Area of Least/Most Lawsuits in Nursing...

[Gottago]

What do you think is the area of least and/or most lawsuits in nursing? Given: no area in nursing is immune to lawsuits concerning their liability.

Wondering if a person were able to review all lawsuits involving nurses, in which their liability was in question, which areas would have the most/least lawsuits.

I'll start the ball by saying I think school nurses have the least amount of lawsuits. In their defense, my sister is a school nurse, and she would be livid if I were to suggest this. But, she enjoys a healthy debate every now and then.

[Sheri257]

Just to follow up on my previous post ...

I was also in a situation just the other day where I had to fill in for the above mentioned RN because she had to go to court for the above mentioned lawsuit. I had to see 30 inmates that day and with just about EVERY chart I opened up ... nothing was getting done. Meds hadn't been refilled for weeks, MD orders weren't being followed, etc.

An inmate with a heart condition hadn't been seen for weeks. Nobody had bothered to do an EKG but as soon as I saw the EKG I knew he was in trouble ... I sent him to our ER and the MD sent immediately sent him to the hospital for treatment.

No wonder she was being sued. I had to stay late and work extra hours the following day as well to make sure everything that fell into my lap got done. Because now MY LICENSE was on the line. Maybe this is just a corrections thing but, I'm always surprized at how people blow this stuff off. But I take it VERY seriously.

An ounce of prevention = pound of cure, hopefully. I'll probably still get sued anyway just because these inmates are so litigious but, I work really hard to avoid it.

[Sheri257]

I've been told L&D is the most litigious area of nursing.

L&D is probably a high risk area just because the damages for death/injury of child is going to be a lot greater than a 70 year old. Also, in California, if the parents fail to sue on the child's behalf then the child can come back and sue you for damages once they are an adult so ... that probably increases the litigation risk also.

The risk also seems to vary by state. Texas RN insurance premiums are higher and the coverage is much more limited there ... same for NP's in Florida apparently because the insurance companies have had to pay more claims there.

:uhoh21:

[EmmaG, RN]

On our onc unit we had a lawsuit come up rather quickly (within weeks after caring for this patient). The wife claimed that we had neglected to turn and monitor her husband, leading to skin breakdown. Funny thing happened during the discovery process though... turns out the admitting nurse had done an extremely thorough job describing and measuring what turned out to be existing breakdown (which, in the suit, the wife claimed wasn't there before he came to our floor--- from home...). It also was found that due to our care, the condition of his skin had actually improved by the time he was discharged.

Oopsy!

[EmmaG, RN]

I was trying to google this, but I can't seem to find it... our clin/spec ordered these rolls of clear plastic grids. We'd place them directly over the patient's skin, trace the breakdown (or alteration) and write on the bottom of the plastic sheet indicating the color, drainage, depth, tunneling, etc. The backing would peel off and then we'd place it on a progress note in the chart. It gave us (and the docs) an exact size and description of the wound/breakdown. It was great and what stopped the above lawsuit in its tracks. I've not seen it used in any other hospital, though. Wish I could remember what it was called...

[RNDreamer]

I was told that Radiology nursing had the least risk for law suits. Doyou agree?

[banditrn]

Just to follow up on my previous post ...

I was also in a situation just the other day where I had to fill in for the above mentioned RN because she had to go to court for the above mentioned lawsuit. I had to see 30 inmates that day and with just about EVERY chart I opened up ... nothing was getting done. Meds hadn't been refilled for weeks, MD orders weren't being followed, etc.

An inmate with a heart condition hadn't been seen for weeks. Nobody had bothered to do an EKG but as soon as I saw the EKG I knew he was in trouble ... I sent him to our ER and the MD sent immediately sent him to the hospital for treatment.

No wonder she was being sued. I had to stay late and work extra hours the following day as well to make sure everything that fell into my lap got done. Because now MY LICENSE was on the line. Maybe this is just a corrections thing but, I'm always surprized at how people blow this stuff off. But I take it VERY seriously.

An ounce of prevention = pound of cure, hopefully. I'll probably still get sued anyway just because these inmates are so litigious but, I work really hard to avoid it.

Do you think that she thought that since they were in jail that they didn't deserve attention? If so, shame on her.

[teeituptom, BSN, RN]

The least is me