Nursing Malpractice Insurance: Why It's Important

The medical field is fraught with lawsuits, but nursing malpractice insurance can help protect nurses against losing their possessions in lawsuits.

What is Nursing Malpractice Insurance?

Ask any doctor and he or she will tell you that at times it seems like there are more lawyers than doctors hanging out in the hospital hallways. In the last 30 years the incidence of medical malpractice suits has gone through the roof. Many of these suits area legitimate, many are not. Patients sue their doctors and in some cases their nurses, when something goes wrong during a procedure. Sometimes families sue medical professionals after a family member dies. Others sue medical professionals after something goes wrong in a surgery.

There is a place for these lawsuits. They give patients restitution for harm caused on them by bad medical professionals. However, many people file illegitimate cases against doctors because they know doctors and hospitals have money. Sometimes people file these suits because they want to blame someone for the death of a loved one.

As mentioned before, doctors usually get the brunt of the lawsuits because they make a lot more money than nurses. However, nurses can also be named in a medical malpractice lawsuit. Almost all doctors have malpractice insurance and many nurses are moving in that direction.

Nursing malpractice insurance protects nurses from these lawsuits. Sometimes hospitals will pay for the insurance. Many times the nurse has to seek out insurance coverage on his or her own. These policies can't completely protect a nurse from paying out in a claim, but they can offer huge protections. For example, a policy of $1 million will protect the nurse in a claim that goes up to $1 million.

Some Things to Consider

Some people argue that when a nurse gets nursing malpractice insurance, they open themselves up to lawsuit. Prosecutors like to go after whoever has the deepest pockets. This is part of the reason doctors and hospitals are generally named in lawsuits. They have more money. However, if a prosecutor sees that a nurse has $1 million in nursing malpractice insurance, they may go after the nurse as well.

A nurse should discuss nursing malpractice insurance with his or her employer before signing up for a policy. Many hospitals cover their nurses. It's important to know how much coverage they'll give the nurse. If it's not enough, the nurse can get additional insurance. Talking to a lawyer may also be beneficial. Some people operate on the idea that the employer, or the hospital, is responsible for medical malpractice rather than the individual.

While nursing malpractice insurance can't guarantee that a nurse won't get sued, it can protect him or her from losing everything they own.