by Donna Renee Williams,  RN, MBA, CDONA/LTC

According to an ACHA report published in March of 2012, there were 15,690 nursing homes in the United States accounting for 1.7 million patients and residents.  According to an article published by US News in March 2011, “Nursing homes that did the best on quality measures were only a little less likely to be sued. In any given year, nursing homes with the best records (the top 10 percent) had a 40 percent risk of being sued, while the worst 10 percent of nursing homes had a 47 percent chance of being sued.”

Physicians carry malpractice insurance to cover their practice; however, nurses often do not.  Nurses instead are reassured that the organization has insurance and will cover them in the event of litigation.  Yet, the question is, ultimately who does the attorney provided by the organization represent?

Does the attorney represents the nurse or does the attorney represent the organization?  What happens when the nurse makes a mistake and is terminated from his/her position?  Can he/she still count on the organization to represent him/her?

The climate of litigation is intensifying, affecting not only the nursing homes and the physician, but also expanding to the nurses as well.  Questions about the actions of the nurse and his/her “practice” is equally as significant as the actions of the physician and the policies of an institution.  

Furthermore, complaints to the licensure board against a nurse may also lead a nurse to seek counsel.  In this instance, the benefits of malpractice insurance are not limited to cases that are arbitrated or tried before a jury but may also help in actions taken by the licensing board.