Malpractice Insurance

Nurses General Nursing

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When a nurse makes a mistake it can be the difference of life or death. I know that if you work under a hospital with your license they cover you with some insurance but is that really enough? Should nurses carry ?

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absolutely. Best $100 piece of mind ever spent.

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absolutely. Best $100 piece of mind ever spent.

The fact that it is only $100 tells me that it isn't very beneficial.

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I used to always get it. However, I read an article here by "risk manager" that finally changed my mind. You should do a search for it and give it a read.

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No nurses are low risk which makes the insurance inexpensive. My policy offers a several million dollar limit. I'm also an insurance agent (property and casualty) so I see what happens when people don't have enough insurance and I won't risk it.

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Specializes in M/S, LTC, Corrections, PDN & drug rehab.
The fact that it is only $100 tells me that it isn't very beneficial.

By that thinking you shouldn't have car insurance if it's cheap either. But to each their own.

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Specializes in Healthcare risk management and liability.

https://allnurses.com/general-nursing-discussion/one-healthcare-risk-999441.html

Read the article and let me know if you have any followup questions. Pay careful attention to the part about how it is excess coverage over your employment, and thus it will probably never be triggered to provide you coverage. TL;DR: I recommend the CNA policy sold by NSO and others but there are significant coverage limitations such that you will probably not have coverage under the policy for a malpractice claim or BON investigation. Everyone thinks that if they are peripherally involved in a malpractice claim or named in a BON investigation that the insurance company will provide them with their own attorney to look out for their interests, and this is simply wrong. If you call NSO and ask them this very question, they will confirm your policy will likely not be triggered and you will not have counsel representing you. Your own individual policy will very rarely be triggered, and this is why the coverage is so cheap: relatively few claims are paid out. But read the entire article.

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Specializes in M/S, LTC, Corrections, PDN & drug rehab.
https://allnurses.com/general-nursing-discussion/one-healthcare-risk-999441.html

Read the article and let me know if you have any followup questions. Pay careful attention to the part about how it is excess coverage over your employment, and thus it will probably never be triggered to provide you coverage. TL;DR: I recommend the CNA policy sold by NSO and others but there are significant coverage limitations such that you will probably not have coverage under the policy for a malpractice claim or BON investigation. Everyone thinks that if they are peripherally involved in a malpractice claim or named in a BON investigation that the insurance company will provide them with their own attorney to look out for their interests, and this is simply wrong. If you call NSO and ask them this very question, they will confirm your policy will likely not be triggered and you will not have counsel representing you. Your own individual policy will very rarely be triggered, and this is why the coverage is so cheap: relatively few claims are paid out. But read the entire article.

I do private duty & don't think they provide . If I worked for a hospital or new for a fact they had liability coverage, I wouldn't have purchased my liability insurance.

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Specializes in Healthcare risk management and liability.
I do private duty & don't think they provide liability insurance. If I worked for a hospital or new for a fact they had liability coverage, I wouldn't have purchased my liability insurance.

If you work for a private duty agency, and get a paycheck from them, they may have for the employees. If you do private duty on your own, you are absolutely correct that having your own individual policy is essential, since there is no other coverage for you.

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Specializes in M/S, LTC, Corrections, PDN & drug rehab.
If you work for a private duty agency, and get a paycheck from them, they may have liability insurance for the employees. If you do private duty on your own, you are absolutely correct that having your own individual policy is essential, since there is no other coverage for you.

There is no talk of liability coverage in the company but I also haven't asked.

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By that thinking you shouldn't have car insurance if it's cheap either. But to each their own.

What I meant was, if they charge you $100 for a year, they probably aren't paying out many claims.

If I sold insurance covering damage to your kitchen appliances from stampeding elephants, I could do so very cheaply because I'm not going to be paying out very often.

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Specializes in M/S, LTC, Corrections, PDN & drug rehab.
What I meant was, if they charge you $100 for a year, they probably aren't paying out many claims.

If I sold insurance covering damage to your kitchen appliances from stampeding elephants, I could do so very cheaply because I'm not going to be paying out very often.

That still makes no sense. So if I could get car insurance for that much, does it mean that same & I shouldn't get it?

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