Being Sued / Losing License

Nurses Professionalism

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It seems that about 2/3rds of the posts on here mention either being sued or losing your license...it doesn't seem to matter what the topic is someone makes a comment about losing your license or being sued.

I am curious as to whether this is a valid fear or whether this is part of fear-based nursing culture.

1. How many years have you been a nurse?

2. How many nurses do you know personally that have been sued?

3. How many of those nurses who were sued have had to testify in court?

4. How many of those who testified were found guilty?

5. How many nurses do you know personally who have lost their license for patient related (non-criminal) actions? (By non - criminal I mean not for cases of drug diverting or robbing a back or something where the nurse knows what they are doing is illegal and will result in losing their license)

Thanks!

Specializes in VA-BC, CRNI.

1. How many years have you been a nurse? 1

2. How many nurses do you know personally that have been sued? I did not know them when they were sued but 2

3. How many of those nurses who were sued have had to testify in court? 0, settlement

4. How many of those who testified were found guilty?

5. How many nurses do you know personally who have lost their license for patient related (non-criminal) actions? (By non - criminal I mean not for cases of drug diverting or robbing a back or something where the nurse knows what they are doing is illegal and will result in losing their license) 1 RN, 3 LPN. Signing off treatments not being performed until a pt demised, stage IV decub found in autopsy that was ruled as cause of death.

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Specializes in VA-BC, CRNI.

I really don't think lawsuits and loss of license are THAT common in Nursing but the result of such is so terrible that it warrants extreme caution.

I don't know anyone who had their house burn down but I sure as hell have smoke detectors and fire extinguishers.

I don't know anyone who has ever had tapeworm but I cook my pork all the way through.

Don't know anyone who has HIV but I sure wear a condom lol.

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I can't say anything for getting sued but if you go to the website for your state BON they sometimes have the minutes from their hearings/meetings available for download. I was surprised at the amount of nurses in these meetings who went before the board for DUI, drug diverting, practicing outside of the scope of nursing etc. I won't say there were tons, but enough to make me realize how prized my license will be to me.

Yes, but they lost their license due to stupid choices that they personally made, not because someone sued them or because of a human error. They lost their license at their own hand.

That's very different from someone losing their license to an idiot - and I'm sure that happens as well, some state wants to make an example of someone (though I'd be willing to bet that sometimes people who step outside their scope don't really do it 'intentionally' in the same way that someone who chooses to drink and drive does).

People who lose their license to their own stupidity deserve what they get.

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1. How many years have you been a nurse? 1

2. How many nurses do you know personally that have been sued? I did not know them when they were sued but 2

3. How many of those nurses who were sued have had to testify in court? 0, settlement

4. How many of those who testified were found guilty?

5. How many nurses do you know personally who have lost their license for patient related (non-criminal) actions? (By non - criminal I mean not for cases of drug diverting or robbing a back or something where the nurse knows what they are doing is illegal and will result in losing their license) 1 RN, 3 LPN. Signing off treatments not being performed until a pt demised, stage IV decub found in autopsy that was ruled as cause of death.

Number 5 scares me. For someone to die from a Stage IV takes more than ONE nurse....

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I've been a nurse for 19 years and I've never been personally involved in a suit or loss of license. One of my fellow nursing students did lose her license, I heard it was for drug use but I don't know for sure.

In my former town the HCA hospital had a massive, publisized lawsuit regarding a triage nurse who had a chest pain (mild, lasting for several hours, normal vital signs) sit in the waiting room for an hour or so. When they walked him back to exam BOOM two minutes later, he fell over, clutching his chest, major MI, couldn't save him, very sad, led to major lawsuit. The triage nurse's name was splashed all over the news, and I bet she had little if any control over the situation. I imagine she had a full ER and nowhere to put him. Anyway, for those who are interested, the suit found the patient partially at fault (smoker, hadn't seen a doc in years) but the family did get some money.

I read an interesting article once. The Japanese have a name for near errors, and they try to identify and resolve near errors before they become real errors. Americans wait til the S hits the fan, then they blame the nurse instead of the system. Using the scan system for meds is a pain, but it's saved my bacon more than once. Why don't all hospitals have them? Grocery stores do, but hospitals don't? Fatigue is a huge cause of error, yet what to they do to reduce our fatigue? 12 hour shifts are now the norm, I know you young uns love them, but wait til you get old like me. Short staffing leads to errors, but we work short staffed all the time. Why is that acceptable? Because it saves the hospital money, and unless there's a huge error (which is, remember, always the nurse's fault) they come out ahead.

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Specializes in ICU, ER.

15 years, I don't know of one nurse who was sued or lost a license.

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Specializes in critical care; community health; psych.

The fear for losing one's license is genuine in the hospital setting. Short staffing is the main culprit for the fear. It's one of the reasons I left hospital nursing. I've only personally know one nurse in 5 years who has actually lost his license and it was for being intoxicated on the job.

As for being sued, the hospital is the deep pocket. Being named as a defendant is usually part and parcel of a suit against the hospital. It's the deep pocket they're after.

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Throwing around the "It's my license and I have to protect it" is so common in the clinical setting that it makes you want to scream. It makes it look like that nurse is always on the defensive 24/7 and is extremely annoying. Yes, people lose their license but this isn't the only profession where people lose their license.

Practice good prudent nursing and overall you shouldn't have anything to worry about.

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Specializes in VA-BC, CRNI.
throwing around the "it's my license and i have to protect it" is so common in the clinical setting that it makes you want to scream. it makes it look like that nurse is always on the defensive 24/7 and is extremely annoying. yes, people lose their license but this isn't the only profession where people lose their license.

practice good prudent nursing and overall you shouldn't have anything to worry about.

i was always taught the nurse that practices defensively is the nurse that practices reasonably and prudently.

since it is not your license you really should not be upset how someone else practices defensively as long as they give reasonable and prudent care.

its like being annoyed at the driver next to you for wearing a seat belt.

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Specializes in NICU, PICU, adult med/surg, peds BMT.

19 years, no one that was named in a suit or called to court, once I received a letter from a hospital where I worked that said my accurate and complete documentation of an event that led to restraining an alcoholic man led to the case being dismissed but I wasn't named in the suit and I think it is rare that individuals are named in suits. I do know one nurse who gave a bag of insulin like an antibiotic. The patient didn't die or have immediate injury. The nurse transferred off the unit to a less acute area. No action was taken against her license. I know three nurses who collaborated in a cover up of a narcotic mistake, two of whom falsified documentation of the narcotic record were reported to the board of nursing. There was no accusation that they took the drugs but they admitted falsifying the record to cover up for the mistake. I'm not sure if they lost their license for good or were reprimanded.

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I was always taught the Nurse that practices defensively is the Nurse that practices reasonably and prudently.

Since it is not your license you really should not be upset how someone else practices defensively as long as they give reasonable and prudent care.

Its like being annoyed at the driver next to you for wearing a seat belt.

There is quite a bit difference between one who practices in a prudent and professional fashion and one who decides to stand at the desk and go on a tirade after hanging up the phone because the clinician wouldn't do what the RN wanted.

"Oh well, It's not on my license anymore." Tends to be commonly heard around the hospital and yes, it is quite irritating to hear that out of people's mouth everything they notify somebody of something.

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Specializes in Med-surg, ICU.

well, i know that there are many grounds on which a registered nurse can be sued, suspended, or get their licensed revoked. But then again, in the BSN program, nursing ethics and safe practice is studied and thoroughly taught by clinical instructors, so REGISTERED NURSES who get sued or suspended have really done some unacceptable or fatal mistakes regarding nursing care. As the law states, "the action speaks for itself."

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