Legal nurses, also called legal nurse consultants (LNCs), assist the legal team in analyzing cases potentially involving medical errors. LNCs’ clinical knowledge offers a unique contribution to understanding how situations may occur and provides an insider’s view of the complicated process of healthcare.
Depending on their worksite, legal nurses review and evaluate the documentation surrounding a medical occurrence, interview those involved, and create written chronologies to illustrate the event’s circumstances. Legal nurses help determine whether the actions of others were appropriate or should be called into question. They offer the legal team vital input to decide the case’s direction.
Legal nurses possess the skill to decipher nuances in standards of practice and explain them to the legal team or in the courts as expert witnesses.
Legal nurses often receive advanced training to improve their skills. For example, some start as paralegals and then take classes to become certified legal nurses. Others continue to obtain their master’s or doctoral degrees or become nurse attorneys.
Legal nurses review and summarize medical documents to enable the legal team to determine the case’s merits. After researching the medical literature, they must compare the actions that occurred against current standards of care. They may interview other health care providers and be involved in forming questions used in depositions. Some legal nurses participate in arbitration and mediation meetings between both sides involved.
Legal nurses who work in expanded settings such as case management or those who attend independent medical exams may have other duties involving more patient contact. Other legal nurses who have expertise in a specialty area such as orthopedics or neurology can expand into expert witness roles.
Legal nurses need the training to understand legal terminology. They use critical thinking, expert research skills, and ethics to understand how medical events occur. LNCs rely on their years of nursing experience to determine if a medical response met the standard of care.
Strong communication skills are needed to interact with lawyers and interview families or other health providers. They must remain objective so as not to misinterpret the facts presented. Legal nurses must be precise in their written descriptions and explanations of what the documents show and be able to lay out an accurate chronology of the situation to be presented in court.
Perks:
Free access to all ten webinars presented yearly in both live and on-demand formats. Free access to their foundational resource, The Legal Nurse Consulting: Scope and Standards of Practice. Career Support, Exclusive Member Discounts, and Member Affinity Program Discounts.
"The American Association of Legal Nurse Consultants promotes the professional advancement of registered nurses consulting within the legal arena by providing a forum for education, research and exchange of information."
Perks:
You receive a link on the IAALNI.org Directory listing Legal Nurses in the United States and countries worldwide, free referral service, newsletters, use of their logo for self-promotion, and access to upcoming legal and medical conferences.
Legal nurse consultants (LNC) provide guidance to attorneys in analyzing and evaluating whether causes of injuries may be from medical care, nursing care, or both. The LNC is uniquely knowledgeable in multiple aspects of healthcare delivery and legal responsibilities. They review all the case documentation, create chronologies, research additional medical literature, and consult with medical-legal teams to determine whether a lawsuit has merit.
Legal nurse consultants (LNC) may also work in expanded roles in case management, assisting in trial preparation, attending independent medical exams, and giving expert nurse testimony.
All nurse specialty areas require an Associate Degree in Nursing (ADN) or Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) degree and successfully pass the state's NCLEX-RN exam. The AALNC recommends you actively practice for five years before becoming a legal nurse consultant.
You can advance your career by getting an MSN or doctoral degree in an area of interest.
Alternatively, you can become a nurse attorney and obtain your (JD). You first need your BSN or MSN. Afterward, you will be licensed to practice both nursing and law.
American Association of Legal Nurse Consultants (AALNC)
National Alliance of Certified Legal Nurse Consultants (associated with Vickie Milazzo Institute)
The International & American Association of the Legal Nurse Industry
Legal nurses typically make between $62,375 - $98,898, with a median salary of $77,651, according to Salary.com.
The May 2021 Bureau of Labor and Statistics report shows which states have the highest and lowest wages for nurses. They do not list by nurse specialty, but legal nurse salaries would likely follow suit. The highest-paid states are California, Hawaii, and Oregon. The lowest-paid states are South Dakota, Alabama, and Mississippi.
The American Association of Legal Nurse Consultants (AALNC) offers a 17 module self-paced program to obtain LNCC certification. The only legal nurse consulting credential approved by the American Board of Nursing Specialties.
Member rate: $2291
Non-member rate: $4273
Vickie Milazzo Institute for Medical-Legal Consulting offers an online program with four levels of certification:
Regular price: $4,997, currently on sale for $3,197.
LNC STAT
LNC STAT is accredited by the Boards of Nursing. Certification programs include:
Packages Costs: $3,995 to $14,495
Legal nurses often work for law firms, insurance companies, hospital risk management departments, forensic environments, and government agencies. In addition, some have independent consulting practices.
