As a Professional Legal Nurse Consultant (PLNC), how can you help in Mediation or Arbitration? And, what do those terms actually mean? Mediation and Arbitration are considered alternative dispute resolution methods to that litigants avoid going to trial.
Let’s look at Mediation v. Arbitration Mediation: It’s a nonbinding way of resolves differences. Parties may be thinking about settling the case, but they don’t necessarily want to go to court. They can act through a neutral, the mediator, and resolve the matter. Just know that courts can impose mediation as a condition that must be fulfilled prior to an actual hearing or trial.
Arbitration: It’s like a mini-trial. There could be one to three arbitrators who hear evidence in the case and make a ruling.
As a PLNC, your opinion about the case matters. Prior, during, and even after alternative dispute resolution, you’re there to educate the attorney and the legal team. You’re tutoring the attorney and providing new directions.
Mediation can be virtual or in-person. Just know, there are numerous ways you can help with alternative dispute resolution. You’re important and your education, knowledge, and training can be extremely useful here.
P.S. Have you ever participated in either mediation or arbitration whether as a party, witness, or Professional Legal Nurse Consultant?
What should you say in your deposition as a Professional Legal Nurse Consultant? What should you not say? These are questions you’ll probably ponder as you prepare for your expert witness deposition in a case. Below are some helpful tips that should set your mind at ease for your sworn testimony.
Five Deposition Tips for the PLNC 1. Be prepared. You cannot “wing” a deposition, even though maybe you could a test in nursing school. So, anticipate questions regarding every singlefact surrounding the medical records you reviewed.
2. You will be asked about your education. Expect to provide an overview of your education which you could do using your resume or curriculum vitae. More importantly, you will likely be asked about whether you obtained education regarding the specific facts in the case you reviewed.
3. Your nursing experience is critical. You will most definitely be asked about your nursing experience. Specifically, you should be prepared to answer questions about your experience with the facts at issue. If your experience is limited, you should consider filling it in with research you have done regarding the facts.
4. Plan to discuss how many cases you have testified in and the types of cases. If this is your first time testifying, you’ll have less baggage. If you have testified in the past as a legal nurse consultant, be sure you know the specifics of those cases.
5. Anticipate the questions in advance so you can set your mind somewhat ease. Nothing worse than “dreaming up” an answer when multiple people are awaiting your answer and you feel anxious. You most likely will be testifying about your opinion regarding all healthcare providers, not just the nurse in question.
Think About These Tips
Now that you’ve read these five tips, go back over them because you will see these come up in almost every expert witness deposition. Become more at ease and you wll be a better expert witness!
P.S. If you’ve been deposed before, how many times for the plaintiff and how many for the defendant? (Try to aim for an equal number).
Do you know your personality traits? Did you know these four personality traits often define a Professional Legal Nurse Consultant (PLNC)? Inquisitive, compassionate, motivated, and adaptable.
Let’s break these down and apply them to legal nurse consultant practice.
Inquisitive. If you’re curious or just want to find out the meaning of something, you have a skill to be a PLNC. Nurses who become PLNCs are often considered analytical. They want to get “to the bottom” of something. They’re willing to look something up on their mobile phones or computer. They find it interesting to know the answer to their questions.
Compassionate. In our world, it is sure nice to have understanding for others. Nurses who are compassionate and are PLNCs, are understanding, sympathetic, and may be described as “warm”. This skill goes a long way in understanding the facts contained in a medical record and realizing there are two sides of almost every story.
Motivated. The PLNC who is energized by following the patient’s story, is one who is guided by the facts wherever they may lead. Sometimes, we wish the result were different, but the medical records speak for themselves, and we must follow them to the end. As a legal nurse consultant, it’s important to channel your motivation to arrive at the reasonably prudent nurse conclusion. When you’re motivated, you seek answers. This is exactly what a successful legal nurse consultant must do.
Adaptable. Being flexible and resilient will go a long way for the PLNC who reviews medical records for attorneys. Sometimes the deadlines change, the assignment gets expanded, or additional medical records are provided. While these could all mean more billable hours and more money to you, it also means being willing to make changes. Attorneys are often busy and delegate responsibilities to their legal nurse consultants. This is an opportunity for you to shine, showing you can meet the challenge head-on.
Whether you have one, or all four of these personality traits, just know that an interesting and interested nurse is one best suited to be a Professional Legal Nurse Consultant. Is that you?
Want to know your personality trait? Take the free Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) here.
P.S. Find out more about being a Professional Legal Nurse Consultant (PLNC) here.
What’s your goal? For the Plaintiff: To identify the TIMELINE of events so you know what was done and not done for the patient that caused harm. For the Defendant Nurse: Same thing. Your CHRONOLOGY is a unit of time. When the events happened and by whom.
As the Professional Legal Nurse Consultant (PLNC) assigned to reveiw the medical records, you are either asked to create a chronology or find it would be helpful to organize what went on with the patient. Either way, creating a chronology will help you understand the facts.
Here’s a summary of what how to create your chronology:
Receive the medical records: Acknowledge electronic receipt via your email to atty.
Organize the med records, if not done already, by sections.
Read the medical records critically. Looking for merits of case.
Now, Write up a chronology (timeline) in complex cases
Point 1: Use Word Document with Four Columns
Date, Description, Page Number, Comments: Arrange in order of occurrence.
