DiversityNursing Blog

This question comes up frequently and is asked quite often by nurses, "Should I carry malpractice insurance?" Many nurses are covered under their own individual liability insurance carrier. Many more are not. I am.......... are you??

Nurses can be sued at any time, for any reason. Often, allegations brought against you are unfounded, but just being named in a lawsuit gives one pause and can be one of the most stressful times in your life. The nurse feels embarrassed and fears damage to a perfect reputation.

Your employer's policy may cover you, but only up to a point. Remember: Your employer's policy is created to fit their specific needs and protects them first.

You may even be told (by your employer HR) that you do not need your own policy. What they do not tell you is that they want you to be represented by their attorneys. They do not want "outside" representation for they know that their best interests will not be first and foremost. Carrying your own policy will ensure you personal attorney representation when you need it and this attorney will be concerned with only protecting YOUR needs and YOUR best interests.

All malpractice insurance policies have limits of liability. If you are only covered by your employer's insurance, other defendants employed at your entity may and probably do share your liability limits under the same policy. If you as well as others are named in a suit, your legal costs, including any settlement, could exceed your employer's shared liability limits. This would mean out-of-pocket expenses for you!!

The following are a few individual carriers:

    Nurses Service Organization (NSO) - www.nso.com - #1 carrier for Nurses with free online quotes
    www.hpso.com
    www.cnahealthpro.com
    www.cmfgroup.com
    Marsh Affinity - www.proliability.com
    www.seaburychicago.com - not in all States
    Liability insurance can also be purchased through CNA by going to the American Nurses Association website - www.nursingworld.org
    And, some Home Owners insurance policies will have stipulations for liability insurance.

It is up to the individual nurse how much liability to carry. $1,000,000/$6,000,000 coverage premiums are approximately $90/year in most States for the RN and $90/year for the LPN - NSO.


Another benefit of carrying individual coverage which extends beyond your employer's limits:

    License Protection

Many Carriers reimburse you up to a certain amount if you are defending disciplinary charges with your Board of Nursing (BON).


And, many policies also address the following (not all inclusive):

    libel
    slander
    charges of confidentiality violation
    assault on the job

So, do you carry your own individual liability insurance??

Small price to pay for peace of mind...

Diversity is a welcome challenge as it is an opportunity to learn and be a better leader at CentraState.

Any Monday through Friday, you'll find Jeffrey Anderson and Hazen Yu in their positions as Administrative Coordinators /Nursing Supervisors for CentraState Healthcare System in New Jersey. Jeffrey works the 3:00-11:00pm shift and Hazen works the 11:00pm - 7:00am shift. Recently, Pat Magrath of DiversityNursing.com had a conversation with these experienced and dedicated Nurses to find out what they had to say about their nursing experiences.

Both men agree that what they love about CentraState is the opportunity for growth in their careers and the support they receive from hospital leadership. They stated that the leadership at the hospital provides excellent strategic planning, is very knowledgeable, and they consistently do the right thing for the employees and the patients. It is because of the leadership, many nurses are loyal to CentraState and have worked there for years. Jeffrey and Hazen are good examples of career growth within the hospital as Jeffrey has 9 years and Hazen has almost 14 years of tenure.

In preparation for our chat, both men did not consider gender as a focus of diversity.  They were aware women dominated the field, however they did not look at gender as an area of diversity. When they think of diversity, it is "cultural" diversity that comes to mind. Jeff and Hazen were able to come up with 20 different countries that are represented in CentraState's employee population.

They describe the community they serve as quite diverse. The community includes all the cultures employed by CentraState as well as many others. As a result of the cultural diversity, both Hazen and Jeff have learned about several different cultures and experienced several different languages.  Jeff and Hazen agree that diversity is a welcome challenge as it is an opportunity to learn and be a better leader. As Supervisors, they are keenly aware of the importance of understanding a patient's culture. Because their own nurses are so diverse, they often take time with their staff to get a better handle on a particular patient's culture and customs.

To meet the needs of the patient speaking a different language, several resources are available to the staff. One of the resources is the Language Line. This is a service that is used to translate any language via a certified interpreter. CentraState has been proactive and paid for staff members to be certified as language interpreters so they will be on hand to interpret a patient's symptoms and offer medical instructions. While Hazen and Jeff confirm the importance of communicating with a patient in the patient's language, they stress the delivery is just as important. They point out how you handle yourself - your tone of voice, posture, whether there should be eye contact or if it's acceptable to touch a patient -- is just as relevant in the communication process.  

When they visited www.DiversityNursing.com, they noticed an article about mentoring. They realized how each of them had been a mentor to the other. When Hazen was in the float pool, Jeff was in the ER. Jeff got to know Hazen and mentored him in the ER. When Hazen became Administrative Coordinator a year or 2 before Jeff, Hazen mentored Jeff in the Administrative Coordinator position. Mentoring for them has been a 360 degree cycle.

Both men also value CentraState's commitment to education. They have attended numerous seminars including a seminar on Leadership. Because Hazen and Jeff love what they do at CentraState, they encourage other men to consider Nursing as a career.

When asked if they felt they were treated differently because they're men, both responded they do the same work as their female colleagues and there is no difference in how they are treated.  Both noted that communication with women is different than it is with men and this difference has actually helped them in their personal lives. Jeff and Hazen are confident they got where they are in their careers because of their skills, education and hard work, not because of their gender. They have gained the trust and respect of their colleagues.  

Diversity is alive and well at CentraState.  Every year nursing staff receive a mandatory diversity packet that covers many areas including cultural competence and communication. They are tested on this information and encouraged to use it in their daily work.

Pat Magrath of DiversityNursing.com had a recent phone meeting with him for this eNewsletter. It turns out he is a member of the National Association of Hispanic Nurses (NAHN) NYC Chapter, and they met 2 years ago when he visited the DiversityNursing.com booth at the NAHN Annual Conference in San Antonio, Texas.  He stopped by our booth last year as well at the NAHN Conference in Washington, DC.

After visiting the DiversityNursing.com booth, he thought about registering for the Award, but was discouraged because "he never wins anything". When he saw how easy it was to register, he decided to do it. He's glad he did and encourages everyone to register "because you never know what will happen"! He said "This came at the right moment".

To find out the identity of our 2011 Award Winner and to learn more about his experiences as a nurse, please CLICK HERE.