Insurance advice for nurses practicing in multiple areas

[cdillingham]

Have any of you been in a position of practicing in multiple areas? How do you address your malpractice insurance (i.e. do you have two separate policies, one policy that covers both/all areas)?

My current situation is that I am a Registered Nurse with a CLC (certified lactation counselor) credential. I volunteer doing lactation counseling, however I also am employed part-time as a substitute school nurse. I would like to have coverage for both areas.

Any guidance on this topic is much appreciated.

[RiskManager]

The typical CNA (sold by NSO) or Liberty Mutual (sold by ProLiability) individual nursing policies cover you for the practice of registered nursing and for any 'claims' arising out of a 'medical incident' from you providing 'professional services'. The words in quotes are all defined in the policy. A policy would clearly cover you for your duties as a school nurse. It is my sense that one could argue that your work as a CLC would come under the definition of 'professional services' for a registered nurse and as such would be covered under the typical policy. But lactation consulting is not explicitly defined in the policy as coming under the definition of 'professional services', leaving some ambiguity as to coverage.

However, as a risk manager, I always get coverage questions clarified by the insurer. Were I in your shoes, I would get something in writing from the actual insurance company writing the policy, not the broker (NSO or ProLiability) stating that the nursing policy covers you for your work as a CLC. Some Googling also revealed that the CLC trade group as an arrangement with a broker to sell CLC Liability Insurance. If it turns out that the nursing insurance does not cover you for your CLC services, then you could get a separate policy for this.

Having said all of this, I have two final thoughts:

1. In my 33 years of practice, I have never heard of a lactation consulting malpractice claim. This leads me to suspect they are not common and I would likely not lie awake at night worrying about a claim.

2. Noting that you do CLC work as a volunteer, is this on behalf of volunteering for an organization? Is it possible that the organization could provide you or does provide you with liability coverage for your work as a volunteer? If so, having your own policy for CLC work may be a moot point.

Please post if you have any additional questions.

[traumaRUs, MSN, APRN]

I'm an APRN so I have the big policy for that. However, I also volunteer as a pre-hospital RN on my rural EMS/fire squad and I just added a rider for that.

[Jules A, MSN]

RiskManager, we love you! Thanks for adding your sage insight.