Question on importance of Professional Liability Insurance.

ultrarunner · Mar 7, 2014

Talk about liability on the job got me thinking about just how necessary it is to have and if it is even available.

I know CPAs, Real Estate Agents, Registered Nurses for the most part carry personal Professional Liability policies or have riders on their Homeowners Policy.

I work in a Hospital and almost all of the Nurses have it and it's not expensive.

Not one of the techs carry it and it doesn't even seem to be available... same for the engineering department.

I called and asked my agent for a quote and came up short as I am an employee... but, so are the Nurses.

Any thoughts?

Gunny · Mar 8, 2014

I somewhat asked my wife the same question when she became a nurse, except I wondered why the doctors and nurses carried liability and none of the other employees did. Still haven't gotten an answer that suited me. I can understand a doctor, they can make a lot of decisions that could kill someone, but a nurse is only following the doctors' orders, plus the docs are contract employees, the nurses are hired directly by the hospital.
I even talked to a lawyer and while he admitted that there was no real reason for a nurse to have liability insurance, he would recommend that they do, because he said it's just so darned easy to get sued these days.
He didn't like it very much when I commented that lawyers had a lot to do with all the suing going on, but still insisted that it made good sense to keep the policy.

ultrarunner · Mar 8, 2014

Thanks Gunny for the reply...

I wasn't sure if I should post or not.

When my Grandfather long ago sold insurance he would say the only people that buy insurance are people with something to lose... I guess now one could add because it is the law in some cases.

I'm the Director of Engineering at a small Hospital... we average about 500 surgery cases monthly and I have held this position over 20 years.

My areas of responsibility cover everything from physical plant, biomed, environment, security, capital improvement, maintenance, regulatory compliance and accreditation...

The new twist is every employee must now be cross trained and my new assignment is patient care in the operating room environment... basically a med/surg tech for some of the newest OR technology.

It started my thinking process because I have never had any direct patient care in my scope of employment... In fact, I would be the last person you would see in the OR under normal circumstances unless there was an emergency situation... such as a problem with med gas or equipment issue.

When asked, the board has said the Hospital Umbrella cover patient claims and I'm sure it does... I just don't want the person thrown under the bus in the worst case scenario... we deal with a lot of eye cases... some lasting for hours at a time plus the run of ortho and specialty plastic.

Like most on TBN... I do have something to lose... worked hard to put together some investments and a little land and equipment.

murphy1244 · Mar 8, 2014

We carry a 2 Million dollar umbrella coverage for my Mrs. and I.

ultrarunner · Mar 8, 2014

Murph... does that coverage extend to on the job liability too?

lilranch2001 · Mar 8, 2014

I have a million dollar umbrella for my self but I do not believe it covers my professional life

murphy1244 · Mar 8, 2014

ultrarunner said:
Murph... does that coverage extend to on the job liability too?

For us yes, as the Mrs. is a Patent Attorney. But No digging.

ultrarunner · Mar 8, 2014

I've done some checking and it looks like I could pick up a 1 million per occurrence with a 3 million Surgical Tech policy for a couple of hundred a year.

The disclaimer is the underwriter must review and if you perform multiple specialities... each must be addressed.

WM75Guy · Mar 8, 2014

You absolutely need it for being in the OR, especially since Biomed is your responsibility. I have my professional liability thru Nursing Services Organization (NSO). The same policy covers me as an RN, paramedic and instructor(speaker/preceptor/instructor). The reason for carrying the insurance is not only will they pay if you lose a case but more importantly they pay for the attorney to represent your best interests. That's the expensive part no matter whether you win or lose since attorney fees started at $300/hour pretrial and $800/hour trial time last time I was involved in one. Don't trust your employer to represent you as their attorneys have a clear conflict of interest. They settle and get dismissed from the lawsuit then they don't have to represent you any longer.

It also covers me for representation for disciplinary actions by my employer or the Board of Nurses, medical bills if I am injured on the job, and several other things. My favorite quote is "The hospital will stand behind you but it's so far back you can't see them." The last one my wife was involved in they sued every person who's name appeared in the chart, their supervisor, all administrators and the hospital. My wife was a manager and while the hospital attorney took the lead our attorney protected her interests and got her dismissed from the suit.

ultrarunner · Mar 8, 2014

Until several weeks ago... my name never appeared on a chart... now I need to sign to acknowledge timeout.

It does put things into a new perspective... interesting times ahead.