Special Risk Management Edition

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Welcome. We hope you will enjoy this special risk management edition, brought to you by NSO in conjunction with NursingCenter.com--absolutely free. Designed especially for busy nurses like you, NursingCenter.com delivers the latest clinical practice breakthroughs to help meet your information needs in today's fast-paced environment..

::: In This Issue :::

LEGAL Clinic: Malpractice Insurance and Licensure Protection

Special Report: Nurses Do Get Sued, Finds New CNA HealthPro Study in Conjunction with Nurses Service Organization

Feature Article: Creating a Culture of Accountability in Health Care

Featured Company: Nurses Service Organization

Key Article: Is Your Documentation Like a Bunch of cows?

::: Legal Clinic :::

Malpractice Insurance and Licensure Protection

As a nurse attorney who lectures to nurses about the legal aspects of practice, I frequently meet nurses who are "going bare"--an expression lawyers use for practicing while uninsured. The reasons nurses give for being uninsured include the following: "Nurses with malpractice insurance get sued more often than nurses without it.", "They can't get blood out of a rock. Even if I'm sued, I have no assets.", "It's a waste of money; nurses don't get sued." Many of these reasons for not having insurance relate to malpractice litigation.

Read this article now...

::: Special Report :::

Nurses Do Get Sued, Finds New CNA HealthPro Study in Conjunction with Nurses Service Organization

$94 million paid out over 10 years

While common perception may be that doctors bear the brunt of lawsuits, the reality is that nurses are increasingly finding themselves defending the very care they provide to patients.

Three key findings uncovered by the study are:

Over $94 million in indemnity payments and expenses have been paid out over the course of the 10 years analyzed, and an additional $43 million is set in reserve for open suits.

While the obstetrics/gynecology nurse specialty realized the highest average paid indemnity at $335,000, the adult medical/surgical nurse specialty had the overall highest total dollar paid indemnity with nearly $30 million aggregate, and accounted for 56 percent of all closed claims.

Thirty-eight percent of claims came from a hospital inpatient setting (excluding the hospital emergency department's 7.8 percent).

Read the claim study and learn how to recognize the risks and challenges in your practice.

Download Claim Study Now

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Creating a Culture of Accountability in Health Care

Health care providers are constantly striving to improve quality and efficiency by using performance management systems and quality improvement initiatives. Creating and maintaining a culture of accountability are important for achieving this end because accountability is the reason for measuring and improving performance. The keys to creating a culture of accountability will be...

Read this article now...

::: Featured Company :::

Nurses Service Organization (NSO), nso.com, is the largest provider of individual nurses' professional liability insurance in the U.S. with over 650,000 nurses, nurse practitioners, and clinical nurse specialists. NSO has been serving the insurance needs of the nursing profession since 1976. Nurses Service Organization is a registered trade name of Affinity Insurance Services, Inc.; in CA (License #0795465), MN and OK, AIS Affinity Insurance Agency, Inc.; and in NY, AIS Affinity Insurance Agency.

Learn more about Nurses Service Organization

::: Key Article :::

Is Your Documentation Like a Bunch of Cows?

A Nebraska country road and a herd of cows got me to thinking. Passing one particular pasture, I observed a parade of about 30 cows ambling single file toward a water tank. Each member of the column seemed to be mindlessly following the cow in front, head to tail, going wherever the other cows did, all eventually heading to the tank.

This scene reminded me of another "parade" I had recently seen. As a nurse consultant for several nursing homes, I review records and chart documentation. In one facility, I had been reviewing the Activities of Daily Living (ADL) flow sheets.

Read this article now...

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