[Hopefull2009]

Here is what we are told in class:

1. A hospital's policy...you can't view it or know it's true coverage, so you don't know how much you are really covered or what exceptions there are to coverage. You only know what they tell you.

2. If the hospital feels you made a mistake or didn't follow procedure, you are on your own.

3. You need a policy to pay for an attorney to be consulted with or to go with you to the BON if your license is at risk....no hospital policy will cover that.

4. If your hospital's policy doesn't cover you for any reason, you can be personally sued.

5. It is a MYTH that you are more likely to be sued if you have insurance. Most hospitals do not require RN's to carry their own liability insurance...therefore, you are not required to turn a copy in or to even tell the hospital that you have it....so exactly how is an attorney supposed to figure out IF you have insurance and figure out WHERE you have insurance....and insurance companies are forbidden from releasing that information.

[Miami NightNurse]

Elkpark you are probably right. I've just never had that experience. And you are right I'm probably just very lucky. The one law suit I was involved in, the hospital was very supportive of all the nurses called into the suit. But I can see a hospital blaming the nurse in a heartbeat if it got them off the hook-that's human nature.

[whoofers]

Does anyone know if you can take out 2 separate {through 2 different companies} nursing malpractice policies? I am about to start my first travel nurse job and the company just told me that I have to have a policy to show them. I do not want them to know I have one. In order to protect myself if they were to try and defer liability onto me, I would like to be able to get another one to show them, and reserve my original one to advocate on MY behalf if anything should come up. Does this sound feasable?

[elkpark]

Originally Posted by whoofers

Does anyone know if you can take out 2 separate {through 2 different companies} nursing malpractice policies? I am about to start my first travel nurse job and the company just told me that I have to have a policy to show them. I do not want them to know I have one. In order to protect myself if they were to try and defer liability onto me, I would like to be able to get another one to show them, and reserve my original one to advocate on MY behalf if anything should come up. Does this sound feasable?

Not only doesn't it sound feasible, I don't get the point at all. Even if the travel company knows you have a policy (and I've had several employers, not travel companies, who required me to prove that I have my own coverage. I don't really get the whole "don't ever let anyone know you have insurance!" thing -- I've been in nursing for almost 25 years, in a few different states, and I've never heard that anywhere other than on this board), if something happens that requires you to have legal representation, you're still going to have your own representation, regardless of whether your employer knows about your coverage.

Also, what you suggest raises the ugly spectre of you finding yourself in a tight spot and needing legal representation, and the two companies each arguing that the other company should have to pay out in an attempt to avoid incurring the expense.

I just don't see the point of anything that mysterious and convoluted. Maybe someone who does will come along and respond.