Nothing
but the Truth
A Look at Legal Nurse Consulting
by Megan
Malugani
Summary Legal nurse consulting a good career alternative for nurses Go independent
or on board as legal staff member Opportunities in the field
Nurses with an appetite for both emergency room trauma and courtroom drama may have a
future in legal nurse consulting.
Legal nurse consultants work at the intersection of medicine and law, consulting with
attorneys and others in the legal arena on medical malpractice, personal injury, workers'
compensation and other healthcare-related cases. Thousands of nurses have already carved
out a professional niche in legal nurse consulting, and their ranks are growing.
"Our main role is educating attorneys, and we can be a huge aid to them. We're
like their ace in the pocket," says Martha Holley-Jones, RN, BSN, one of three legal
nurse consultants at MLCC Medical-Legal Nurse
Consultant Company in Cranberry Township, Pennsylvania.
Making the Case
Resources
for Legal Nurse Consultants |
- You can find your local chapter of the AALNC here.
The AALNC also offers books, tapes and a certificate program for legal nurse consultants.
- For training information, visit the Medical-Legal
Consulting Institute.
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About half of all legal nurse consultants work on staff at law firms, insurance
companies and other institutions, where their salaries are approximately the same as
hospital nursing administrators' salaries. The other half of all legal nurse consultants
work independently, earning $60 to $150 an hour or more.
Legal nurse consulting allows nurses to branch out of the clinical setting while still
making use of their experience and knowledge, says Sherri Reed, RN, BSN, president of the American Association of Legal Nurse Consultants (AALNC).
Reed works as an in-house legal nurse consultant for an Indianapolis, Indiana, plaintiffs'
law firm specializing in personal injury, medical malpractice, product liability and
aviation. She interviews clients, reviews medical records, researches and summarizes
medical literature, helps evaluate liabilities and damages, assists with depositions,
prepares exhibits, and identifies and retains expert witnesses.
Independent legal nurse consultants perform many of the same tasks as their in-house
counterparts. In addition, they sometimes serve as expert witnesses at depositions or
trials, where they are called upon to testify about whether nursing care deviated from
established standards of care. Many independent legal nurse consultants, including
Holley-Jones, still work full- or part-time in the hospital. The demand is higher for
independent legal nurse consultants who are currently working in the field and can offer
the most informed opinions on nursing issues. "Things change so rapidly in healthcare
that if you're out of it for awhile, you get behind," Holley-Jones says.
Growth in the Field
The field of legal nurse consulting has grown tremendously since Reed entered it 15
years ago, she says. "I honestly had no idea there was an area like this when I
started. It took me two years to realize there were other nurses doing similar work in
Indianapolis," says Reed. In comparison, there are now thousands of legal nurse
consultants in practice across the nation, and the AALNC currently has about 3,600
members. The number one prerequisite to becoming a legal nurse consultant is clinical
experience, says Reed. Specifically, many legal nurse consultants have backgrounds in
critical care, intensive care and the emergency department.
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