Consider Legal Nurse Consulting (LNC) as a nursing business and career option.

A good description of what a legal nurse consultant (LNC) does is found on the web site of the American Association of Legal Nurse Consultants (AALNC) (www.aalnc.org). They indicate that a LNC may be involved with doing any of the following:

• identifying standards of care, causation, and damage issues
  conducting client interviews
• conducting research and summarizing medical literature
• identifying and applying multidisciplinary standards of care and regulatory requirements
• preparing chronologies of medical events and comparing and correlating them to the allegations
• educating attorneys regarding medical facts and issues relevant to the case
• identifying and determining damages and related costs of services, including collaborating with economists in preparing a cost analysis for damages
• assisting with depositions and trials, including developing and preparing exhibits
• organizing medical records and other medically related litigation materials
• locating and procuring demonstrative evidence
• collaborating with attorneys in preparing or analyzing complaints, answers, and motions for summary judgment, interrogatories, deposition and trial outlines, queries for direct and cross examination, document production requests, trial briefs, demand letters, and status reports
• identifying and retaining expert witnesses
• acting as a liaison among attorneys, physicians, and clients
  providing initial case screenings for merit

The AALNC reports that a legal nurse consultant could work in the following practice settings:

• law firms
• independent practice
• insurance companies
• government offices
• risk management departments 

Helpful Background: It is helpful to have developed an area of expertise within nursing. This could be in ICU, oncology, obstetrics, or a variety of other areas. What is important is to have some type of expertise that will be helpful in assessing and evaluating legal cases. 

Start-Up Costs: During Karon Goldsmith's teleforum for the Nurse Entrepreneur Network, she stated that her initial start up costs were about $500. At a minimum, a LNC will need professional looking stationary, business cards, and a brochure. It is also recommended to get a telephone voice mail system so that your potential customers can reach you when you are out of the office or on the telephone. You will need a computer and some basic software programs. 

Earnings Potential: LNCs working as nurse entrepreneurs in their own business vs. those working within firms generally bill on an hourly basis. Hourly rates can vary from around $50 - 150 per hour. Rates charged for testifying would be higher. 

Additional Resources

Mary Ann Shea, the past president of the AALNC was interviewed by LNC Resource. You can access this article by clicking on this link: http://www.lncresource.com/TwoCol.asp?SID=5429

The AALNC has a downloadable ebooklet called "Getting Started in Legal Nurse Consulting": http://www.aalnc.org/images/pdfs/GetStartWeb.pdf

Nursing Spectrum has published on article on legal nurse consulting. This article can be accessed by clicking on this link: http://nsweb.nursingspectrum.com/cfforms/GuestLecture/nursingandlaw.cfm

There are also active Yahoo! groups on legal nurse consulting. They include legalmed@yahoogroups.com and legalnurseconsulting@yahoogroups.com