Surefire Legal Nurse Consulting
What is a Legal Nurse Consultant?
A Legal Nurse Consultant (LNC) is an experienced nurse who can assist attorneys with cases in the following ways:
Extensive Medical Knowledge - Nurses have a thorough understanding of anatomy and physiology, disease processes, medical treatments and medications.
Experience - Through years of clinical experience, nurses develop superior assessment skills. They recognize changes in patient status and adjust the plan of care accordingly. Nurses are experts in documentation. They are efficient in interpreting medical records, recognizing inconsistencies, omissions and breaches in standards of care.
Resourcefulness - Nurses collaborate with other medical professionals creating a vast network of knowledge in many different specialties and professions. Nurses are trained to stay current in evidenced based practice through continuing education and research.
Legal Nurse Consultants bridge the gap between the medical and legal worlds.
Attorneys who utilize Legal Nurse Consultants to analyze and interpret medical records can save valuable time and resources, allowing them to concentrate on the legal aspects of their cases.
How Can a Legal Nurse Consultant Help Attorneys?
Medical Records Analysis
A comprehensive review and analysis of medical records offers many benefits including:
Determining if facility polices were followed
Assessing if standards of care were adhered to
Establishing if treatment was timely and appropriate
Interpreting lab, radiology, procedure and surgery reports
Chronologies and Timelines
Medical records are rarely delivered in chronological order. Organizing medical records by date and time creates a more comprehensible picture of how the events occurred. Medical records can vary in length, some can be thousands of pages. Legal nurse consultants can alleviate attorneys of this very time consuming task by producing an easy to read report and timeline of the events in the order that they occurred. This allows for further analysis to expose omissions in medical records and gaps in timely care.
Case Screening
Legal nurse consultants offer an objective, unbiased review of the facts of a case. Through the process of organizing and analyzing the medical records and performing research, the legal nurse consultant can assist the attorney in determining if a case has merit. Knowing this early in the process can save attorneys valuable time and resources.
Locating Expert Witnessess
An expert in the medical field is sometimes needed to corroborate the facts of a case. This can be a time consuming endeavor for an attorney. Legal nurse consultants have many years of clinical experience where they worked side by side with colleagues who can serve as medical experts. Networking with other healthcare professionals comes naturally for nurses. They can locate and interview potential expert witnesses to make sure they are a good fit for the case. This service is another valuable time saver for attorneys.
Discovery and Trial Preparation
During discovery, legal nurse consultants can advise attorneys on what medical information should be requested and assist in making sure information from the opposing counsel is complete.
Extensive preparation is required when going to trial. Legal nurse consultants can assist by educating the attorney and staff on the medical issues relevant to the case. They can also prepare exhibits and visual aids as well as preparing the witnesses.
Interpretation of Collision Repair Estimates
Automotive language can be just as foreign as medical language. It can be helpful to know the extent of the damage in motor vehicle and motorcycle accidents, but understanding a collision repair estimate can be difficult. The severity and location of vehicle damage is indicative of the severity and types of injuries the victims sustained. Knowing how to read a repair estimate can shed light on the validity of the injuries claimed. All legal nurse consultants have medical experience, but not many have extensive automotive experience and knowledge. With over 15 years of mechanical and collision experience, Surefire Legal Nurse Consulting can offer this service.
“But let justice flow like water, and righteousness, like an unfailing stream.”
– The Bible Amos 5:24