Patients can sue all the nurses?

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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..

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.

Hospitals say they will cover you. And they do to an extent, but the hospital will always come first, staff second. And if a nurse deviated one iota from the policy/procedures manual, the hospital will likely drop you like a hot potato. So it's still best to cover yourself. Personally, I'd rather be able to hire a lawyer of my choosing in most cases, anyway.

Plus the hospital itself may decide to report you to the BON for infractions real or imagined, and you'd better have your own coverage then to pay for a lawyer of your own.

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Specializes in Ante-Intra-Postpartum, Post Gyne.

anyone can sue or be sued.

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While I do hold professional liability insurance, 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.

So many misconceptions. I know in TX that you do not have to disclose that you're insured unless named in a lawsuit. So if you are not insured and your name in a lawsuit is simply a result of lawsuit shrapnel (i.e., you weren't rude to the patient, but rather just guilty by association, so to speak) you'd likely get dropped because even if the plaintiff wins, they can't get anything, including wage garnishments, from you. However, cash savings and some types of retirement plans are at risk (I think Roth IRAs, specifically).

If you were a rude nurse, though, you won't likely get out of it unless you can settle (and settlement of even $.01 automatically results in report to the BON). Or the hospital might strike a deal with the plaintiff to get your named dropped from the suit without specifically settling the suit under your name.

Another thing to be aware of...prior to the tort reform of 2003, in cases where a death occurred, plaintiffs could sue individuals for 1.5 mln each, so plaintiffs were devastating entire floor staff. Thanks to tort reform, that is no longer allowed.

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Specializes in ER, ICU, Education.

My hubby and I had a similar discussion yesterday. I have always thought it smart to carry regardless of the hospital covering their nurses. I don't totally trust a large corporation to look after my best interests - even if its a good facility to work at.

My hubby on the other hand argues that if a nurse carries additional insurance that they might be more likely to be sued because there is more money to be had.

Just as an aside -- Katnip -- I love you avavtar! Did you design it?

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Specializes in Psych ICU, addictions.

In this world, anyone can sue anyone for any reason.

Now, whether there is always a viable case for a lawsuit is another question...but even if there isn't one, that's not going to stop a lot of people (egged on by a lot of lawyers, I bet) from trying to sue anyway.

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Specializes in Med Surg, Tele, PH, CM.

Patients can sue the housekeeper if they want, but whether or not they win, or even get to court is another matter. I once had a patient threaten to sue me because I did not bring her sugar for her coffee fast enough....

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