No, Canadian nurses aren't subjected to the same degree of litigation as nurses in the US. Canadian litigation law is quite different and it's much harder to pursue litigation for medical malpractice in Canada. Plus, the awards are miniscule compared to those in the US, so it's usually not worth it to the injured party. For example, the award for wrongful death in Canada is $100,000. After legal fees and court costs, there's not much left. Geography and demographics have an effect too; a lot of low-frequency high-acuity care is provided on a regional basis rather than in every hospital. Pediatric cardiac surgery for all of western Canada is performed in Edmonton. Bone marrow transplants are done in Winnipeg and Calgary and so on. I know a family who wished to file a med mal suit against a physician who practiced in another province. This physician had been the primary physcian for their child while the child underwent transplant surgery, and as a result of "medical misadventure" the child suffered multiple thrombotic stokes, which caused severe cognitive impairment and physical disability. They had to seek out a lawyer in the other province who would be willing to look at the case. The laywer told them that although the province was one that allowed contingency litigation, that didn't mean that there would be no direct and ongoing costs to the family during the discovery and trial. They would be required to pay the day-to-day costs of obtaining copies of the medical chart, the administrative expenses the office would incur as the case progressed, and so on. Did they have at least $100,000 they could commit to this endeavor? Of course they didn't so they dropped the idea. I know this is alittle different fromwhat you asked, but it serves to explain why nurses in Canada are a little safer from litigation.
The Canadian Nurses' Protective Society (CNPS) is the main provider of malpractice insurance for Canadian nurses. The premiums are included in the annual registration fee charged by each province. (That helps explain why they're so high, compared to other jursidictions.) I would wager that there are many nurses who don't even realise they have coverage from CNPS because it's not advertised in a major way. But all registered nurses in Canada are covered whether they know it or not. If a situation arises that is referred to a union, like an unfit-to-practice complaint, the union will inform the individual of the CNPS and how to contact them. Their web-site is quite detailed. See:
http://www.cnps.ca/brochure/cnpsbrochure_e.pdf. They also offer add-on insurance CNPS Plus which is mainly designed for nurses who are in independent practice (nurse practitioners, independent contractors etc.) to augment the services provided through CNPS Basic coverage. Ontario has their own NurseInsure plan for this purpose.
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