Ask a Travel Nurse Question:
I was wondering if you think liability insurance is a must for Travel Nurses? And, if so, do you have some recommendations? Thank you!
Ask a Travel Nurse Answer:
I’m sorry to say that I cannot recommend a good liability coverage company as I am a nurse who does not believe in carrying such coverage. Although I know that in our litigious society the possibility of a suit is now greater, I guess I take comfort in the fact that either a physician or hospital’s deep pockets would likely be the target of any litigation.
That does not mean that you cannot be named in a suit, but again, the likely target would probably often be the hospital or physician.
I also believe that should an attorney see a party to an incident who carried malpractice insurance, would have an even greater chance at being named in the suit (possibly even if there was not any fault on the part of the named nurse). If there are any actual lawyers reading this, please post in the comments section if this is an actual possibility.
If this is a concern of yours, there are travel companies that do offer liability insurance for their nurses and I believe if they have such an offering, it is usually free. I recall signing a contract within the past few years where they needed info for such coverage and I told them I did not want it; however, they stated that they required it of their travelers.
The best place to shop this type of coverage would be to first get recommendations from one of the online forums, and then check out which company meets your needs. Some good travel nurse forums can be found at ultimatenurse.com, allnurses.com, and the Delphi forum for traveling professionals (go to delphiforums.com, look for the box on the right that says “Explore existing forums”, type in “travel nursing” and the top result is a group called Travel Nurses and Therapists).
Pan Travelers is also another good site with a forum. They have a free section and also a portion where there is a charge to access that information. They may even have a particular section on this.
You can also join Healthcare Travelbook (healthcaretravelbook.com), which is a sort of Facebook style place for travelers, which also has a forum.
So while coverage is not mandatory for travel nurses, you should also check out the forums and see if there are any “pros vs. cons” postings on liability coverage, and then make your own informed decision on whether or not it is something you’d like to carry.
Hope this helps.
David