OB RN's and liability coverage

[Suncat12]

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.

[elkpark]

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 :)).