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Legal Nurse Consultant Career Specialties

Learn about legal nurse consultant career opportunities.

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a judge about to hit a gavel in court

Legal nurse consultants play a powerful role in the litigation process by bridging the gap between medicine and the judicial system.

Legal nurse consultants are licensed registered nurses with more specialized training. They use their clinical experience and specialized health care education to interpret, research and analyze medically-related issues relevant to a legal case or claim. Based on their investigations, they provide an informed opinion on the delivery of health care and its results.

With an established code of ethics and conduct, legal nurse consultants practice their critical trade in law firms, government offices, insurance companies, hospital risk management departments and HMOs, as well as in consulting firms and independent practices. In each environment, these experts fulfill a number of roles and carry out an extensive list of responsibilities. Take a look at some of these roles and responsibilities to get an overview of the legal nurse consulting profession:

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Reviewing Medical Records

Searching for the medical and nursing issues relevant to a case, legal nurse consultants review medical records to help determine whether professional negligence occurred, to summarize injuries and treatment and to identify any missing or tampered records. Medical records also offer a legal nurse consultant insight into the standard of health care provided to a client.

Educating Colleagues

In the process of deciphering a case, legal nurse consultants educate attorneys regarding medical facts, timelines, treatments, nursing terminology and other relevant health care information. Furthermore, their legal nurse consultant degree and experience gives them the background to serve as liaisons between the attorneys, physicians and clients involved in a particular case or claim.

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Investigating Cases

Investigation plays a major role in the world of legal nurse consulting. As case investigators, legal nurse consultants may provide professional services such as these:

  • Research compensation and disability claims to determine whether such claims have merit
  • Examine cases involving fraud and abuse of government funded agencies, including Medicare and Medicaid
  • Conduct inquiries into potential misconduct on the part of a health care practitioner or facility

Preparing for Trials

For cases that go to trial, legal nurse consultants may prepare medical fact reports and summaries, chronologies of medical events, graphic exhibits and other evidence. They may also draft questions for attorneys to use during medical depositions, interview parties involved in a case and prepare witnesses for testifying at trial.

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Testifying as an Expert Witness

Attorneys may call legal nurse consulting experts as witnesses at trial to provide facts, data and opinions based on case evidence. Along with offering testimony, a legal nurse consultant's job may involve locating and retaining expert witnesses who can offer specialized insight and knowledge relevant to the circumstances of a case.

Additional Legal Nurse Consultant Information

Legal Nurse Consultant Requirements

The base requirement for being a legal nurse consultant is that you have extensive experience in the practice of nursing. On top of that, it helps to have some type of relevant experience in the legal system. A graduate degree and certification in the nurse legal consultant clinical specialty both help establish credibility.

Legal Nurse Consultant Job Outlook

With 25 percent of attorneys in practice dealing with medically-related cases, the market for professionals with a legal nurse consultant degree holds strong. The breadth and intrigue that surrounds the field promises a stimulating career—not to mention the rewards that come with making an impact on the standards of practice applied in both the health care and justice systems.

Related Nursing Opportunities

Related legal opportunities for nurses include the role of Nurse Risk Manager, and Nurse Attorney.

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Learn more about legal nurse consulting.

Return to the Nursing School Education Resource Center.



Sources:
American Association of Legal Nurse Consultants, 2007
Lora Lee Grutkowski, Certified Legal Nurse Consultant, 2001-2007
Medical-Legal Consulting Institute, Inc, 1999-2007