Health Insurance Center

One of the challenges that nurses face today involves the necessity of carrying nursing liability insurance. Health care workers are at risk of being hit with any number of lawsuits because of the nature of their work, so it is important that nurses carry their own nurse malpractice insurance to ensure that they are protected.

While it is true that nurses are often covered under their employer’s policy, there are several reasons why it is not a good idea to depend solely on that coverage. In the event of a lawsuit involving several parties, the limit of liability will most likely have to cover everyone together, so the probability of incurring out of pocket expense is very high. Also, the lawyer in such cases will be there to represent the best interest of the company, not the employees. It is much more beneficial for the nurses to have their own coverage and their own lawyer.

Another potential problem is the fact that many health care facilities have claims-made coverage for their employee liability plans, which means that only incidents which occur while a policy is in effect will be covered. If an employee leaves, a claim that is made later for an incident that occurred while they were still employed at the facility is no longer covered. Occurrence coverage, on the other hand, means that a nurse is still protected from lawsuits involving incidents that occurred in the past, regardless of where they are employed in the present.

There are many insurance carriers that offer individual malpractice insurance for nurses. Some questions to ask before purchasing a policy include: are lawsuits involving libel, slander and confidentiality violations covered? Are expenses incurred for depositions and administrative hearings paid for by the policy? Are other standard legal fees covered? Is there a section of the policy which specifically deals with license protection?

The cost of the annual premium for the individual will vary depending on the type of nurse, what state they work in and how high the limit of liability is. Protection in the event of a malpractice suit is well worth the investment.