Question about Malpractice Insurance

[NICU Guy, BSN, RN]

I was under the impression that malpractice insurance only covered you in the event that you are sued by a patient or family over harm done to a patient. I see many responses to threads that imply that it also covers you for BON issues (DUI, drug diversion, med error). What does the insurance actually cover?

[elkpark]

I suggest you look at your policy, or review the info on the websites of companies you are interested in, to be sure; but the policies I have held over the years have included coverage for defending your license before the BON (legal coverage as well as compensation for expenses like lost wages), as well as coverage for legal coverage and compensation for your lost wages and expenses if you are called as a witness in a malpractice suit against someone else (oh, say, a physician), neither of which your employer's insurance will cover (in the case of a suit against your employer or a physician affiliated with your employer, your employer will want you to take the advice and guidance of your employer's attorneys) and either of which is much more likely to occur over the course of a nursing career than you, as a nurse, being sued yourself. But I'm not in a position to state that all policies do.