I have hemmed and hawed for years, and with each passing year in practice, gotten more and more anxious about NOT having malpractice insurance. I had always been told "nurses who carry personal insurance are sued first," but then I had also been told that the hospital will only cover you if you followed hospital policy down to the exact letter (and we all know human error is a real thing) and will throw you under the bus the first chance they get.
I have watched coworkers go through awful lawsuits, and have had experiences at work that increasingly leave me praying at the bedside that everything turns out okay and that I don't end up in court. My line of work is just plain scary sometimes (OB). Patients are getting sicker, and pregnancies are getting more and more high risk with more and more co-morbidities that make for sometimes frightening situations at the bedside.
I have been reading through threads on this site for a few weeks trying to decide, and I finally decided that enough is enough, and that my peace of mind is worth $109 a year. I feel like a weight has been lifted. I just had to share.
Specializes in Healthcare risk management and liability.
Keep in mind you must always keep your malpractice insurance in force even when you are no longer working as a nurse. You need to keep yourself insured in keeping with the statute of limitations for lawsuits in your state. I know I have to keep mine in force in my state for 10 years, despite not even working as a nurse for the last 3 years. Malpractice insurance is not something to skimp on.
I am sorry, but this too, is incorrect. First off, of course, you will in all likelihood be covered by your employer's insurance, even for a claim that occurred years ago and after you quit there. In terms of an individual policy, you first need to determine if your individual policy is 'occurrence' or 'claims made'. The actual policy will say on it if it is occurrence or claims made. If you have an 'occurrence' policy, you are covered for any claims that occurred while the policy was in force. You are still covered for any claims that are reported even after the policy is cancelled. A 'claims made' policy covers you for any claims that occurred and were reported while the policy was in force. If you want the claims made coverage to cover any claims that occurred while the policy was in force but were not reported until after the policy was cancelled, you have to purchase an 'extended reporting endorsement', or 'tail coverage'. The combination of a claims made policy plus tail coverage turns it into an occurrence policy. Tail coverage generally costs between 150-200% of your last annual premium. Most nursing policies are 'occurrence' while most physician policies are 'claims made'.
What this means is that depending on which type of policy you have, you don't need to keep it in force after you have retired or otherwise quit providing nursing services. If you had an occurrence policy, you are covered for anything that occurred while the policy was in force regardless of when the claim is reported. If you had a claims made policy with tail coverage, you are covered for anything that occurred while the policy was in force regardless of when the claim is reported. This applies even after the policy is cancelled.
You may want to continue to pay for an individual policy even after you retire or are otherwise not providing nursing services because you want the other additional coverages, but paying for it so that you are covered for a potential claim occurring years ago should not be a reason. That is already built into the policy.
Let me emphasize however, that if you have a 'claims made' policy and do not buy the tail coverage, if a claim is reported after the policy is cancelled, you will have no coverage for that claim. I run into this on occasion with physicians who cheaped out and did not buy the tail coverage. A claim came up years later that was not reported while the policy was in force, and there is no tail coverage, so the insurance company declines to cover the claim.
Let me know if you have any questions, or you can call the agency who sold you the policy to confirm this.
I too have never known a nurse to use her Liability Insurance, and have been nursing since 1987. We were always told they go for the money, meaning the doctors, but times are changing. And, often the insurance is not enough anyway, so you could still loose your assets. However, anything that gives peace of mind is worth about $100 a year, although I have never carried it myself.
Specializes in Med/Surg, OR, Peds, Patient Education.
You have been a nurse a long time. I would like to hear of all the nurses you have known that have been sued and have their own liability insurance kick in to save them.
Please share!
The only nurse, whom I know, and was sued, along with the hospital did have her own liability/malpractice insurance. Doctors and other nurses were mentioned in the suit, too. Sadly, she left the profession, and she was a great nurse. The hospital would have lost the suit due to patient's family, it was a pediatric patient, non compliance. However, the hospital settled out of court. I do not know if the other nurses had their own malpractice insurance, but the physicians did, of course, as they were not employed by the hospital. The doctor of record left the area, and she was a great loss to the hospital, too. She left as her husband's business relocated, and therefore she, too relocated to that area, and now sees patients at a larger, more prestigious hospital.
Specializes in Healthcare risk management and liability.
^^^Having her own insurance and having that insurance kick in are of course two different things. Since the individual nursing policies are written as excess coverage, I suspect her policy was not triggered and therefore it was not used.
The only nurse, whom I know, and was sued, along with the hospital did have her own liability/malpractice insurance. Doctors and other nurses were mentioned in the suit, too. Sadly, she left the profession, and she was a great nurse. The hospital would have lost the suit due to patient's family, it was a pediatric patient, non compliance. However, the hospital settled out of court. I do not know if the other nurses had their own malpractice insurance, but the physicians did, of course, as they were not employed by the hospital. The doctor of record left the area, and she was a great loss to the hospital, too. She left as her husband's business relocated, and therefore she, too relocated to that area, and now sees patients at a larger, more prestigious hospital.
