Hospital professional liability coverage?

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If you are named in a lawsuit while working for a facility and then leave the facilty before the case is closed will you still have rights to legal representaion under their professional liabilty insurance carrier.

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Specializes in Complex pedi to LTC/SA & now a manager.

Depends on the type of policy, but there are times when the answer is no,you would not be covered once you leave the job. Hence why it is important to have your own professional malpractice/liability policy to protect your own interests and license.

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Specializes in Hospital Education Coordinator.

do not plan on the hospital paying premiums for your benefit. You need your own insurance. The hospital's policy is there to protect them, not you

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The hospital can choose not to cover you under its insurance even if you're continuously employed there through the time the incident happened and the time the case is going to court. Your best bet is to have your own coverage. If you believe that you can trust your employer to protect your interests, I have some swamp land in AZ I'd like to sell you. :)

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HR departments often tell new hires that they do not need their own insurance because they will be covered by the hospital policy. That such coverage exists is minimally true. But if there is any conflict of interest between the facility and the employee, which one do you think will take precedence? It is, unfortunately, not uncommon for the risk management folks to find a tiny deviation from policy and procedure and jettison the nurse so that they can show how concerned they are and that they have taken action to remedy the situation. SHE was the problem, but we have gotten rid of her, so everything is peachy now.

If the nurse is no longer affiliated with the hospital, there is even less incentive to stick up for her.

Professional offers many benefits at a nominal cost. Mine runs me about 3-4 hours pay for an entire year. The policy covers anything you did while insured with them. Not sure if there is a stature of limitations. But think about it. Your personal liability policy is attached to YOU, not the facility. In that sense it is portable and not divided in its loyalty.

This kind of insurance also covers you if you volunteer your services as a nurse or if you are called to be a witness against someone else, Relying on the hospital policy doesn't do either of these.

I know money is tight for a lot of people just now, but a full year's premium costs less than one hour of legal consultation should you ever find yourself with the need for this kind of service.

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Specializes in Critical Care, Education.

Your employer is highly unlikely to pay for an attorney to protect your interests... at $100 per hour. If you are actually named in a suit, or your actions cannot be proved to be 100% according to policy & procedure, you may find yourself under a bus.

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Every working nurse should have .

About coverage, this is one of the things you ask before you buy. Some will cover you for something that happened whenever so long as you are paying premium NOW. Some will cover you for something that happened whenever if you were paying premium THEN. Ask. Never, ever be afraid to ask.

Some folks will say that they have heard that only people with insurance get sued, under the "deep pockets" theory of litigation, or that the hospital's insurance will cover you for nursing malpractice. Neither is true. Problem is that if your hospital has a judgment against them for something you did, they don't pay it, their insurance carrier pays it. And then, no matter what the hospital promises you, the insurance carrier is entitled by law to recover their losses...from you. My dad wrote insurance on hospitals for years and told me never, never, never go "bare" (without my own insurance) unless I was perfectly comfortable living under a bridge, with no real estate, no money, and no car.

Yeah, I know, there are laws protecting some assets under bankruptcy. But they could garnish your wages more or less in perpetuity, and that wreaks hell with your credit rating. You wanna deal c that? Not I, since decent malpractice insurance is good for short money.

Make sure the policy you buy is clear to you: Does it cover you only while it's in force (while you're still paying for it), or does it cover you for things that happened while you were paying for it in the past, even if you aren't working now and don't think you need insurance? Be sure it pays for your own lawyer, too, or supplies one to defend you (never, never rely on the hospital's lawyer to defend you-- conflict of interest there; they do not have your best interests at heart no matter what they say).

For more good info and comments, see these threads:

https://allnurses.com/general-nursing-discussion/malpractice-insurance-rns-787067.html

https://allnurses.com/general-nursing...es-583077.html

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