Employment as a Legal Nurse Consultant

As licensed registered nurses, legal nurse consultants enjoy extensive job opportunities carrying out the intriguing duties and responsibilities that their occupation involves. Sometimes this means testifying as expert witnesses for attorneys at trial. Other times it includes reviewing medical records and educating colleagues on medical terminology, treatments and other pertinent facts.

Employment as a legal nurse consultant also requires expert investigation skills. Obviously, investigation is a key part of the job and can incorporate numerous aspects of the health care process, such as workers' compensation and disability claims, fraud and abuse in government-funded agencies, and conduct of health care practitioners.

Practitioners can find employment as a legal nurse consultant in a wide range of public and private organizations, depending on their career interests and goals. Many work in law firms, but others find employment as legal nurse consultants in these settings:

• Independent consulting practices
• Government offices
• Insurance companies
• Hospital risk management departments
• Forensic environments

While a large part of the job entails investigation, legal nurse consultants also spend a fair amount of time educating attorneys on medical facts and collaborating with legal experts on developing case strategies. The most common areas where lawyers seek the expertise of legal nurse consultants include medical malpractice, personal injury, workers' compensation, criminal and elder law, and product liability cases.

The American Association of Legal Nurse Consultants reports how LNCs improve trial outcomes and settlement results for attorneys. Not only do they remove the burden and time constraints that extensive medical research requires, but they provide clear analysis and evaluation of medical outcomes and their impact on the people involved in the case.

Gaining employment as a legal nurse consultant presents an exciting opportunity to build on your nursing expertise and broaden your knowledge of legal practices. Clearly, the legal and medical fields have good reasons to talk to each other, and legal nurse consultants are the ones who can help forge a relationship of cooperation and collaboration that provides for the overall improvement of health care outcomes.

_{Sources:
Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2010; American Association of Legal Nurse Consultants (AALNC);
National Alliance of Certified Legal Nurse Consultants}