A lot of my coworkers have been debating lately about carrying malpractice insurance. I've always been a cautious person and carry it, especially because I don't know what the future holds and am under the impression that if legal issues came up after leaving a facility that they would not defend me.
Many people however are of the mindset that carrying additional insurance makes one a target for lawsuits and no one will bother to go after you if you're not insured and thus not financially worth the effort. Several people have stories of uninsured nurses being dismissed from cases after the lawyers surveyed who had coverage and who didn't.
To hear nurses say they carry liability so that they have someone on their side, it is obvious that they don't understand the system, and have believed the insurance company propaganda.
Just because you think it is propaganda does not mean it is so.
The attorney for the hospital has only one interest which is protecting the best interests of the hospital. Patients and patients families hold the nurse accountable for their actions. While nurses are professionals they can and do make mistakes. Does management fill out an incident report every time we work short staffed? We have to look out for ourselves. I tend to believe the legal nurse consultants who time and again state that personal Liability Insurance is a necessity to any practicing nurse. They are not getting any kickback from the insurance companies selling policies to nurses. They know what they are talking about. You seem to be in the minority on this subject. Perhaps you might be mistaken?
Betting that you will appear too poor and not worth the effort in a malpractice suit is not safe. I don't want to take a chance on whether or not an attorney and their plaintifs see me as a cash cow. How much money would motivate greed? It's hard to say. If the hospital lawyers defeated a case, who is to say that my life savings would not begin to look good in a civil proceeding? You can get yourself into a grey area very quickly in this profession and I want a lawyer who works for ME. That means one who gets a check FROM ME. People dog lawyers all the time, but when a good lawyer saves you from financial and emotional ruin, you realize just how wonderful they are.
You are soooooo right. I could tell that I stopped the oncoming train for me when I verified the appointment time with the hospital attorneys by saying that I would need to get back with them later that day after I made sure my attorney could make the meeting with me. Funny. That was the end of that. I don't know whom they went after, I just know it wasn't me.
Just because you think it is propaganda does not mean it is so.
The attorney for the hospital has only one interest which is protecting the best interests of the hospital. Patients and patients families hold the nurse accountable for their actions. While nurses are professionals they can and do make mistakes. Does management fill out an incident report every time we work short staffed? We have to look out for ourselves. I tend to believe the legal nurse consultants who time and again state that personal liability insurance is a necessity to any practicing nurse. They are not getting any kickback from the insurance companies selling policies to nurses. They know what they are talking about. You seem to be in the minority on this subject. Perhaps you might be mistaken?
No, sorry, but I worked for med/mal attorneys. I wasn't there to make the coffee. I saw, and learned FIRST HAND.
I have seen angry nurses discover they don't get "personal" representation. They don't get anything except phone consultations. I have seen an attorney only infrequently show up for a nurses' depositions, maybe a couple of times, but usually just because the attorneys were meeting that day also.
Attorneys are not going to come after your life savings. Civil actions cost law firms thousands of dollars, many years, and no guarantee of good return for their money.
Look at it another way-You could spend your life savings in one day, one week-there is nothing stopping you from spending it, why would they take that chance? They don't. Doesn't happen.
It is the insurance money that keeps that merry-go-round running. And insurance companies propaganda keep nurses begging to give them free money.
Again, just what do nurses think 100$ can buy them? In the current insurance industry? with millions and millions of dollars at stake? 100$?? Come on, smell the coffee.
"Legal Representation An attorney will be provided to represent you personally when we find it necessary."
Where does it say you get personal legal representation working exclusively for you, (for 100$).
No, sorry, but I worked for med/mal attorneys. I wasn't there to make the coffee. I saw, and learned FIRST HAND.
Your malpractice insurance is just icing...lots and lots of icing.
Of course it is propaganda.
Again, just what do nurses think 100$ can buy them? In the current insurance industry? with millions and millions of dollars at stake? 100$?? Come on, smell the coffee.
"Legal Representation An attorney will be provided to represent you personally when we find it necessary."
Where does it say you get personal legal representation working exclusively for you, (for 100$).
Ok, here's thought. You worked in a legal/malpractice office, great, but you're not an attorney are you?
