Frequently asked question by nursing students.
Why does my school require me to carry malpractice (aka professional liability) insurance while doing my clinicals?
Some nursing students say they feel a calling to be a nurse. It is an honorable, caring, challenging, and rewarding profession. It's not just a job or career. It's part of who you are. You won’t stop being a nurse, just because it's your day off.
A lot of nursing students are surprised to learn that mistakes committed on the job can result in costly medical malpractice lawsuits.
As a nurse, you have a responsibility to act within the standard of care. Act outside it, such providing improper treatment, and patients can end up injured. In today’s world, injuries can mean malpractice lawsuits. Your school requires you to carry malpractice coverage to help protect you and the school from potential litigation.
Average Malpractice Claim Costs1
- Student Nurse: $63,780
- LPN/LVN: $293,507
- RN: $215,544
What is different about student malpractice insurance and a nursing professional’s policy?
Your
student policy provides you with up to the same $1 million of professional liability
insurance that an LPN/LVN, RN or APRN carries on their policy. This is the coverage that helps protect you from lawsuits filed by patients alleging you acted outside the standard of care and they incurred an injury.
The primary difference between a student and
nursing professional policy is the License Protection coverage. As a student, you don’t have a nursing license, yet. So, you don’t need License Protection.
When you pass your state boards, you will want to help protect your license from possible complaints. That is why the NSO policy for nursing professionals includes up to $25,000 of Licensure Defense Expense Reimbursement.
When I graduate do I still need malpractice insurance?
As a student you’ve seen how hard nurses work. They can put in long hours, work while understaffed, and be overly stressed. No matter the reason, sometimes mistakes are made. If a nurse acts outside the standard of care, patients can get hurt and lawsuits can get filed. A great way to help protect your nursing career is with your own individual malpractice insurance policy.
You will also need to safeguard your license. There are
50 times more license complaints filed against nurses than malpractice claims. Anyone can file a complaint against you. An injury is not required. Say something on Facebook about a patient that one of your colleagues doesn’t like and they could file a complaint against you with your state board.
A license complaint is a serious matter. It may involve an investigation by the state board and a formal hearing. Because your license is at stake, it is a good idea to hire an attorney to help you through the process. The policy for nursing professionals includes up to $25,000 of Licensure Defense Expense Reimbursement that you can use to hire a lawyer.
Having legal counsel at your side will help reduce your stress levels and increase the odds of a positive outcome.
Does NSO provide any discounts for new graduates to help them start a new policy?
YES! If you apply for NSO Nurse Professional Liability Insurance within 12 months of graduation, you can receive a 60% discount the first year of your policy, 40% the second year and 20% the third year. In the fourth year, you will pay the same rate as your nursing colleagues.*
In most states, nurses’ annual malpractice insurance rates from NSO look like this:
Why buy my own malpractice policy if I can get free coverage through my employer?
Your employer’s policy is meant for your employer. It has their name on it. Should
a malpractice claim occur, they may put your employer’s interest first, which may
conflict with your own. Their policy will offer coverage for employees if they are named in a lawsuit, but with limitations. For example, if multiple people are named in the suit, you will be forced to share coverage limits—
which may not provide you with sufficient protection to pay for the entire claim.
The other important restriction on an employer’s policy is that it may not cover licensing complaints.
They may be the one filing the complaint against you. In such a situation, you could be forced to pay for an attorney out of your own pocket. The average cost to hire an attorney to defend a licensing matter is $6,304* When you look at the cost to hire of an attorney, and the cost for a nurses’ policy, it makes sense to have your own individual coverage.
How do I initiate a policy for a nursing professional after graduation?
It’s easy. You can transfer your student nurses policy into a nursing professional’s professional policy simply by calling NSO at
1.800.247.1500. Or you can fill out the application at
nso.com.
After starting your policy, should you take a leave of absence to raise a family, we recognize that you’ll still be a nurse, but the risk of having a claim is greatly reduced. Therefore, we offer a premium discount of up to 50%.
Being a nurse is a lifetime journey. Please know that NSO is here to support you every step of the way.
1Resource: Nurse Professional Liability Exposure Claim Report: 5th Edition, NSO, CNA, September 2025
2U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, National Practitioner Data Bank, May 2020.
Nurses Service Organization is a registered trade name of Affinity Insurance Services,
Inc.; (TX 13695); (AR 100106022); in CA, MN, AIS Affinity Insurance Agency, Inc. (CA
0795465); in OK, AIS Affinity Insurance Services, Inc.; in CA, Aon Affinity Insurance
Services, Inc., (CA 0G94493), Aon Direct Insurance Administrators and Berkely
Insurance Agency and in NY, AIS Affinity Insurance Agency. I-14092-0526
Updated: 10/2026
This publication is intended to inform Affinity Insurance Services, Inc., customers of potential liability in their practice. This information is provided for general informational purposes only and is not intended to provide individualized guidance. All descriptions, summaries or highlights of coverage are for general informational purposes only and do not amend, alter or modify the actual terms or conditions of any insurance policy. Coverage is governed only by the terms and conditions of the relevant policy. Any references to non-Aon, AIS, NSO, HPSO websites are provided solely for convenience, and Aon, AIS, NSO and HPSO disclaims any responsibility with respect to such websites. This information is not intended to offer legal advice or to establish appropriate or acceptable standards of professional conduct. Readers should consult with a lawyer if they have specific concerns. Neither Affinity Insurance Services, Inc., NSO, nor CNA assumes any liability for how this information is applied in practice or for the accuracy of this information.
Nurses Service Organization is a registered trade name of Affinity Insurance Services, Inc., a licensed producer in all states (TX 13695); (AR 100106022); in CA, MN, AIS Affinity Insurance Agency, Inc. (CA 0795465); in OK, AIS Affinity Insurance Services, Inc.; in CA, Aon Affinity Insurance Services, Inc., (CA 0G94493), Aon Direct Insurance Administrators and Berkely Insurance Agency and in NY, AIS Affinity Insurance Agency.