Being Sued / Losing License

[Meraki]

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!

[Leelee2]

Have been a nurse for six years (LPN)

I know 2 RN's who have lost license.

One gave an epider. drug thru IV line, and killed a woman.

The other had to do with a serious head injury, initially the doctor was not

notified immediately and the patient had serious injury.

[GLORIAmunchkin72]

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

ABSOLUTELY!

[CT Pixie, BSN, RN]

1. how many years have you been a nurse? two, but have been in healthcare for 25 years

2. how many nurses do you know personally that have been sued? none, that i know of

3. how many of those nurses who were sued have had to testify in court? 1 but it wasn't due to being sued, she was in court on criminal charges for patient abuse and battery

4. how many of those who testified were found guilty? the criminal case mentioned above, she was charged by police, her license is now suspended..not sure of the outcome of her criminal trial

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) 2, both graduated from my school a couple of months before, both related to med errors. one have given a huge and potentially fatal dose of insulin (didn't pull up the insulin in an insulin syringe did it with an im syringe therefore pulled up in ml instead of the insulin unit dosing, patient lived,nurse lost license) the other worked in the same facility, again a grevious med error. she lost her license too.

i know of far, far too many nurses who've lost their license after med diversion (not a one time diversion..after having their licenses suspended, going through rehab and all the things that the bon wanted them to do, only to get a job again and divert yet again) so sad.

[BittyBabyGrower, MSN, RN]

I've been a nurse for 24 some years now and I have been called to testify at 5 cases. Most of the time it is the hospital being sued, not the individual unless they did harm. I've only known of 2 nurses that got their license yanked, but it was from the board of nursing, not due to a lawsuit.

[salsa12]

It tells me something that while some doctors pay tens of thousands of dollars a year for their Liability Insurance, nurses can get theirs for about $100.00. That said, I'm always thinking about the potential lawsuit, like a lot of other nurses. What really spooks me are the potential minefields we must navigate all the time and they don't even occur to us until it may be too late. Having insurance gives me some peace of mind, at least.

[darynash]

I only know one person that lost their license and it was for an illegal act. No, I take that back. I remember hearing about one nurse in a hospital I worked at that ended up losing her license after running an entire bag of heparin in like an antibiotic. But I didn't know her personally so it could have a rumor. I did, however, take care of that patient about a year later and see how paranoid he was about medication and he told me point blank it happened to him and he nearly died so I totally believe that the heparin was run in like that. What happened to her, can't say but she's not a nurse at ____ anymore.

I do know a few that have had to testify in suits and who have possible suits looming over there heads. All of them are OR nurses that except one was an L&D nurse.

And how is this for something that nobody got sued over?? A very close friend of mine went into preterm labor and had to be transported out of a local hospital that I worked at prn. It was a smallish hospital and there was no eMAR or scan system in the L&D side of things. She was stabalized with a mag sulfate drip and sent to a hospital about 45 mins down the road with a NICU in the back on an ambulance. The husband was sent home to get some clothes for her and told not to rush. She gets to the hospital and as she is being checked by the resident they notice she's totally dialated and PITOCIN is infusing into her!!!!! whiskey. tango. foxtrot.

Excuse me, I have made med errors. But really? REALLY? Doesn't emtala or common sense or something mandate that more than one person visualize what is infusing into a patient you are about to transport?

So I went back to work the next night thinking the crap was going to hit the fan and thinking it totally should. The nurse in question did not lose her job but I cannot say if she was disciplined. We didn't get a scanning system in L&D. It seemed like nothing was done. Maybe it was me being naive in thinking something big would happen after that. The friend and her husband were told by a lawyer that because the baby survived and spent only about five weeks in a NICU and then a stepdown nursery that there was no point in bringing a suit. I was shocked. They wouldn't get a second opinion no matter how many of our friends implored them to.

I was torn. What a massive error! OMG. I have never made an error like that (knock on wood!) and I hope to God I never do. Of coure my knee jerk reaction is to say "What a fool! Take her license before she kills someone!" But you never know what was going on and what if it had been me in that position.... The same process break down that causes a little med error can cause a big one, right? The eMAR scanner has saved me more than once and this nurse didn't have that luxury. Then again, I've worked with a paper mar doing insulin, dopamine, cardizem, heparin drips and never come close to making that kind of error. Whatever happened, I hope now she is the most obsessive, check and recheck, triple check, check this for me, wouldya? kind of nurse there is

She gets to the hospital and as she is being checked by the resident they notice she's totally dialated and PITOCIN is infusing into her!!!!!

If a full bag had infused at this rate, the uterus would have been in a constant contraction and the baby would not have survived.

[island40]

how many years have you been a nurse? 17

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

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

4. how many of those who testified were found guilty? 1

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) client died and aprn license was suspended for 6 mos. i have never known any nurse to lose their license for non-criminal actions - i have known several fellow nurses to lose their license due to drug use.

[aura_of_laura]

I've personally known two nurses who lost their licenses - one for diversion, one for stabbing a patient with a pen. A few others have been reported to the BON by their hospital for negligent behavior, and though I don't know the results of those cases, they're still working as nurses. I've never known a nurse to be sued or lose a license for anything that wasn't a really obvious infraction (i.e. stabbing one's patient).

[GitanoRN, BSN, MSN, RN]

how many years have you been a nurse? 40

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

3. how many of those nurses who were sued have had to testify in court? 1

4. how many of those who testified were found guilty? 0

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) 0

[tthor5220]

I have been a nurse 16 years. I know one nurse who testified on the stand in a case, however I know no nurse that was sued or lost their license. I believe it is a very rare occurance, especially when you consider nurses have such a relatively large population in the healthcare field.

[Orca, ADN, ASN, RN]

1. How many years have you been a nurse? 15

2. How many nurses do you know personally that have been sued? Several, and I have been sued myself - but I work in corrections, which increases the likelihood of this because inmates can file lawsuits for free, generally. A good many of the suits are frivolous and never make it to court - including mine (when you have documentation that directly refutes what is alleged, it's frivolous).

3. How many of those nurses who were sued have had to testify in court? None

4. How many of those who testified were found guilty? None

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) Two.

[Esme12, ASN, BSN, RN]

I've been one of the nurses who has been sued. Since they named ALL the nurses on the unit that shift in the suit I also know several others who have been sued. Since I never cared for the patient and was actively caring for another critical patient at the time of the incident I was able to be dropped from the suit after giving a deposition. However I still had to retain a lawyer and go through all the stress before being dropped.

It doesn't matter whether you do anything wrong or not - you can still be sued. Doesn't mean you'll lose the suit but it's still something I wouldn't ever want to go through again so I take it very seriously and will do what I can both to avoid the circumstances and to document with the thought in mind at all times that a lawyer could be reviewing it.

Never hedge your bets......the risk is too great you can lose everything.....CARRY malpractice insurance!...It is cheap and can save your butt!. I have been a nurse for 30 years (non stop) I have known nurses to be sued; trauma patient in old halo tx...got a decub on his ear and needed plastic surgery..sued for neglect..won, nurse gave a med at the screaming direction of MD in code situation--not a drug given by nurses, sued and fired and lost liscence. It happends the latter was a really good nurse in a really bad dire situation with a charge nurse who hated her and was good friend with the family.......it happends more than you think because no one admits...Hey I was sued and lost my livelyhood and I hurt someone in the process! and hospitals always look to the little guy to take the fall and it starts off with the first wiff of Uh OH...