Lets take a better look at liability insurance and how to decide if its right for you. These claims generally allege negligence or omission of appropriate care that leads to some type of injury, loss, or death. There are more than 355,000 nurse practitioners (NPs) licensed in the U.S. 1. It also covers HIPAA fines and penalties that you become legally obligated to pay as a result of a covered proceeding. Nurse practitioners need to be covered by a personal malpractice policy because the insurance policies of their employers may not also cover them. This type of coverage helps pay for any judgment or settlement in a legal claim and pays for defense legal costs, up to the limits of the policy. According to the ANA, 60% of negligence complaints were from acute care facilities. Which sounds like a pretty smart thing to have. Everything You Need To Know About The Importance of Risk Management Plans. Healthcare Providers Service Organization, 1100 Virginia Drive, Suite 250 If a nurse fails to perform the treatment adequately, this can result in a claim of malpractice in nursing. Advancing your career, whether by taking a leadership position or exploring a new specialty, can lead to enhanced job satisfaction and a bigger paycheck. Every nurse can afford malpractice insurance that can help protect a lifetime of work. According to labor market analytics firm EMSI, jobs for nurse practitioners are expected to grow by an astounding 43.4% by 2031 . Nurse practitioners help with all aspects of patient care including diagnosis, treatments and consultations. You can receive an instant quote and apply for coverage here. All of these tasks carry risks and make students a part of the healthcare team. There are certain factors that come to play when calculating cost, such as: In these cases, the government probably covers the malpractice insurance, so that the hospitals can focus on providing the best experience possible. However, the cost of running a hospital is too high to get sued for millions of dollars and have no equipment or having to lay people off. 2017. https://nso.com/npclaimreport, CNA, NSO. In most states, you can find policies for <$100 but it does depend upon a few factors including location and type of work. Seriously though, liability insurance for nurses is an important and surprisingly polarizing subject in the nursing community. At my first nursing job, I was teamed up with an LPN who administered the medications to my patients while I performed the assessments and the charting. There are many different examples of situations that are nursing malpractice including the following. Anytime a nurse practitioner is employed, they need professional liability insurance, also known as malpractice insurance. Medical Malpractice in America. In many of the papers, the hospitals will have them a sign, they will not be allowed to sue if mistakes happen. Nurse malpractice insurance is surprisingly affordable. This is why it is important to work with a malpractice lawyer to help you identify all the possible parties you can sue when you move forward with your case. Failure to provide this assistance can also have actionable consequences. Some universities offer coverage for their students but these policies can have limitations,so if you want to ensure that you are fully covered, youll want to get a policy of your own. Lawsuits are very complicated and are expensive for both parties. It can also be an actionable form of nursing malpractice if the nurses omissions or errors are the direct cause of harm. #practitioners They are one of the most well-known companies, but there are other options available. It may include gaps or exclusions you are not aware of. While doctors carry medical malpractice insurance, however, many nurses do not carry professional liability insurance. FOIA Nursing Malpractice Insurance - Liability Insurance Nurses | NSO The purpose of this study is to examine medical errors committed by NPs. Those who work in medicine are familiar with the innermost workings of the human body. If it is not in their best interest to protect you, they may leave you high and dry. I am a Registered Nurse with experience working as a floor nurse on a Renal Care Unit and Hematology/Oncology Unit. All links on this site may be affiliate links and should be considered as such. Results: If they make a mistake, such as providing the wrong medication or the wrong dose, this medication error isa clearcut example of malpractice in nursing. In this event, you could lose your license. Nurses can protect themselves from hefty litigation fees by being prepared with nursing liability insurance, but many nurses wonder if it is necessary and, if so, how to go about getting it. A policy through HPSO will reimburse you up to $25,000 in aggregate for your legal representationarising out of a covered license protection incident. Disclaimer: The information offered within this article reflects general principles only and does not constitute legal advice by Nurses Service Organization (NSO) or establish appropriate or acceptable standards of professional conduct. Guardado JR. Medical liability claim frequency among U.S. physicians. The court could even come after your assets if you leave claims unpaid. Too Good to be True? Especially if you are a nurse practitioner, it's