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Discussion

OB RN's and liability coverage

I was told by another nurse that OB nurses can be held liable for their newborn patients for up to 21 years? And that an OB nurse would have to keep liability coverage for 21 years into retirement? Can anyone shed some light on this? (She was taught this at a nursing and law seminar put on by a reputable nursing program!) I am almost done with nursing school and have an interview for a graduate nurse L&D position. I would like to know if this is true.

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    Parents/families can file a malpractice lawsuit up until their child is 18 years old. Records and fetal monitor strips cannot be destroyed until that time.

    I personally don't know any OB nurses who carry their own malpractice insurance (myself included). It's just something I've chosen not to concern myself about. I can't go through life worrying about "what if I get named in a lawsuit?" I just give the best care I possibly can and make sure my charting is meticulous.

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    Check out this website: Professional Liability Insurance for nurses, nursing medical malpractice.. This company sells malpractice insurance and does a lot of education on their website. I thought if you have the type of liability policy that is occurrence(?) based, you would be covered. Say, in 2005 a baby is born to which you provide care. You are covered with personal insurance. Three years later, you have left nursing to raise your own family and have dropped your insurance. The family initiates a lawsuit. You are covered, because you were covered when the even took place in 2005. Something along those lines. Otherwise, a person would have to maintain insurance all the time, never knowing when they would be named in a new lawsuit. Anyway, go to that site and do some research. I am certain you will find answers to your questions.

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    I've been told that if you are insured by your employer, it's best not to carry your own liability insurance b/c that fact is public record, therefore if your employer is being sued, you can also being named individually in the suit along with your employer. It's a way for them to sue for more money.

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    People who initiate lawsuits do not check your insurance coverage beforehand. A judgement is a judgement and they would just as soon force you to sell your home to give them the proceeds for their judgement against you. Getting your future earnings is a pleasant reward for their efforts.

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    Who is specifically named in a lawsuit is definitely researched beforehand by the plaintiff attorney. If personal malpractice insurance is indeed public record (no idea if it is, just going by what a previous poster said), then it would certainly affect who is personally named. Although usually, every person who provided care for the pt, as well as the physician and the hospital (as well as a drug manufacturer, if applicable, or other such deep-pocketed company), is usually named.

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    I've been told that if you are insured by your employer, it's best not to carry your own liability insurance b/c that fact is public record, therefore if your employer is being sued, you can also being named individually in the suit along with your employer. It's a way for them to sue for more money.

    I have been told this as well.

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    I have personal experience with this. Depending upon your employer to defend you is not wise. The first question my employer's attorneys asked us (all of the nurses were named as defendants) was whether or not we had personal malpractice insurance. I guess it wasn't public record. Then they told us that at any time during the proceedings they could stop representing us as individuals. They did. So where would I have been without my malpractice insurance? In the middle of a lawsuit without an attorney.

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    • Author

    I will have to look at that website. Thanks for the replies!

    I have been told, no matter what area of nursing, that it is wise to carry your own insurance.

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    Your employers' attorney and employers' insurance are there to protect your employers and not mainly you. They could just fire you at anytime-----and since you no longer are connected with them, guess you'll have to find your own lawyer right?

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    You can get malpractice insurance that will over you for an incident that occurs while you are covered under their plan. If you retire, go to another malpractice, ect they will still cover you.

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    I work in child psych, not OB, but have always been told that, in any area dealing with children, you have the "double whammy" -- the parents have seven years (or however long the statute of limitations is in a particular state) from when an incident occurred to bring suit on behalf of the infant/child, and then the clock starts again when the child turns 18, and the child (now adult) has seven years to bring suit over the same incident on her/his own.

    I haven't ever done any research on that topic myself, though (and, fortunately, have had no occasion to find out from experience whether it's true or not :)).

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