Multiple Providers? Do a separate Chron for each Provider
KISS
Point 2: Only record relevant info
Med Recs come in REVERSE chronological order.
Your Chron should be in chronological order.
For example, pt came thru ER, then admitted to ICU, then surg, then back to ICU.
Lots of info is immaterial. Cut to the chase.
Question whether it’s relevant? Include it. Better to include than exclude.
Point 3: Use your Chronology to Draft your Report
Keep three tabs open on your computer:
Med Recs
Chron
Report you’re drafting
No need to include everything from Chron in your report. QUESTION: Is it relevant?
Primary source is med rec. Secondary source is your Chron.
Work off your Chron to draft your report.
Medical malpractice cases almost always use a chronology. A timeline is extremely helpful in cases where there are a lot of events happening. This is the way to distill it down.
To get paid for your work, you need to keep track of the time it took you to create the chronology. Often, it takes a lot of time to create a chronology, but 1) it’s essential to understanding the medical records and 2) you should be getting paid for doing it.
Creation and use of a chronology will help you in your legal nurse consultant practice so follow these points to make them easy for you to draft and use.
P.S. Do you use a four column format for your Chronology?
You are talented! Don’t forget that. You can use your Professional Legal Nurse Consultant (PLNC) skills in LOTS of different ways. The most common way is to assist attorneys in what’s called the “pre-suit stage”. This is where trial lawyers have PLNCs review medical records and give their opinions.
It’s good to know that no matter where you live, your ability to review medical records and give your opinion is essential.
Whether you’re reviewing the medical records for the individual suing or the person or entity getting sued, you’ll get to use your know-how.
Pre-Suit Stage Let’s look at the definition of “pre-suit stage”. It’s that period of time after the event occurred that gave rise to the injury but before the actual case gets filed in the courthouse.
Four Parts of Pre-Suit Stage We’ll break down the pre-suit stage even farther, so you know exactly what’s happening at any given moment in time.
Notice: In order for your attorney to file a medical malpractice lawsuit, there must be enough evidence. Even before the actual filing of the lawsuit, some states require there be notice to potential defendants known as prelitigation filings. Some states require a sworn statement of the attorney, and/or the expert witness, as to the facts and conclusions.
Investigation: Regardless of the states’ requirements, as a PLNC you’ll need to read over all the medical records in the potential case. Then, you’ll give your opinion. The crux of the potential case is whether there’s enough evidence to substantiate the claims. You might be asked to complete a chronology, or timeline, to help simplify the facts. Usually, a chronology is used in more complicated cases, like obstetrics or long-term care cases. You might even help identify witnesses from the medical records.
Demand: After the attorney has reviewed your PLNC report and all relevant documents and things in the potential case, the attorney will arrive at a monetary demand. The attorney will discuss this dollar figure with the client in order to get their consent. The more medical records you review, the more you’ll get comfortable analyzing the value of the case no matter what side of the case you are on.
Settlement negotiations: You may, or may not, be part of settlement negotiations, but your medical record review weighs heavily in the attorney’s settlement demand. Just know that your assistance has been vital in getting the case to this point.
There are pros and cons on both sides of legal cases. Your job as the Professional Legal Nurse Consultant is to identify the strengths and weaknesses of your side as well as that of the opponent’s side. The more you share your nursing and legal skills with the attorney, the more valuable you become in this pre-suit stage.
To review, the pre-suit stage consists of four aspects: notice, investigation, demand, and settlement negotiations. Your nursing knowledge, legal understanding, and professional experience are instrumental in helping clients with their cases.
P.S. Have you ever experienced participating in settlement negotiations? What was it like?
WATCH the video whether you already ARE a Professional Legal Nurse Consultant (PLNC) OR are considering it. For those who would rather read it than watch it, here’s the transcript:
Transcript of Video Nurses, do you feel your career has plateaued? Or might even be stuck in a rut? What if there was a way to substantially increase your income, while using your nursing knowledge for a good cause?
That’s the path you could take as a Professional Legal Nurse Consultant.
As a PLNC, you assist attorneys on a range of cases that require knowledge of nursing care. You can work in the comfort of your own home or in a law office reviewing medical records and alerting attorneys to pertinent facts.
If you’d like, you could even appear in court as an expert witness, which could pay even more.
Elizabeth Rudolph said:
Hi, I’m Elizabeth Rudolph. I’m a Registered Nurse and an attorney. I founded Jurex Nurse to deliver the highest level of legal nurse consultant training.
In as little as two days, you can become CERTIFIED as a Professional Legal Nurse Consultant, by taking an EASY, FUN, and INFORMATIVE course from Jurex Nurse.
Sandra, RN, PLNC said:
I took the Jurex course, and my experience was great! I gained the knowledge and skills to take my nursing career to the next level. I’m working now with three attorneys in my town. I’m making more money than I ever imaged, and I’m able to spend a lot more time with my family.
Every year there are thousands of cases that require Legal Nurse Consultants. If you’d like to be one of them, Jurex Nurse can give you the training, confidence, and ongoing support to succeed. With Jurex Nurse, you get:
Course and Materials
No-Risk Guarantee
Mentoring and Coaching opportunities
Marketing Instruction
Directory Listing
Elizabeth Rudolph said:
If you want to explore the opportunities as a Professional Legal Nurse Consultant, I’m happy to answer your questions in a FREE phone OR video consultation. Call or contact JurexNurse online.
