Legal Nurse Consultant
Medical knowledge and experience is in demand. And not just in hospitals.
Law firms are hiring nurses to clarify health-related issues in legal cases.
Marguerite Barbacci had worked as an RN (registered nurse) for about 13
years. Then she decided to make a career change. Barbacci became a legal nurse
consultant. And now, as a director for the American Association of Legal Nurse
Consultants (AALNC), she can't imagine doing anything else.
A legal nurse consultant, or LNC, is an RN who uses her medical knowledge
and experience to help lawyers prepare legal cases related to health-care
issues.
Those who hire LNCs include law firms, government agencies, insurance companies,
and hospital risk management groups. Of all the members of the AALNC, about
half are self-employed.
Law firms hire the most LNCs. Plaintiff firms who specialize in personal
injury, defense firms involved in liability cases, and criminal defense firms
all need the services of an LNC.
Barbacci started out working for a plaintiff firm. There, she would interview
clients who were considering litigation. Much of her time would also be spent
in the library and the hospital, reading medical records and talking with
physicians and patients.
"It was stuff I'd been doing for 13 years [as a nurse]," says Barbacci.
"Every day as a nurse you're reading medical records."
Now she is working in the sector of liability investigation for an independent
consulting company that is owned and run by a nurse. "The majority of my day
is spent reviewing records and writing the chronology of the events that happen
to a certain person. A lot of research goes along with it. I spend a lot of
time online."
Barbacci works from her home office. There, she has a good number of medical
texts that she can refer to as well.
"It's challenging: a lot of reading, attention to detail, and a great deal
of writing."
Barbacci thrives on this because it's what she loves to do. "This is the
longest I've spent in any single career."
Dennie McCabe is the president of the Denver chapter of the AALNC. She
emphasizes that people should look into the many options and varieties of
work available to an LNC.
McCabe works on the personal injury side of cases. But she says that some
prefer to work in medical malpractice. She notes that many ER and surgical
nurses enter legal nurse consulting.
McCabe recognizes the importance of hard work when working independently.
"You have to be self-motivated, or you won't get anything done," she says.
Just as the work settings and specializations are different for each LNC,
so are the tasks they may perform. The AALNC says legal nurse consultants
may conduct client interviews, research and summarize medical literature,
prepare chronologies of medical events, or teach lawyers about the medical
facts in a case.
Medical knowledge and experience are the key to being a successful LNC.
"You really need the experience," says Barbacci. "I'd recommend you have a
minimum of three to five years [of] experience [as a nurse]. If I hadn't had
the varied experiences that I did when I started, I couldn't have done it.
This is not an entry-level profession."
All that experience pays off. "The average salary for a nurse in independent
practice is about $65 to $75 an hour," says Barbacci. "It's going to vary."
She estimates that a salary in a law firm would start in the high 40s to low
50s.
There are certification programs for LNCs, but they aren't necessary. "That's
something that I really want to emphasize," says Barbacci, even though she
teaches an LNC course at a community college. "You don't need any specific
nurse consultant training."
The AALNC board does offer certification, however. The applicant must have
a full and unrestricted RN license and a bachelor's degree or the equivalent
of five years of experience as an LNC. They must have practiced as an RN for
two years and have accumulated 2,000 hours of legal nurse consulting experience
three years before applying.
A legal nurse consultant brings experience, education, professionalism
and a demonstrated commitment to the medical field into the world of law.
Nothing compares to real-world experience in health-care issues. And more
and more law firms are recognizing the great value of the services of a legal
nurse consultant.
Links
American Association of Legal Nurse Consultants
Great info on the scope of practice
Vickie Milazzo Institute
Offers training for LNCs
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