a small investment in keeping your future and profession safe. We dont sell or share your data with anyone. Yes. Information provided on Forbes Advisor is for educational purposes only. Under vicarious liability rules, employees are viewed as agents acting on behalf of their employers when performing job duties. Personal liability insurance can also be referred to as: Medical malpractice insurance Nursing malpractice insurance The National Association of Pediatric Nurse Practitioners (NAPNAP) recognizes that nurse practitioners (NPs) need access to affordable and adequate malpractice insurance, also called professional liability insurance, to protect themselves and their patients. If you are struggling with how to pay for a policy check out this article on making your first money plan. Nurses can be sued for all types of things, some of which they may not even be at fault for, so making sure youre covered is incredibly important. All rights reserved. They may have acted improperly or unsafely, failed to anticipate problems that a reasonably competent person would have, or not taken actions they should have taken under the circumstances. Proper insurance coverage is a good practice to start in nursing school and continue through your professional life. American Medical Association Policy Research Perspective. Registered nurses represent the most commonly sued type of nurse, representing 86.8% of claims when compared with LPNs and nursing students. *There are no affiliate links in this post I provide the above information purely for education and entertainment purposes. Lecturio Premium gives you full access to all content & features. Something went wrong. Careers. Commissions do not affect our editors' opinions or evaluations. Another reason it would be worth your while to have liability insurance is because claims left unpaid can hurt your credit immensely. No votes so far! Specific malpractice incidents will be further analyzed by looking at other members of the healthcare team who contributed to the patients care and any other factors that may have come into play. If a nurse falls short of living up to the professional standard of care, this is considered malpractice. And those who are affected can pursue a legal claim for damages. Nurses increasingly are being named in suits. Using National Practitioner Data Bank public use data, years 1990 to 2014, NP malpractice claims were classified by event type, patient outcome, setting, and number of practitioners involved. Keywords: Yes, you need malpractice insurance. Regardless of where you come down about the particular actions that this individual nurse took, the fact remains that she was charged and ultimately convicted of malpractice. Occurrence policies provide coverage when the date of the incident in question falls within the time of the policy. Do your research, look at the numbers, and confidently come to your own decision. sharing sensitive information, make sure youre on a federal The business, and all eligible employees and sub-contractors you regularly employ, will be considered when determining your practices premium calculation and share the same coverage limits you select for the business. Malpractice Insurance: What You Need to Know - PMC Malpractice insurance for nurses will cost you anywhere from $500 to a couple of thousand dollars a year, depending on the state you practice in as well as the role you are in. Both acts or omissions constitute nursing malpractice and can give rise to a damage claim if you are harmed. 2023 USA TODAY, a division of Gannett Satellite Information Network, LLC. Thank you in advance! Smith SK, Benbenek MM, Bakker CJ, Bockwoldt D. J Adv Nurs. There are many reasons nurse practitioners may need liability insurance for themselves. For example, if another healthcare professional made a mistake while caring for a patient that you also cared for, you may end up being required to testify. A nurse who provides improper treatment can obviously be held legally liable for their failures. For example, if the annual practice premium costs $10,000 during the last year of coverage, the tail coverage could cost $15,000 to $20,000. Weve fought to be seen as autonomous healthcare providers, and that comes with an added responsibility to defend our actions and decision making. Youll likely have to attend meetings (in person or virtual), which involve an in-depth analysis of all the events that took place with questions that will be answered by all members of the healthcare team. Lets be real thats what you need to know how vulnerable am I? Corporate malpractice insurance costs are nominal. Clipboard, Search History, and several other advanced features are temporarily unavailable. . The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the In reality, we all need to worry about the rights of the hospital as well as the rights of the patient. If you work in a hospital, it is not as common to require this insurance. Common Mistakes When Buying Malpractice Insurance, Emergency Department Malpractice Insurance, Skilled and Assisted Living Facility Insurance, Neurosurgeon Medical Malpractice Insurance, Nurse and Nurse Practitioner Malpractice Insurance, Plastic Surgeon Medical Malpractice Insurance, do-nurses-need-medical-malpractice-insurance, Everything You