment resulting from a claim. The best rule of thumb is to ensure that your restrictions are consistent with others in your occupation and region.

Another feature to search for is whether or not the nurse has a say within the consequence of the case reasonably than taking it to trial. These rights wouldn’t be included within the employer’s policy. Nurses can be sure that the policy they select provides adequate protection by fastidiously reading the proposed policy before signing it, checking what different insurance firms include of their skilled liability policies, contacting colleagues who purchase their very own policies, and asking questions of a certified skilled insurance. Open lines of communication together with your insurance representative help ensure you’ve peace of mind and are properly protected of their specific practice area.

Q: What about exclusions, rights and obligations related to skilled liability policies?

A: When it involves policy exclusions, many insurance policies don’t cover criminal charges against a nurse. They won’t cover punitive damages, that are sometimes awarded along with the actual damages owed to a plaintiff for particularly reckless or willful conduct. It will even not cover any services provided outside the scope of the nurse’s license. The nurse also has rights and obligations under the policy. There is generally an obligation to notify the insurance company (employer or individual) if a lawsuit may arise or has been filed. It is your responsibility to cooperate together with your insurer by providing documents when requested and to help in your defense.

The insurer’s obligations include the duty to defend, the duty to notify the policyholder of any changes to the policy, and the duty to cover expenses and judgments covered by the policy.

Q: Does having individual skilled liability insurance help nurses with disciplinary cases before boards of nursing?

Oh yes. These are the named insured individuals. One of an important things that a person policy provides a nurse that an employer’s policy doesn’t is defense against board investigations. This signifies that for the worth of your policy, you get a lawyer to represent you. This is the major profit. Disciplinary proceedings are expensive, especially if the case goes to trial, and may drag on for a very long time.

I’d say that in all of the years I even have defended skilled liability cases, only half of the nurses I represented had their very own skilled liability policy. Others didn’t do that, so that they paid all the prices of the proceedings, including attorneys’ fees, out of their very own pockets.

Q: What disciplinary actions may be taken against nurses?

A: The Board may initiate investigations for errors in patient care or documentation – whether or not they end in patient injury – mishandling of patient records, breach of confidentiality obligations, illegal use of medicines, performance of activities outside the scope of skilled practice, failure to stick to the principles of nursing practice in accordance with established standards of nursing practice, and unprofessional conduct. It is value noting that some boards of nursing may investigate unethical conduct unrelated to patient care. One example from California involved a nurse convicted of driving inebriated. The nurse defended herself by claiming that the decision had nothing to do with nursing. The state board of nursing disciplined RNs, maintaining that an expert must conduct himself or herself professionally in any respect times. The information contained in this text is for educational purposes only and shouldn’t be construed as legal or other advice. If you wish legal advice, please seek the advice of a lawyer.