Have you insured your home or car? Your answer will be of course. When people wish to protect these assets, many nurses fail to protect their precious asset, which is their career. In the present recession period, these professionals should take all sorts of steps to safeguard their precious career. But, why are nurses keeping away from purchasing a nursing malpractice insurance for them? It is because of the many myths they hear about such a coverage that discourages them from getting insurance for safeguarding their professional license. It is important that they should examine these myths, so that those working in the field of direct patient care will understand the importance of having this type of coverage. This will also help them in terms of representation in case a lawsuit is filed against them, even when the mistake is not on their part or otherwise.
This insurance will increase my risk of being sued: Some nurses keep themselves away from purchasing nursing malpractice insurance because they feel that this coverage will make them open as targets for lawsuits. But, this is not true. Unless you voluntarily inform potential claimants that you are covered, they will never come to know about your coverage. It will not be known to others unless and until a lawsuit is filed against you for one reason or another.
However, having such a coverage might keep a nurse in a lawsuit because attorneys keep a defendant in a case if the defendant has the coverage to pay for the potential judgement or settlement. In the past, not having an insurance, brought benefits to nurses because lawyers dropped them out of the lawsuit. It is due to the reasoning that nurses do not have finances to handle the case.
I am covered under by employer’s insurance: Even though, it is true that nursing staff are covered by the hospital for which they are working, it is recommended that they should have their own coverage. This is because the employer will not claim the insurance company if a lawsuit is filed against a nurse for services rendered outside hospital hours. Also, the money covered by the employers might not be enough as well. So, it is better that you should personally get a coverage.
I don’t need an insurance because I am good in my profession: It is true that you might be confident in you. But, we are humans and mistakes can happen anytime. Also, there are chances that you might be mistakenly sued by a patient for something for which you are not actually responsible.
Like for nurses, dental malpractice insurance is also important for dentists. Dental malpractice insurance will cover them against their professional mistakes.
