Hospital being sued

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I left my previous job approximately 6 months ago. It was an acute rehab hospital setting, and the patient acuity was getting higher, patient load heavier, and staffing shortage was just out of control. I no longer felt like it was a safe environment for either my patients or for myself. Today I received a letter from an attorney who is apparently representing my old employer in a case of patient negligence. The letter says the lawsuit does not name me directly, but that I was employed at the time of the patient's hospital stay. His name does look vaguely familiar so I am pretty sure I did take care of him at some point. The attorney asks that I call his office for discussion.

I am freaking out. Has anyone had this happen? I'm assuming I have no choice but to contact the attorney. I was considering calling the Risk Mgt manager at the hospital prior to speaking with any attorney. If anyone could give me some feedback or speak about your experience with lawsuits involving hospitals I would greatly appreciate it. Thanks.

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Oohhh ok. thanks!

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Specializes in NICU, PICU, PACU.

I have had this happen to me several times. They are fact finding. The risk management team from the hospital you were at should be contacting you. You don't have to call your insurance company as you personally have not been named.

A lot of the time they call you in, sit you down, show you the chart after they tell you what is going on. On the last case I was called in on, 16 people were questioned, 5 of us went to court.

Don't freak out (easier said than done!). The hospital team will guide you!

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So should I wait for Risk Management to contact me? Or should I contact them first? Should I speak with them prior to contacting the attorney? And since I am not named in the lawsuit, do I HAVE to speak with the attorney? The letter I received on Saturday was the first I had heard about any of this. Thanks again for all of your input.

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Specializes in TCU, Dementia care, nurse manager.
This is absolutely wrong, as I have stated in numerous posts. Your own coverage would not be triggered in this situation. If your coverage is not triggered, the insurance company does not provide an attorney.

https://allnurses.com/general-nursing...sk-999441.html

I am of the opinion that buying your own coverage may be a good thing, as long as you are making an educated decision as to what it actually does and does not cover. Most nurses buy it under the mistaken belief that if they are involved in a malpractice claim or a BON investigation, that CNA or Liberty Mutual insurance will retain a lawyer for them and represent their interests, and this only happens in very narrow circumstances in which your own coverage will be triggered. But there are other coverages in the policy which can also be valuable to the purchaser.

For $100-$200/yr, I see no reason why a nurse would go without . The legal system is so convoluted and there are so many business reasons for employees to NOT be protected that spending at most 0.2% of one's yearly income should be considered a cost of doing business as a nurse. Like buying scrubs or shoes or a gym membership. Furthermore, when the legal system makes a mistake, the "little person" pays way more of their income than a hospital or clinic or etc. Ideally, one never has the "trigger" hit on their coverage. Of course, G-d willing, the insurance one buys isn't run by a fraud, as well. Thankfully, there are good people like RiskManager, but one cannot always count on that.

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Specializes in Med Surg/ICU/Psych/Emergency/CEN/retired.
So should I wait for Risk Management to contact me? Or should I contact them first? Should I speak with them prior to contacting the attorney? And since I am not named in the lawsuit, do I HAVE to speak with the attorney? The letter I received on Saturday was the first I had heard about any of this. Thanks again for all of your input.

I am no expert on this, but I did not talk to Risk Management. On this forum though, RiskManager advised you to do that. I agree that the lawyers are fact finding. The case for which I was deposed was straight forward re: what happened. The nurse pushed KCl accidentally. The hospital never disputed that, but the family added on another issue. In order to investigate, the hospital (defense) lawyer has to talk to many people to proceed with a defense. Your risk manager may be able to answer your question about having to contact the lawyer. If you are not named, I do not see a problem. I did find it intimidating, but the hospital lawyer was very reassuring and helpful. As hard as it is, try not to go down that rabbit hole. And your Risk Manager may be able to calm your concerns, which is another reason to contact that person.

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Thank you all. You have been very helpful. And I will be sure to look into purchasing my own for the future.

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Specializes in Healthcare risk management and liability.

I would definitely call Risk Management at your former employer. They may not have any contact information for you, which may be why they have not called. Also, in most facilities, Risk Management may not have much to do with the actual or claims management roles given that this may be done by specialists in those areas.

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Specializes in Geriatrics, Dialysis.

There is really nothing for you to be concerned about except the stress of dealing with attorneys, which is bad enough! I went through something similar several years ago when my employer was being sued. The defense attorneys wanted to speak to every employee that had contact with the plaintiff during her stay. I spent a few hours reviewing her chart in a conference room and briefly spoke with the legal team where they told me I could potentially be called for a deposition and that I was not to discuss anything in the chart with anyone other than the legal department. I guess my minimal contact with this resident wasn't deemed impactful as I never was called for a deposition.

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