Need to Know About Insurance Loss Runs, The Critical Importance of Acquiring Proper Medical Clearance. NSO offers affordable nursing liability insurance and plenty of helpful resources to help new and experienced nurses buy individual liability coverage. American Association of Nurse Practitioners. Nurses with more than 16 years of experience represented 85% of malpractice claims. Nurse Practitioners - Proliability Nurse practitioners were independently responsible for the event in the majority of the analyzed claims. Severe patient outcomes most often occurred in the outpatient setting. Professional Liability. When it comes to the nurse needing malpractice insurance, they usually dont need to do it with their own money. Because Nurse Practitioners (NPs) practice across such a wide variety of settings and specialties, and because states vary in their rules and regulations for NPs, it is important that our insurance agents take the time to get to know your unique practice and employment situation. 2. According to the National Practitioner Data Bank (NPDB) from 1998 to 2001, the number of malpractice payments from nurses increased 253 to 413. Email: service@hpso.com, Businesses: 1-215-660-0241 Your employer will obviously hold their own malpractice insurance that helps protect them in the event of a lawsuit, but this wont always act in your favor. If they dont have it, the nurse could either be sued or found liable for charges and forced to pay for the malpractice out of their own pocket. Whether you have a second job, change jobs or move, our coverage stays with you wherever you go, in the United States, including its territories and possessions, and Canada.*. Check your state laws to help youdetermine what type of insurance coverage you want to have. Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Unauthorized use of these marks is strictly prohibited. 45.6% of full-time NPs hold hospital privileges; 10.9% have long-term care privileges. If you receive a subpoena for documents or testimony arising out of professional services related to a lawsuit in which you are not named, the HPSO policy includes deposition representation. Copyright 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. Tsai SF, Wu CL, Ho YY, Lin PY, Yao AC, Yah YH, Hsiao CM, You YH, Yeh TF, Chen CH. an independent doctor (that is, one not employed by the hospital) was not in control of the nurse. If an incident occurred in 2019 when you had your policy, but the claim wasnt filed until a later year, you would still be covered. Malpractice insurance for nursing students is incredibly affordable, costing around $35 per year for up to $1,000,000 in coverage. Phone: 1-800-247-1500 Additional resources: Whether you've recently graduated or have been practicing . Whether youve recently graduated or have been practicing for years, lawsuits can occur. 2021 Sep;8(5):2773-2783. doi: 10.1002/nop2.853. When nurses are tasked with updating patient medical records or documenting treatment and they fail to do so correctly (or to do so at all), this can have consequences for future treatment. A shared limit policy is issued in the name of your professional business or company. Nurse practitioners provide a substantial amount of patient care and have extensive interaction with those in their care. Professional Liability Insurance for Nurses The end goal should be the principle of why they filed the lawsuit but ends up being more about money. (Fines and penalties not available in New York). For this reason, nurse practitioners need malpractice insurance that offers protection for both the past and present incidents. Download the full report here. During any given shift, one or more of these factors may affect your ability to provide the level of care you were trained to perform. Medical-surgical nursing represents the most frequently sued nursing specialty, accounting for 36.1% of lawsuits. This site needs JavaScript to work properly. Getting their own policy allows a nurse practitioner to pick and choose exactly the type of coverage they need. Yes, you'll need to pay for your own malpractice insurance in one way or another. Join the #1 Nursing Community on the web. Nurses Service Organization (NSO) is a provider of liability insurance for nurses. The Future of Nursing 2020-2030: Charting a Path to Achieve Health Equity, released May 2021, calls for eliminating restrictions on the scope of practice of nurse practitioners (NPs). More commonly referred to as malpractice insurance within the healthcare industry, a Professional Liability policy will protect you in the event that a patient or their family's attempt to hold you legally responsible for what they believe was a mistake on your part or an omission of care that resulted in further personal injury or other losses. Again, I find this unsurprising given that med/surg nurses typically have higher patient ratios, making them more prone to mistakes. See ourPrivacy Policyfor more information. Adding another insurance bill just isnt an option for a lot of nurses in the medical industry. Nurse practitioner malpractice data: Informing nursing education The exact cost is tailored to individual needs, so there is no one-size-fits-all cost. Conclusion: Do NPs need malpractice insurance? An official website of the United States government.