Malpractice Insurance For Nurses: Why Is It Important?

Medical malpractice insurance provides medical practitioners, more so nurses with with liability cover against lawsuits and actions taken by the nurses registration board. Even the most experienced and skilled nurses can make a mistake which can result in a lawsuit. This article is going to show why nurses need medical malpractice insurance, and what to consider when choosing the right insurance policy.

Having medical malpractice insurance provides nurses with financial protection and a peace of mind as they go about their duties. Even where coverage is provided by the employers, it may still be necessary for a nurse to have his/her own policy that would provide for attorney fees, reimbursement to licensing boards and lost wages. Such additional policies can also provide cover for when performing part time nursing assignments and volunteering since this would not typically be covered by the employer's insurance company.

Medical malpractice is said to have occurred when a nurse fails provide a reasonable standard of care as expected from nursing professionals. Nurses are given numerous responsibilities and failure to properly perform any of them can lead to charges for malpractice. Common examples include failure to monitor the patient's vital signs, errors made during when performing medical procedure, administering medication among others. However good the nurse may be, even a slight mistake sue as mishandling of a patients medical records resulting in unauthorized persons accessing them can lead to a serious malpractice claim

Here are several misconceptions that nurses have over medical malpractice insurance, one such myth is that only bad nurses need this cover. Many good nurses get sued or reported to the licensing board. It can be very costly to cover legal expenses out of your account if this happens. Having an insurance policy gives nurse the freedom to evaluate the settlement offer made by the BON without worrying whether he/she can afford to legal counsel if the matter proceeds to hearing.

If the matter goes to court and the nurse loses the lawsuit, he/she would be liable to any damages awarded to the plaintiff. Without medical malpractice insurance, it would be very hard to pay such large amounts of money. Another common misconception is that having medical malpractice insurance would increase their chances of being sued. This is supposedly because they would be targeted by unscrupulous individual for lawsuits. The truth s unless the nurse voluntarily reveal to a potential plaintiff that he/ she has medical malpractice insurance, no one can ever know. Decision on who should respond to the lawsuit is rely made based on whether the defendant is covered by insurance or not.

Before purchasing a medical malpractice policy, nurses should do some research on the insurance provider. The company's financial strength as well as the length of time it has been operating should be considered. Go through and thoroughly understand all provisions concerning the limits of their coverage, the number of claims they receive each years and the amounts they have paid out following such claims. According to a website known as nurses together, the best insurance providers would give the nurses an option on which policy to take up depending on their circumstances. Additionally, a good policy should not provide any limits on the hourly rate charged by attorney.


Article Source: Kevin Wynn