Patients can sue all the nurses?

Nurses General Nursing

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I thought patients could only sue doctors, and after talking to someone, he said patients can sue a nurse who has BS/AA or CRNA or NP.

Is that true? I'm confused I thought doctors can only get sued..

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

Anyone can be sued; ADN RN, LPN, physician, BSN RN, NP, CNA, respiratory therapist, radiology technologist, etc.

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I thought patients could only sue doctors, and after talking to someone, he said patients can sue a nurse who has BS/AA or CRNA or NP.

Is that true? I'm confused I thought doctors can only get sued..

As previously mentioned, anyone can get sued. However, the perception is that only doctors get sued because they have the money. Often, lawyers will not go after strictly a nurse because there's no money in it. Often, people name hospitals, clinics, etc. and add specific names. What has been found is that "pleasant" nurses are less frequently sued than less-than-pleasant nurses.

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Specializes in FNP, Peds, Epilepsy, Mgt., Occ. Ed.

Some patients/lawyers go on a fishing expedition and name everyone in the chart!

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i have seen lawsuits that named nurses and even 'UNIDENTIFIED CNAS'

i think that they believe that nurses/sides will roll over on one another

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Not sure about all states, but in my home state -- very broadly speaking -- the burden of proof rests on the patient (or family) to prove that negligence, harm, etc. occurred. Any legal consultant worth his or her salt, though, will tell you the same thing: document, document, document -- and make sure what you write is legible.

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Anyone can be sued! I highly recommend all nurses to have . I'm surprised how many don't have insurance;:paw: some nurses have told me the facility will cover them in cases of lawsuits...WRONG! The yearly insurance premium is cheap, the peace of mind it offers is pricless!:paw:

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Anyone can be sued! I highly recommend all nurses to have malpractice insurance. I'm surprised how many don't have insurance;:paw: some nurses have told me the facility will cover them in cases of lawsuits...WRONG! The yearly insurance premium is cheap, the peace of mind it offers is pricless!:paw:

Actually, some medical centers (they usually have lots of money) do cover you, but virtually no rural hospitals/LTC facilities (they don't have lots of money) cover you; HOWEVER, the key is that you have to follow the tree worth of paper used for the P/P, which can be impossible. Also, if your facility does cover you, read your policy to determine if it acts as a 2ndary insurance (hospital being the primary). What will happen is if the hospital does indeed cover you, they will do so until you exceed their limits (which won't happen). Then your policy would kick in.

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Specializes in Hospital Education Coordinator.

talk to your BON and find out how many nurses were sued last year in your state. You will be surprised.

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i have seen lawsuits that named nurses and even 'UNIDENTIFIED CNAS'

i think that they believe that nurses/sides will roll over on one another

I don't specialize in medical malpractice, but, regarding santhony44's question, there's actually a good rationale for a plaintiff to name everybody on the chart. In the early stages of a lawsuit, the relative culpability of each defendant hasn't been determined; a defendant can be "dropped" at any stage of a lawsuit, but there may be statute of limitations problems in adding one, especially in the later stages of a protracted case. Therefore, it's prudent practice to name all possible defendants at the beginning.

Regarding Chatsdale's point, the reason "unidentified CNAs" might be defendants is also straightforward: the plaintiff may not know everybody's name, and this information is developed during the process of discovery in the suit.

And Psychrn03 is absolutely correct: the main reason a plaintiff will not sue a particular individual is because he or she likes them.

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Specializes in icu, er, transplant, case management, ps.

]During my nursing career, I was named twice in a patient's lawsuit. The first time, the attorney named everyone whose name appeared in the chart. And sorted it all out later. Although I was employed as staff in a hospital, I had my own insurance. I notified my insurance compny and spoke with an attorney appointed to respresent me. He explained that if I was continued in the suit, he would represent my interest. And he made it quite clear, my interest could be different from the hospital's.

Woody:balloons:

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Specializes in ICU, Psych.

This is very simple: we live in America!

You can sue anyone for any reason, or even no reason at all. Most likely the lawyers will choose someone to go after that they can actually collect something from. After all if you choose to sue a homeless person and win, what are you going to collect ?

So likely the Hospital will be first in line to be sued, followed by the MD, then the nurses, and so on. Unless of course someone has enough money already and is after a certain someone for vindictive reasons, then this logic does not count.

While I do hold professional , I know several nurses who choose not to do so because they have nothing they fear loosing as far as personal assets goes, and think that having insurance will make them more likely to be sued.

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