I'm a nurse, I work in a hospital, I've learned things FIRST HAND too but I'm not a doctor so therefore I don't give out medical advice. So why give out legal advice? Someone may think "gee she knows first hand" and drop their malpractice insurance. Why are you so heated about calling it icing on icing? Why do you care if I'm happy spending $100 to feel safe. Whether I really am safe and/or covered will be my problem if the time comes. Peace.
If anyone is guilty of "propaganda" it is the risk management people in the hospitals that try telling new employees, many of them new grads, that the hospital has their best interests at heart. Bull. I have seen first hand nurses getting sued by their employer to recoup losses. If they can pin something on the nurse, they'll do it.
I think many older nurses don't realize just how much the climate has changed..they come from a generation that was often very loyal to their employer. This was OK back when employers felt loyalty to their employees but those days are long gone. They can and do hang nurses out to dry..They don't like when nurses have their own insurance because the hospital and their lawyers don't have complete control anymore.
At any rate, I'll take my chances that NSO is feeding me propaganda rather than trust the behemoth corporation/hospital I work for. I'm 99.99% sure that they would screw me over without any dings on their conscience.
To each their own but I will never work one day without my own malpractice insurance. I will also continue to keep this information to myself in the workplace.
Ok, here's thought. You worked in a legal/malpractice office, great, but you're not an attorney are you?
I'm a nurse, I work in a hospital, I've learned things FIRST HAND too but I'm not a doctor so therefore I don't give out medical advice. So why give out legal advice? Someone may think "gee she knows first hand" and drop their malpractice insurance. Why are you so heated about calling it icing on icing? Why do you care if I'm happy spending $100 to feel safe. Whether I really am safe and/or covered will be my problem if the time comes. Peace.
I would NEVER give out legal advice- but have a right to my opinion, as do you. 100$ is a small price to pay for peace of mind-
I would think the insurance company would prefer to pay as small a claim as possible. If not sending representation is the best way to protect themselves from loss, then I guess they would feel it unnecessary to send a lawyer to protect the insured nurse.
The other reason I carry malpractice insurance is I haven't developed the necessary skill set for walking on water. If someone is injured through a mistake I make: I would like for them to be made as whole as possible.
As an RN who was involved in litigation over my husbands death from a medical "incident" I can tell you that you are immune from a malpractice settlement if you don't have insurance. Med mal is a very expensive field (expert witnesses cost me over $150,000) and if there is no money, there will be no attorney thus no med mal case. So if you don't have malpractice insurance and are involved in case, you will be excluded because you don't have enough money. They may still make your life hell with the BON though. And for those of you that have over a million dollars coverage, you are now the "deep pocket" and would likely be the number one health care worker they would go after as most MD's just carry 1 million dollars.
There's a big difference between a settlement and a judgment. It doesn't matter whether you have insurance or even money in the bank. A judge can attach your future earnings, effectively ordering you to spend the rest of your working life paying off that judgment.
I also don't understand how a plaintiff's attorney would know which nurse does or does not have insurance prior to filing a lawsuit. Why or how would a plaintiff's lawyer come to know this without filing a complaint? And then, how would that lawyer know what the limits of my policy are? I've heard nurses argue that carrying malpractice insurance only makes you a target -- yet who knows besides you whether you have it prior to actual legal action?
There's a big difference between a settlement and a judgment. It doesn't matter whether you have insurance or even money in the bank. A judge can attach your future earnings, effectively ordering you to spend the rest of your working life paying off that judgment.
I also don't understand how a plaintiff's attorney would know which nurse does or does not have insurance prior to filing a lawsuit. Why or how would a plaintiff's lawyer come to know this without filing a complaint? And then, how would that lawyer know what the limits of my policy are? I've heard nurses argue that carrying malpractice insurance only makes you a target -- yet who knows besides you whether you have it prior to actual legal action?
They don't know. That information is requested during the discovery phase through interrogatories.
BinkieRN, BSN, RN
486 Posts
Just because you think it is propaganda does not mean it is so.
The attorney for the hospital has only one interest which is protecting the best interests of the hospital. Patients and patients families hold the nurse accountable for their actions. While nurses are professionals they can and do make mistakes. Does management fill out an incident report every time we work short staffed? We have to look out for ourselves. I tend to believe the legal nurse consultants who time and again state that personal Liability Insurance is a necessity to any practicing nurse. They are not getting any kickback from the insurance companies selling policies to nurses. They know what they are talking about. You seem to be in the minority on this subject. Perhaps you might be mistaken?