Job Stress r/t Liability!

Specialties NP

Published

I need some encouragement to continue in the direction I'm going. I've been a registered nurse for almost a year now and I'm currently in a family NP program - which was my reason for going into to nursing in the first place. I work at a rehab hospital and I'm so jealous of the therapists- PT,OT,SLP... it seems like their job is so much better than mine (less stress, less liability, more satisfaction, more respect). At first I kept telling myself "just wait, you'll be an NP in a couple years", but as an NP I will have yet even more liability than a therapist, and stress... I don't think changing careers entirely is an option (nursing was already a second degree for me), but maybe I should go into something non-clinical since I can't seem to handle the stress of being liable for people's lives.

Are there other RNs or NPs out there that have had an unreasonable fear of liability, and gotten over it so that they enjoy their job?? I need to hear that. Or, if the truth is NPs worry about their license or doing harm on a daily basis I need to hear that too so I can change directions.

Thanks.

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Specializes in Nephrology, Cardiology, ER, ICU.

Being an APN comes with a lot of responsibility. Yes, I do worry about liability. Does it rule my life? No.

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Specializes in Emergency, Cardiac, PAT/SPU, Urgent Care.

I think for me it was more about worrying about other people's potential mistakes rather than my own. For example, I worked in the ER for several years and saw people get pushed out the door in a hurry, presenting complaints not taken seriously, etc. I always feared that I would get pulled into a potential lawsuit because I just happened to be the nurse whose name was on that same chart (be it due to triage, administering a med for another RN who was busy, etc.) where the doc/PA/NP/other RN may have been wrong about the diagnosis or didn't pick up on a subtle change for the worse (I've seen it happen).

As an NP, I am the one collecting all the information, diagnosing, and treating. Yes, mistakes can be made - but it is so much easier in my mind when it is just between you and the patient. I also appreciate that I can make call-backs and follow-up if I get that feeling that something just didn't seem right, or maybe I was wrong. Patients truly appreciate that, and it shows them you care about their well-being. I wasn't able to do that while in the ED as a staff nurse.

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I'd be curious to know what type of nursing you might pursue that doesn't carry any risk/liability.

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When I started out as a CNA I was taken aback by the warnings about liability. You can't escape it in nursing. As for me, I would not embark upon the path to NP until I had enough experience under my belt as a practicing RN to have come to a middle ground with misgivings about liability. If I found I could not deal with it, I would stick with the RN role which has enough liability itself.

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I guess that as an RN in the particular facility I work, I worry about liability with regard to unavoidable mistakes... we are very understaffed and I really feel it's damned if I do, damned if I don't... I just hope that as an NP, though I will be accountable for what I diagnose and treat, I won't be worried about unavoidable mistakes due to lack of time to complete things or disorganization. In other words, if I am in control, I will feel comfortable. Thanks for your feedback.

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