Liability Insurane for the OR RN

[CaliLvr000, BSN, RN]

Hello everyone,

I wanted to gather some opinions on Liability Insurance for the OR RN. I am a new graduate starting my first job in the OR next month. I have been taught the importance of personal liability insurance from all of my nursing instructors. I have also heard of some conflicting (what sound like myths) thoughts saying that having the insurance makes you a target for lawsuits. I do not see how this is possible, but then again I am brand new to everything! I have read the other threads about this topic, but want to know more specifically about the OR.

So what is it, do you have personal liability insurance or not? Have you ever had to use it? What are your thoughts on this? Thanks!

[daVinciNurse]

Its the best $100 or so dollars per year I spend for peace of mind. You don't have to go around telling the world you have your own. And while your facility has a policy that likely covers you, just be careful--if you don't follow the facility policy/procedure exactly as written, they may not cover you. Also, its good to have your own policy to cover you in case of a neighbor asking your opinion....i'm not in the habit of giving health care advice, but you just never know...and if i do give advice i always mention the importance of seeing someone more familiar with the question/patient/etc.

[SandraCVRN]

I went for years without ins, but recently went back with NSO. Here in TX it is about $250 a year. But still worth it. I feel better having my own, don't for one minute think if a facility can blame you to cover themselves they will hang you.

[elkpark]

And while your facility has a policy that likely covers you, just be careful--if you don't follow the facility policy/procedure exactly as written, they may not cover you.

I worked as a hospital surveyor in my state for several years, and frequently investigated, from a regulatory point of view, situations and occurrences that were obviously likely to end up also being lawsuits at some point down the road. I can tell you from my personal observations and experiences doing this that it's not just a matter of "if you don't follow the facility policy/procedure exactly as written, they may not cover you" -- as soon as something goes seriously pear-shaped in a hospital, the hospital risk management/legal team starts actively looking for some way to pin the responsibility (blame) for the incident on someone (typically, one or more nurses). They will go over the record(s) with the proverbial fine-toothed comb looking for some minor thing (or omission from the record) that they can cite as evidence that you violated the hospital policy/procedure about something. (And, honestly, how many of us are practicing (and documenting), all day every day, at a level that can withstand that kind of scrutiny???) I used to get told all the time by hospital CEOs and legal counsel that their internal investigation had determined that the whole thing was Nurse X's fault -- and when I reviewed the record, it was obvious that Nurse X hadn't done anything worse than have the bad luck to be assigned to that particular client on that particular shift. But the facility is now officially blaming Nurse X, and that means the hospital insurance is not going to cover her. (How can they? The hospital's attorneys are going to stand up in court and argue that the hospital is not to blame because the incident was Nurse X's fault/responsibility -- they can hardly then turn around and defend her. Also, they had usually fired those nurses by the time my team showed up to investigate -- and, once the hospital fires you, you're definitely not covered by the facility's insurance.) If I saw this happen once (while I was a hospital surveyor), I saw it a hundred times (I don't know how many of those situations ended up actually turning into lawsuits -- that would have been long after my involvement ended -- but I mean the hospital singling out one or more nurses to blame in situations with bad outcomes.)

I agree that it's the best ~$100 I spend each year. I am not an OR nurse, but I would never work in any setting without having my own coverage. Apart from the question of actually being sued, which is unlikely for nurses, the insurance provides coverage for when you are working in a volunteer capacity or simply giving advice to someone, as daVinci notes, and also provides coverage (pays for legal representation) if you have to appear before the BON to defend your license or if you are called as a witness against someone else (oh, say, a physician you work with ...) who is being sued. Either of those situations is much more likely to occur over the course of a nurse's career than the nurse being sued, and, in either case, you'd certainly want legal representation.

[ALORNurse]

Thanks for asking this question....I was wondering the same thing myself! Definitely going to invest in some personal insurance....

[CaliLvr000, BSN, RN]

Thanks everyone, I will definitely have insurance before I start work!

[SandraCVRN]

You can get NSO Ins now, even cheaper to get it when you are a student.