What is a Legal Nurse Consultant?

The legal nurse consultant is a licensed, registered nurse who performs a critical analysis of clincial and administrative nursing practice, healthcare facts and issues and their outcomes for the legal profession, healthcare professions, consumers of healthcare and legal services, and others as appropriate.  With a strong educational and experiential foundation, the legal nurse consultant is qualified to assess adherence to standards and guidelines of healthcare practice as it applies to the nursing and healthcare profession.

What does a Legal Nurse Consultant do?

some of the activities legal nurse consultants may perform include: identify standards of care, causation and damages issues; conduct client interviews; research and summarize medical literature; prepare chronologies of medical events and compare and correlate them to the allegations; educate attorneys regarding medical facts and issues relevant to the case; locate, retain, and confer with expert witnesses; initial case screening for merit; organize medical records; assist with depositions and trials; identify regulatory requirements; and act as a liaison between attorneys, physicians, and clients.

What type of cases need an LNC?

Legal nurse consultants provide support in medically-related litigation and other medical-legal matters in the following areas: toxic torts; worker's compensation; risk management; medical licensure investigation; fraud; abuse and compliance issues; criminal law; elder law; and other applicable cases.

How can I find out more information about legal nurse consulting?

Access the website of our national organization, the American Association of Legal Nurse Consultants (AALNC) at: http://www.aalnc.org