Nurses, No More Excuses: Get Personal Professional Liability Insurance Policy Now-Part 2

5 Indest-2008-2By George F. Indest III, J.D., M.P.A., LL.M., Board Certified by The Florida Bar in Health Law

Nurses, I am writing this to strongly encourage you to purchase your own professional liability insurance policy. I have noticed many nurses fail to carry any insurance to protect one of their most precious assets, their nursing licenses. Yet such insurance is cheap and easy to obtain. Professional liability insurance will protect a nurse in the event of a lawsuit, and it may also pay legal defenses in the event of a complaint against a nurse’s license to practice or for other legal problems. If you already have nursing liability insurance, make sure it also pays all legal expenses incurred in defending a complaint against your license.

I’ve heard every excuse as to why a nurse does not have professional liability insurance. In this blog […]

By |2024-03-14T10:01:18-04:00May 15, 2018|Categories: Defense, Insurance, Malpractice, Nurse License|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |Comments Off on Nurses, No More Excuses: Get Personal Professional Liability Insurance Policy Now-Part 2
Read More

Nursing Professionals Cannot Afford to Not Carry Nursing Malpractice Insurance

By George F. Indest III, J.D., M.P.A., LL.M., Board Certified by The Florida Bar in Health Law

Nurses: Please Protect Yourself With Professional Liability Insurance.

I am writing to strongly encourage you to purchase nursing professional liability insurance that covers you for complaints and investigations initiated against you and your nursing license.

I am not affiliated with any insurance company.  I am not receiving any commission, fee or reimbursement for writing this article.  My concern lies in the many, many nurses who contact our firm with Emergency Suspension Orders, Notices of Investigation, Administrative Complaints and Final Orders from the Department of Health, Board of Nursing, who do not have the funds to hire an attorney to defend themselves.

Employers Generally Do NOT Provide Legal Defense.

Many nurses mistakenly believe that their employer insures them for these types of events or that their employer will provide a legal defense.  In the vast majority of cases, this […]

By |2024-03-14T10:01:54-04:00May 15, 2018|Categories: Insurance, Malpractice|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , |Comments Off on Nursing Professionals Cannot Afford to Not Carry Nursing Malpractice Insurance
Read More

How Disciplinary Actions are Initiated Against a Florida Nurse

There are many possible grounds for which disciplinary action may be initiated against a nurse in Florida.  It is important to be familiar with these so that you can avoid them.

You should review and be very familiar with all of the Florida laws and the Florida Board of Nursing’s Rules that appear in the Florida Administrative Code (F.A.C.).  These may all be accesses through the Florida Board of Nursing’s website:  www.doh.state.fl.us/mqa/nursing/.  Look for the menu item “Laws and Rules” and click on this.

The laws which set forth various grounds for discipline include:

Chapter 456, Florida Statutes (which applies to all licensed health professionals).

Chapter 464, Florida Statutes (the Nurse Practice Act).

Chapter 64B9, Florida Administrative Code (Rules adopted by the Board of Nursing).

Basically, a nurse may be disciplined for any violation of the Nurse Practice Act, for any violation of Chapter 456, Florida Statutes, for violation of any Rule of […]

By |2024-03-14T10:01:55-04:00May 15, 2018|Categories: Nursing Law Blog|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |Comments Off on How Disciplinary Actions are Initiated Against a Florida Nurse
Read More

Nurses: Don’t Work at an Illegal Health Care Clinic

By George F. Indest III, J.D., M.P.A., LL.M., Board Certified by The Florida Bar in Health Law

Despite the passage of Florida’s Health Care Clinic Act over nine years ago, there are still many health practices which are violating it. Unfortunately, the violation of the Health Care Clinic Act can have serious repercussions, including conviction of a felony, loss of all fees collected, and disciplinary/licensure action against any nurses or other licensed health professionals working there.

Over the past three years we have seen the following scenarios or ones similar to these (changed factually to ensure anonymity):

Scenario 1: A health care practitioner licensed in Florida decides to sell her practice and retire. Three non-licensed business people decide to form a corporation to purchase and operate the practice. The corporation purchases the medical practice’s assets, including patient records. The corporation has not applied for or received a health care clinic license.

Results: On the day of […]

By |2024-03-14T10:01:55-04:00May 15, 2018|Categories: Defense, Nurse License|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , |Comments Off on Nurses: Don’t Work at an Illegal Health Care Clinic
Read More

The 27 Biggest Mistakes Nurses Make in Department of Health Investigations

By George F. Indest III, J.D., M.P.A., LL.M., Board Certified by The Florida Bar in Health Law

Following are the 27 biggest mistakes that we have seen nurses make over and over again that cause them the worst trouble in DOH investigations.

1. Failing to keep a current, valid address on file with the DOH (as required by law), which may seriously delay the receipt of the Uniform Complaint (notice of investigation), letters, and other important correspondence related to the investigation.

2. Contacting the DOH investigator and providing him/her an oral statement or oral
interview. (Note: There is no legal requirement to do this.)

3. Making a written statement in response to the “invitation” extended by the DOH
investigator to do so. (Note: There is no legal requirement to do this.)

4. Failing to carefully review the complaint to make sure it has been sent to the […]

By |2024-03-14T10:01:55-04:00May 15, 2018|Categories: Department of Health|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |Comments Off on The 27 Biggest Mistakes Nurses Make in Department of Health Investigations
Read More

Florida Nurse Accused of Abusing Patient

By George F. Indest III, J.D., M.P.A., LL.M., Board Certified by The Florida Bar in Health Law

A Florida State Hospital licensed practical nurse (LPN) has been arrested and charged with one count of abuse of a disabled adult at the facility. The nurse was arrested on a felony warrant by the Attorney General’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit (MFCU). The arrest was announced by the Florida Attorney General on June 29, 2012.

Nurse Accused of Abusing Patient During Medication Administration.

The nurse allegedly struck a disabled woman at the mental health facility, while trying to administer medication. The nurse attempted to administer medications to the patient by holding her nose closed in an attempt to force her mouth open, slapping her across the face, and pulling the patient’s hair, according to the charges filed.

The nurse has been charged […]

By |2024-03-14T10:01:55-04:00May 15, 2018|Categories: Defense, Discipline, Medication, Patient Care|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |Comments Off on Florida Nurse Accused of Abusing Patient
Read More

Nurses Beware of a Disciplinary Action Database Called Licensure QuickConfirm

By Christopher E. Brown, J.D.

Nurses, did you know the National Council of State Boards of Nursing (NCSBN) maintains a database of all state disciplinary actions?  This database, called Licensure QuickConfirm, lists all disciplinary actions from the Florida Board of Nursing and forty-six (46) other state boards. It is frequently used by hospitals and medical groups to screen potential employees.

To search the Licensure QuickConfirm list, click here.

Information Comes From the Boards of Nursing.

According to the website, all information listed on the database comes directly from the boards of nursing. A report will contain:– the nurse’s name, – licensed jurisdiction,

– license type

– license number,

– compact status (single state or multistate),

– license original issue date,

– license expiration date,

– discipline against license, and

[…]

By |2024-03-14T10:01:56-04:00May 15, 2018|Categories: Board of Nursing, Discipline, Nurse License|Tags: , , , , , , |Comments Off on Nurses Beware of a Disciplinary Action Database Called Licensure QuickConfirm
Read More
“The Health Law Firm” is a registered fictitious business name of George F. Indest III, P.A.
The Health Law Firm, a Florida professional service corporation, since 1999.
Copyright © 2022 The Health Law Firm. All rights reserved.
FacebookInstagramLinkedInTwitterYouTube
Go to Top