So, it seems having her own policy wasn't of much benefit.
Specializes in Med/Surg, OR, Peds, Patient Education.
So, it seems having her own policy wasn't of much benefit.
Perhaps, perhaps not. It did save her one more worry, and she gave up the profession just due to the stress of having the threat of the suit. Criticize her, if you will, but none of us know what we will do in a given situation, until we are there.
Whether or not you choose to to purchase your own insurance, is entirely up to you. I know that many RNs do choose to purchase their own, although they may or may not speak of their decisions. My close friends did carry their own insurance.
Someone mentioned, in another post, that it was wise to carry NSO or other malpractice insurance, once they left nursing, through retirement, or to pursue another field or profession, due to the ten year Statute of Limitations, during which time a suit could be instituted.
I was never sued, but very glad that I had the added protection, as we are all human, and none of us is infallible. The cost is minimal, and if it gives peace of mind, to some, it is well worth the cost.
Wow, this kind of blew up. I'll just state for the record, that despite RiskManager's obvious misgivings with my choice (edited to add: RM, I respect your opinion, we'll just have to agree to disagree here), that I am pleased with my decision.
The money is spent. The decision is made. I feel it was a good one. I am pleased. That was my intent with this thread. To share my relief and happiness.
Okee doke, just had to state that for the record. Y'all carry on.
Specializes in Healthcare risk management and liability.
Wow, this kind of blew up. I'll just state for the record, that despite RiskManager's obvious misgivings with my choice (edited to add: RM, I respect your opinion, we'll just have to agree to disagree here), that I am pleased with my decision.
The money is spent. The decision is made. I feel it was a good one. I am pleased. That was my intent with this thread. To share my relief and happiness.
Okee doke, just had to state that for the record. Y'all carry on.
For the record, I have no misgivings regarding your choice or of any other nurse who buys it. I do think it is important that people make an informed choice based on accurate information to purchase it or not. There are some coverages and some situations in which having your own policy may be very useful to you. I try to serve as a resource to provide expert knowledge on the subject and provide a counterpoint to some of the misinformation out there on this issue.
As my article says: In summary, I would recommend purchasing your own individual nursing malpractice liability policy, but don't necessarily expect that the policy will automatically provide coverage for any malpractice or licensure issues that you are involved in.
I have had NSO malpractice insurance since I graduated LVN school in 1994and upgraded when I became an RN 1999. Yes
my hospital said that Risk Management is our malpractice insurance. But like many have said they will only back you if you follow policy by the letter. I have never needed it and I pray to God I never do, but, it's just like my flood insurance I would rather have it and not need it than need it and not have it.
RiskManager
1 Article; 616 Posts
I am sorry, but this too, is incorrect. First off, of course, you will in all likelihood be covered by your employer's insurance, even for a claim that occurred years ago and after you quit there. In terms of an individual policy, you first need to determine if your individual policy is 'occurrence' or 'claims made'. The actual policy will say on it if it is occurrence or claims made. If you have an 'occurrence' policy, you are covered for any claims that occurred while the policy was in force. You are still covered for any claims that are reported even after the policy is cancelled. A 'claims made' policy covers you for any claims that occurred and were reported while the policy was in force. If you want the claims made coverage to cover any claims that occurred while the policy was in force but were not reported until after the policy was cancelled, you have to purchase an 'extended reporting endorsement', or 'tail coverage'. The combination of a claims made policy plus tail coverage turns it into an occurrence policy. Tail coverage generally costs between 150-200% of your last annual premium. Most nursing policies are 'occurrence' while most physician policies are 'claims made'.
What this means is that depending on which type of policy you have, you don't need to keep it in force after you have retired or otherwise quit providing nursing services. If you had an occurrence policy, you are covered for anything that occurred while the policy was in force regardless of when the claim is reported. If you had a claims made policy with tail coverage, you are covered for anything that occurred while the policy was in force regardless of when the claim is reported. This applies even after the policy is cancelled.
You may want to continue to pay for an individual policy even after you retire or are otherwise not providing nursing services because you want the other additional coverages, but paying for it so that you are covered for a potential claim occurring years ago should not be a reason. That is already built into the policy.
Let me emphasize however, that if you have a 'claims made' policy and do not buy the tail coverage, if a claim is reported after the policy is cancelled, you will have no coverage for that claim. I run into this on occasion with physicians who cheaped out and did not buy the tail coverage. A claim came up years later that was not reported while the policy was in force, and there is no tail coverage, so the insurance company declines to cover the claim.
Let me know if you have any questions, or you can call the agency who sold you the policy to confirm this.