Paranoid of getting sued/license taken away!

[megananne7]

Maybe I've got an anxiety d/s, but I am terrified I will end up getting my license taken away and/or sued/taken to court. I don't think I am a negligent person or put pts in harms way, but I guess it's just because people will complain about and sue over anything these days, and it doesnt help when you're always short staffed!

Does anyone else ever feel this way?

[TazziRN, RN]

No, and if you're that terrified then you will make a serious mistake.

[cardiacRN2006, ADN, RN]

Gosh, I feel the same way too.

I hate to say it, but I'm so paranoid about losing my house, car, etc due to some lawsuit. I don't fear so much the pts I have now as much as I fear the pts I took care of as a new nurse.

I hate to say it but I think about it all the time!

[TheCommuter, BSN, RN]

You may really want to consider completing a course in nursing and the law, so you can become thoroughly familiar regarding what patients and family members can and cannot sue for.

In order for someone to sue, he or she must have a cause of action. If you or the facility have not been found guilty of a tort (civil wrong), then any action to sue you or the facility would most likely get dismissed if it ever was filed in the first place. Personal injury suits are extremely risky and tremendously expensive for lawyers, so generally they do not accept medical malpractice cases unless there is a crystal clear cause of action and a large amount of monetary recovery is likely.

[Perpetual Student]

I don't feel that way at all. Occasionally I'll get a bit stressed over a specific incident, but I'm confident I won't be sued due to the nature of my job and the relationship I've developed with clients and their families.

You might consider looking into using trusts to protect your assets in the event that you are sued (by anyone, for anything). If you build up enough of a firewall no attorney will bother trying to sue you as it would be next to impossible to collect anything. Definitely get malpractice insurance if you don't already have it. It's pretty darn cheap and should allow you to relax a little.

[pagandeva2000, LPN]

I think this way often. Not enough to get paranoid, but I do. I am very careful about the places where I work, and try to establish early what I will and will not risk my license for. If I see that people will place me in a compromising situation, then, I can't work for them. And, when I am working, I am constantly thinking about possible outcomes and if it seems to risky, I seek for opinions from people I trust, use resources that are handy and the pharmacist has been my best friend.

[lesrn2005]

Take a legal/ethical issues in nursing course offered by your local community college.:wink2:

[Blackcat99]

I have malpractice insurance and that helps me from getting too paranoid. If I ever do lose my LPN license, I can get a job as a CNA. So what will be, will be. Good luck:saint:

[SuesquatchRN, BSN, RN]

http://www.nso.com

Malpraqctice. Don't leave home without it.

[cardiacRN2006, ADN, RN]

I have malpractice insurance and that helps me from getting too paranoid. If I ever do lose my LPN license, I can get a job as a CNA. So what will be, will be. Good luck:saint:

If I were to lose my RN license, working as a CNA wouldn't even cover half of my mortgage. If I lose my license I lose everything.

There have been several cases where pts have already copied the chart, or have brought lawyers in while the pt is still in ICU. I don't know how well I charted as a new nurse back on those cases, but I can only assume that it's not as good as my charting now.

[Blackcat99]

Yes, I am hoping I will never lose my license. I don't want to be poor either. However, in today's cruel world anything can happen. I am sure the former nurses who are now working as CNA's probably never thought such a thing could happen to them.