Ever had to personally pay out on lawsuit by being the RN?

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Just wondering - how many have been named defendant in lawsuit in which you had to pay personally for being the RN w/bad outcome even if bad outcome was not due to bad nursing. I work L&D and am really worried about a particular case. Thanks!

I don't think that individual nurses get sued too often but it does happen...I recently reviewed a med record for a defense firm..the facility was being sued for several things but an nurse was being sued for giving a prn medication for the wrong reason (Many times I might add)..ALL nurses should and do (I would assume) know what this medication is for..Unfortunately this med is also known to bottom out the B/P...there was an accident related to hypotension and the pt died...the facility is not behind the nurse on this one..the nurse has a responsibility to know what a medication is for and give it appropriately..resulted in termination, law suit and action against the license..I asked if the particular nurse had any sort of insurance...No..Life is probably looking pretty bad about now..when I was clinically active I always had it..if you ever go out of your scope or don't follow protocol the facility is not required to back you. I have noticed that the facility is always named as a co defendent (deep pockets) but many will throw you to the wolves if it was the individuals negligence.

Just for education purposes, what med are you talking about, and what was it given for or not given properly for?

Nitro..given PO (mistake number one) times 3 on day one, times 2 on day two and times 3 on day three..why?? for lower abdominal pain?? results.."no relief" now isn't that suprising? Actually result is BP bottomed out, there was a fall and then there was a death..unfortunately indefensible. The drop in BP could have occurred anyways but we don't know that and since the med causes low BP AND it was not given correctly nor for the correct reason, this nurse is toast..

Note to nursing students: DON'T EVER GIVE A MEDICATION THAT YOU DON'T KNOW. TAKE THE TIME TO LOOK IT UP, KNOW WHY IT IS GIVEN FOR YOUR PARTICULAR PATIENT, AND KNOW THE SIDE EFFECTS. YOUR LICENSE (and their lives) ARE IN YOUR HANDS.

awesome advice susan...

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