Lawsuits

I am a strong proponent of professional liability insurance for all licensed nurses, but especially for anyone in a supervisory position. If you have 24 hour accountability for a unit or facility, you can be named in any legal action pertaining to care rendered on that unit or in that facility, whether or not you were present at the time.

Also, any "incident" involving a patient's death, or serious enough to result in a lawsuit has the potential to be brought before the BON, where legal representation may mean the difference between keeping and losing your license and livelihood.

I strongly recommend applying for liability insurance ASAP. The application will ask about potential or pending litigation, and any policy that is issued will likely exclude prior events, but will provide protection from this time forward.

Good luck!

Dear Cape Cod Nurse, in Wisconsin if an administator or anyone in management violates one of our state statutes called the Prohibited Acts Provision of Care and Service Residential Facilities, subchapter of Uniform Liscensure,Wis. Stat.50.07,they could go to jail for 6 months and/or pay a fine of $1000. Or I guess they could be sued by family too. Or maybe even by their employees.I guess maybe it would be prudent for administrative types to get malpractice insurance.Nursing Home Abuse Lawsuits are becoming a hot item in the world of litigation.

I would consult with an attorney familiar with medical licensing to find out how to protect yourself with malpractice insurance and protect your assets.

Remember that lawsuits for personal professional liability or not the same as bankruptcy...thus the reason for consulting with an attorney b/c flipping your home into a homestead exemption may not mean a hill of beans in the event you have to pony up damages, and only an attorney would know for sure which legal classifications of property are protected in the event of a lawsuit.