Malpractice insurance

Nurses General Nursing

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Specializes in ED, Cardiac-step down, tele, med surg.

I was recently told that it was advisable to not have private and that it is better to be covered by the facility at my current job. This goes against everything I have been told in nursing school and by other nurses. In fact, I have always had my own private insurance. Can anyone shed some light on the issue. I would hate to have an issue arise if God forbid there was a lawsuit. Thanks.

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I was recently told that it was advisable to not have private malpractice insurance and that it is better to be covered by the facility at my current job. This goes against everything I have been told in nursing school and by other nurses. In fact, I have always had my own private insurance. Can anyone shed some light on the issue. I would hate to have an issue arise if God forbid there was a lawsuit. Thanks.

You are most likely still covered by your facility, but let's take a quick look at what happens if you make a mistake that is found to be your fault that causes significant harm or death to a patient. How well do you think your facility will back you? Do you want an attorney who may have the interest of your facility and not your best interest representing you? What if your facility hangs you out to dry and makes you the scapegoat for a problem that they created?

Is it worth saving $100 now to find out that you wish you had your own attorney (that you can't afford) to defend your license? THAT is why I carry my own insurance. Peace of mind.

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Specializes in retired LTC.

For a paltry $100 or so (about $8.50 a month) you've bought yourself legal coverage JUST IN CASE!!!

And that coverage is for YOU and you alone in YOUR best interest.

I've never worked without it even though I never needed it. I knew it was there.

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Who was it that told you this?

I have seen many nurses get "thrown under the bus" by employers who were looking for someone to blame for a bad outcome. The hospital's attorneys are being paid to represent the best interests of the facility/employer, not yours; I would never be willing to take legal advice from my employer's attorneys about anything important.

My father, a physician, advised me back when I was in nursing school to never trust an employer to protect my interests, and to never work without my own , and everything I've seen in 30 years of nursing practice has just proven what excellent advice that was. I've never worked a day without my own coverage, and I never would.

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Specializes in ED, Cardiac-step down, tele, med surg.
Who was it that told you this?

It was the documentation specialist at my new job. I was very surprised, because I have always been advised just the opposite. In nursing school, many nurses stressed having our own. But this documentation specialists said that it was best to be covered by the facility, that they would have more coverage and it would be better to have one lawyer.

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Specializes in OR, Nursing Professional Development.

I was shocked when a video clip for school featured an RN with a law degree to boot who said nurses didn't need to carry their own insurance. Why?

1) The hospital is going to be looking out for the hospital, not me.

2) The hospital is very unlikely to cover me for a lawsuit that is filed after I've moved on.

3) Peace of mind- someone on my side, looking out for only me. And they are there for things other than lawsuits filed against a facility- BON hearings and other things.

I'm looking out for my #1 (me) by having insurance; the hospital's insurance will be looking out for their #1, and that ain't me.

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Specializes in pediatrics; PICU; NICU.

I was told in a nursing orientation at one of my former jobs that nurses should always carry their own liability protection because if something happens the hospital's policy might cover you but if there's a settlement & the hospital decides what happened was the nurse's fault, the hospital can then turn around & sue the nurse.

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You are pretty much told loud and clear about what hospitals will do if anything happens. They will pursue their own safety and benefit when things go south and you will be one of the first they will dispose.

I am pretty careful in how I use my money, so before I purchased my first last month through NSO, I read every posts and threads about insurances on this forum, and there is a loud, clear single point about it: GET IT. It cost me $108 for the whole year, and it's covered by occurrence, which means it's covered for life whether I continue the coverage in later years or not; that's more than a bargain in my opinion for that money.

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Specializes in Emergency Nursing.

When I was in nursing school one of my teachers told the whole class to not get . Since I was already a LPN, I already had it. I knew better. She fed the whole, "You are covered by the hospital if you follow protocol" speech. Needless to say that is one piece of advice from my teacher that I did not follow.

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Specializes in Nephrology, Cardiology, ER, ICU.

The hospital will tell you this as they have their own interests to protect. They dint want to bother with your attorney, they will throw you under the bus and walk away.

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Specializes in Critical Care, ED, Cath lab, CTPAC,Trauma.
It was the documentation specialist at my new job. I was very surprised, because I have always been advised just the opposite. In nursing school, many nurses stressed having our own. But this documentation specialists said that it was best to be covered by the facility, that they would have more coverage and it would be better to have one lawyer.
Right....that is so they have a scapegoat to toss under the bus as the "corrective action taken" and not have to worry about you getting a lawyer and fighting them on wrongful termination....or...having to spend more money because they have no one to throw under the bus and being found (rightfully) at fault because of unsafe conditions/staffing issues.

The hospital DOES NOT have tor best interest at heart.

NEVER go without .

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Specializes in Critical Care, ED, Cath lab, CTPAC,Trauma.
You are pretty much told loud and clear about what hospitals will do if anything happens. They will pursue their own safety and benefit when things go south and you will be one of the first they will dispose.

I am pretty careful in how I use my money, so before I purchased my first liability insurance last month through NSO, I read every posts and threads about insurances on this forum, and there is a loud, clear single point about it: GET IT. It cost me $108 for the whole year, and it's covered by occurrence, which means it's covered for life whether I continue the coverage in later years or not; that's more than a bargain in my opinion for that money.

I carried them for 35 years.
it's covered by occurrence, which means it's covered for life whether I continue the coverage in later years or not;

This is HUGE and very important!

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