Do all Nurses need Malpractice Insurance

[beatrice1]

I am a new Nurse, just started working for homecare company. I have heard that Nurses should have thier own insurance to cover themselves. Does everyone recommend this? and how/where can I find out more about it?

Thanks,

Bea

[nurse2033, MSN, RN]

Yes you should, costs around $100 per year. Do a search and you will find a plethora of threads about this.

[STL2008, RN]

Yes is recommend it. I got mine through NSO

[caliotter3]

Any nurse who practices nursing needs malpractice insurance. A good source of information is the NSO website. This is one of the major providers. They have a section about actual cases and lots of educational material on their site. http://www.nso.com

[Sun0408, ASN, RN]

I wouldn't work without it.. NSO is the company I use and its less than 100.00 a year..

[JulieCVICURN, BSN, RN]

Very few in my facility carry their own insurance. Our facility asks nurse to not do so. I won't get into the details, but I would base it on your facility and your own comfort level. I am comfortable with my facility's commitment to covering it's nurses. I don't need a lecture, mind you, about how naive I am to trust them. Suffice it to say I am comfortable with the decision I've made to not carry my own malpractice insurance.

[classicdame, MSN, EdD]

you only NEED it if you get sued.

That said, try your homeowner's or renter's insurance agent. They are in the liability ins. business

[nurseprnRN, BSN, RN]

problem is that if your hospital has a judgment against them for something you did, they don't pay it, their insurance carrier pays it. and then, no matter what the hospital promises you, the insurance carrier is entitled by law to recover their losses...from you. my dad wrote insurance on hospitals for years and told me never, never, never go "bare" (without my own insurance) unless i was perfectly comfortable living under a bridge, with no real estate, no money, and no car.

yeah, i know, there are laws protecting some assets under bankruptcy. but they could garnish your wages more or less in perpetuity, and that wreaks hell with your credit rating. you wanna deal c that? not i, since decent malpractice insurance is good for short money.

make sure the policy you buy is clear to you: does it cover you only while it's in force (while you're still paying for it), or does it cover you for things that happened while you were paying for it in the past, even if you aren't working now and don't think you need insurance? be sure it pays for your own lawyer, too, or supplies one to defend you (never, never rely on the hospital's lawyer to defend you-- conflict of interest there; they do not have your best interests at heart no matter what they say).

[chrisdshea]

Nurse Service Organization (NSO) is the best option I have found and it give a discount for new nurses. Usually around $50 depending on your home state. While I never expect to have to use it, I won't work without it.

[wooh, BSN, RN]

Do ALL nurses need it? Nope. If you've won the lotto and decided not to work anymore, you can safely cancel it. But otherwise? The ~$100/yr is well worth my piece of mind.

[Ruthfarmer]

YES. Having coordinated med mal defense and having worked as a Medical Malpractice investigator for the State of Louisiana, I will say categorically and emphatically that each and every nurse should have his/her own medical malpractice insurance coverage.

Some facilities and their malpractice insurance companies will throw a nurse to the wolves in a heart beat. It all comes down to the dollar. Years of good devoted employment won't amount to a hill of beans. It doesn't matter how good a working relationship you have with your administration, liability litigation decisions are made in the facility's or agency's best interest. The nurse seldom figures into the equation.

NSO offers good coverage at a reasonable price.

[Flo., BSN, RN]

I heard that the only nurse that doesn't need malpractice insurance is one that works for the VA. As it would be extremely hard to sue the government. Anyone else hear this?