Nurses have a lot of responsibility when it comes to the care of their patients including recording vitals, administering medications, and setting up equipment like IVs and other monitoring devices. Although they are well-trained and are held to high standards, mistakes and errors can happen that cause harm to their patients. This is rare and often not serious. However, in some cases, nurses and medical facilities can face lawsuits or claims to pay for any physical or financial harm caused due to negligence, even if accidental.
What is Professional Indemnity Insurance?
Professional Indemnity Insurance (PII) can be used to help protect nurses and medical professionals from lawsuits as a result of errors or mistakes when providing care to their patients. Holders of a PII policy will enjoy the benefits of legal advice, support in the courtroom, and coverage of any financial costs (including court and attorney fees). For nurses that work at a medical facility, this is often included with employment or may be required to be purchased separately.
Protections under Professional Indemnity Insurance may include:
- Mistakes when administering medication.
- Bad advice or guidance for patients or their loved ones.
- Failure to recognise or report symptoms or changes in a patient’s medical condition.
- Errors on medical charts or documents.
- Intentional or unintentional neglect when providing care.
Check out our other article for more information about Professional Indemnity Insurance for nurses.
Why Do Nurses Need Professional Indemnity Insurance?
Nurses must secure and maintain Professional Indemnity Insurance to work as medical practitioners in Australia. This requirement comes from Section 129 of the Health Practitioner Regulation National Law passed in 2009. Each state and territory adopted this law throughout 2009 and 2010. Nurses are obligated to demonstrate to the Nursing and Midwife Board of Australia (NMBA) that they are compliant.
In addition to be a requirement by law, having Professional Indemnity Insurance is just good practice. While the goal of the law was to ensure they were protected from receiving care from uninsured medical providers, this also has benefits for nurses as well. While nurses never (most of the time) intend to cause harm to their patients, this can happen accidentally. The financial costs of a lawsuit alone can be significant resulting in the loss of your private nursing business and liquidation of private assets.
Helping Nurses Stay Protected With Tailored Professional Indemnity Insurance
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