Nurses malpractice insurance

Nurses New Nurse

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What is the best way to go about getting insurance? How much coverage should a graduate nurse carry?

Specializes in Cardiac.
Might save you some money.

What, $98 bucks a year? Whoopty doo. I pay that a month in coffee alone...

I'd gladly pay twice that, or three times that for coverage.

Never, never go a day without it.

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Specializes in Ortho, Case Management, blabla.
What, $98 bucks a year? Whoopty doo. I pay that a month in coffee alone...

I'd gladly pay twice that, or three times that for coverage.

Never, never go a day without it.

It's $50 a year through the website that was posted earlier in the thread.

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Specializes in Cardiac.

$48 for your first year, $98 a year after that.

Peanuts for protection.

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Specializes in Ortho, Case Management, blabla.
$48 for your first year, $98 a year after that.

Peanuts for protection.

Heheh I signed up for that insurance two days before I hit one year so I still got the discount :)

My wife is a massage therapist and has . My cousin builds houses and he has the construction version of malpractice insurance. Really, any professional, in my opinion, should probably be carrying their own insurance. Especially when you are dealing with things that could go wrong in a major way be it your fault/something you did on accident. Even accountants carry . To err is human. Not saying everyone will get sued at some point in their lives, but the risk will always be there. My coworker was named in a lawsuit over something that happened >5 years ago while she was a nursing student! The only reason she got named was because she was one of the few people that bothered to write a progress note on a particular patient that she doesn't even remember. She had to go give a deposition and has been dragged back to court over this again and again. You think the hospital or the college is backing her up? This kind of stuff does happen. To think a hospital completely 100% has your back is kind of naive. It's all business.

On the flipside, I've heard that they won't go after people with no malpractice insurance because they know there isn't money there. That's what the hospital's head risk management person told us at a unit conference one time. Whatever.

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You think her insurance company is going to protect her? They protect the insurance money?

Again, recommendation from a nurse who also worked med/mal/negligence- it isn't how you think it is. Research, save yourself $$$. Once they know you have insurance, you get to be drastically more involved. You don't make any decisions, THEY do.

It is a different world then what insurance companies have portrayed it to be.

But, as pointed out, it is a small price to pay for peace of mind.

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Specializes in Cardiac.
To think a hospital completely 100% has your back is kind of naive.

Totally agree.

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Specializes in Cardiac.
You think her insurance company is going to protect her? They protect the insurance money?

So then, by this same token, maybe physicians shouldn't pay for either? Since it won't protect them? Only the money???

Sorry, don't buy it.

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Not really asking anyone to "buy" it. (hehe)

That is just the way it is.

I have watched attorneys drool when they found nurses with insurance. More $$$.

Physician's are required to carry insurance. Nurses are not.

Again, I saw it, and I continue to see the misconceptions, and I keep my little 100$ in my pocket.

That is my peace of mind. If there is a lawsuit- hospital insurance company covers employees actions- that is what the insurance is about. It isn't just for vending machines and wet floors.

I personally wouldn't want to go through what I have witnessed others go through- simply because they had the insurance. I know- I sent the letters, filed the papers, watched the attorneys.

Buy it or not- peace of mind could lead to more trouble, or less, it is a judgement call.

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Specializes in Education, FP, LNC, Forensics, ED, OB.
if there is a lawsuit- hospital insurance company covers employees actions- that is what the insurance is about.

that is not entirely correct. if the nurse is within sop/soc as well as hospital p/p, then it is almost a given the hospital insurance, attorneys, etc., will be adequate. but, if not within these, the nurse will not be represented and must seek own representation.

and, this is also something to consider........

all policies have limits of liability. other defendants employed at (your) entity may and probably do share (your) liability limits under the same policy. if (you), as well as others, are named in a suit, (your) legal costs, including any settlement, could exceed (your) employer's shared liability limits. this would mean out-of-pocket expense(s) for (you).

again, it is a personal choice, but i do try to personally educate the nurse and nursing student and advise carrying .

as my signature states, wouldn't practice w/o it. never have, never will.

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Specializes in Rodeo Nursing (Neuro).

I'm an habitual procrastinator, and this thread has prompted me to get on the phone and get my coverage renewed. While the possibility does exist that my interests and my insurers may not always coincide, I still have the option of hiring my own counsel, should the need ever arise, and in my estimation the potential for such conflicting interests between me and my employer is far greater.

I have a lot of confidence in my facility and my supervisors, right on up to the CEO. I truly believe they are honest, ethical people who would not lie or cheat. That's saying quite a lot. But I'm not saying that if a gray area arose where liability was not clear cut, they would fall on their swords to make sure I was protected.

Lawsuits are not always contests between greedy plaintiffs and deceitful defendants. Sometimes decent people disagree about what is right. I'd be delighted to live my life without ever participating in a lawsuit. I managed to do that for 25 years as a home improvement contractor, so I don't think I'm unrealistic in that hope. But I'm in a high risk field where bad outcomes aren't rare, even when no wrong is done. Professional brings another party into the case who has reason not to want me to get taken to the cleaners. It's a bargain.

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that is not entirely correct. if the nurse is within sop/soc as well as hospital p/p, then it is almost a given the hospital insurance, attorneys, etc., will be adequate. but, if not within these, the nurse will not be represented and must seek own representation.

and, this is also something to consider........

all malpractice insurance policies have limits of liability. other defendants employed at (your) entity may and probably do share (your) liability limits under the same policy. if (you), as well as others, are named in a suit, (your) legal costs, including any settlement, could exceed (your) employer's shared liability limits. this would mean out-of-pocket expense(s) for (you).

and, this is not entirely correct, and the misconceptions continue to put $$ in the pockets of insurance companies and lawyers. but, there are many other threads addressing this.

i believed the same until i actually worked for years in the legal med/mal field. but, i will graciously agree to disagree.

(it is a pet peeve of mine to see the insurance propaganda-making money off hard working people.)

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Specializes in Education, FP, LNC, Forensics, ED, OB.

Yes, we will have to respectfully agree to disagree, Nurse4years.

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