These days, nursing is no longer limited to working in hospitals and long-term care facilities. There are now a number opportunities available for those who are looking to go into the nursing field. One that is becoming increasingly popular is legal nurse consulting.
A legal nurse consultant provides an expert medical opinion in legal proceedings. They assist legal professionals on health care issues and provide insight into medical procedures and terminology.
Most civil and criminal court cases involve some type of medical concern, including malpractice suits, personal injury claims, and worker's compensation disputes. A legal nurse consultant helps attorneys and judges understand complicated medical information as it pertains to such legal matters. Consultants rely on their extensive practical nursing experience to investigate and interpret medical records from a legal perspective.
If you are interested in applying your medical expertise in the practice of the law, then legal nursing is the right career choice for you. You will be working with attorneys, insurance companies, and risk management divisions of hospitals, or you may even operate your own independent consulting practices.
Your duties in the field of legal nursing may include analyzing medical records, preparing medical reports and providing testimony as an expert witness. Legal cases involving medical malpractice, worker's compensation, health insurance fraud, patient abuse might benefit from your analysis and testimony.
Since most lawyers and judges do not have extensive medical backgrounds, they rely on you to help them understand technical details and educate them on medical matters. Similarly, a physician might need help from a legal nurse consultant to understand court charges and proceedings. You will also be called upon to help attorneys prepare official statements and determine the most appropriate lines of questioning to use on witnesses and defendants.
A legal nurse consultant is a licensed registered nurse. In the US, this means that you have been granted a certificate by your state allowing you to practice nursing. In order to become a legal nurse consultant, you have to have at least three years of experience in working in a medical center. That includes doctor's offices, clinics, hospitals, nursing homes, and rehabilitation centers.
To become a legal nurse consultant, it is important that you are able to speak well and express your thoughts and opinions clearly. You may be called on the witness stand to give expert testimony on healthcare issues. A clear presentation of the facts of a case can make you a more credible expert witness.