by Elizabeth Rudolph | Mar 26, 2014 | Legal Nurse Consulting
Let’s say you are going to review a nursing home medical record in your Professional Legal Nurse Consultant (PLNC) practice, so you are wondering what issues you might face. While each case is unique and has it’s own issues, you will likely come across these three negligence issues at some point. Whether you are reviewing the chart for the plaintiff or defendant, be sure you address each one separately.
1. Pressure ulcers: Commonly called bedsores, decubitus or decubitus ulcers. The immobility of this population, unfortunately, is one of many causes for the formation of pressure ulcers. In your PLNC clinical review, you will need to address this issue. When did the pressure ulcer start? What is the stage or is it unstageable? What, exactly, is the treatment protocol and what does the documentation show? Are there photographs? Was the resident identified as being at high risk for pressure ulcer development? Was the physician/nurse practitioner on notice?
2. Falls: Residents are usually thoroughly assessed at admission. Was the treatment plan updated to reflect any falls? What interventions were put into place? Is the family “on-board” with the treatment plan?
3. Malnutrition: Perhaps it might be under nutrition or dehydration. Does the medical record have updated dietitian assessments and interventions? Is the resident on a special diet? Is there documentation of the percentage, or amount, of consumption?
Thoroughly review the medical records. Then, think about these three potential injuries and be sure you address them in your Professional Legal Nurse Consultant report.
by Elizabeth Rudolph | Feb 27, 2014 | Legal Nurse Consulting
What do exercise and being a Professional Legal Nurse Consultant have in common? Lots. Both require patients (no pun intended), rather patience, both are rewarding and both produce results. Let us analogize a bit more.
Whether you exercise every day, every week or one a year, you must have patience with yourself. Some days you can zip through a thirty minute circuit training session and other times, when you are looking through a medical record, it takes patience to figure out what was going on. Either way, you need to be kind to yourself and realize you can do it. You have the training, both as a nurse and PLNC. Simply apply your knowledge to the immediate situation.
Life has a way of rewarding you for a job well done. Maybe you lost a pound, or two, with your new exercise regimen. Maybe you found that “needle in a haystack” in a medical chart. Life’s rewards come in all different sizes.
You will find, if you expend more calories than you consume, you will lose weight. Similarly, if you review more medical records, you will become more proficient and could see more medical-legal cases coming your way.
Next time you go to the gym, think patience, rewards and results. And, the next medical record you review in your Professional Legal Nurse Consulting practice, think patients, reward and results. Sound similar? They are.
by Elizabeth Rudolph | Feb 18, 2014 | Legal Nurse Consulting
You want to enrich your life. You want to fulfill your desires and dreams. You are a nurse. You went to nursing school, you work (or have worked) as a nurse. But, you want to round-out your work and life balance. How?
There a number of ways to do this: First, write down everything you can think of in three minutes or less that you want to do with your life. Nothing is too small or too big. For example, is it travelling to a foreign country, taking an online course, learning a new skills? Write it down.
Next, prioritize your list. Of all the items you jotted down, which will bring you the most pleasure? As a nurse, you spend a lot of your day, or night, helping others. Which of these items will most help you?
Finally, armed with your list, you must implement at least the first item in order to obtain a sense of accomplishment. Once you master the first item, you can move on to the next and so forth.
Being fulfilled requires having a life plan. Even a short list qualifies as a life plan. Now follow through. You can do it!
by Elizabeth Rudolph | Jan 30, 2014 | Legal Nurse Consulting
In starting any new Professional Legal Nurse Consultant (PLNC) venture or business, it is important to remember that there is no one source of inspiration. Many nurses find inspiration from their communities or social and economic environments. You might be inspired, or driven, by a need to provide your local attorneys with a resource that very few PLNCs offer. Or, it may just come down to the fact that you simply want to set your nursing career on a new course of adventure.
In other words, you just might want to try something different. Regardless of your reason(s), you must move in the direction of your goal if you want to succeed.
Focus your energies on these five sources of inspiration for starting your PLNC business (Rhonda Abrams, What Business Should I Start?, USA Today):
1. Your nursing experience.
2. Hobbies you enjoy.
3. An “Aha” moment.
4. Some else’s work experience.
5. Systematic research.
Keep your momentum going. The key here is to make your stumbling blocks your stepping stones. Your attitude and enthusiasm will not only help you, but could prove contagious, in obtaining future PLNC cases to review.
by Elizabeth Rudolph | Jan 22, 2014 | Legal Nurse Consulting
You may have said to yourself, “I was a student nurse once”, but really we are all “students”. Students of nursing knowledge, students of learning, students of life. Whether you are currently in school or thinking about furthering your education, we are all student nurses.
You want to further your nursing education without taking a long, protracted course. You want to use your current nursing skills and combine them with the legal skills, which have always intrigued you. How? By simply getting your Professional Legal Nurse Consultant (PLNC) certification in only two days. You do not have to sit in a class for days, nor sit at your computer for hours. All that is streamlined for you in a short, two day PLNC certification course.
Two things you need to NOW:
1. Register for the Professional Legal Nurse Consultant (PLNC) certification course here.
2. Decide whether you want to get your PLNC certification by Live Course, Video Course, Audio Course or e-Course.
Here’s a list of the 2-Day PLNC Live Courses:
St. Louis, MO: March 29 & 30
Kansas City, MO: Apr 5 & 6
Chattanooga, TN: Apr 26 & 27
Nashville, TN: May 31 & Jun 1
We are all students, nurses or student nurses. Decide today to join the student nurse team.
by Elizabeth Rudolph | Dec 9, 2013 | Legal Nurse Consulting
When you give of yourself, you receive. Whether in your Professional Legal Nurse Consultant (PLNC) practice, your nursing career or your life, you will find fulfillment in giving to others. You might ask “How can I give in my PLNC practice?” Simply put more effort into your PLNC services, whether it is reviewing, testifying or drafting reports. You will feel good about yourself.
“We make a living by what we get. We make a life by what we give,” says Winston Churchill. Instead of giving gifts to others this year, consider these alternatives in your Professional Legal Nurse Consultant business: Adapted from the Huffington Post article.
- Say at least one thing you respect about another, be it attorney, secretary or friend.
- Share photographs which could be useful in your practice being mindful of confidentiality and privacy.
- Send a handwritten note or email expressing your appreciation.
- Share a lesson learned, whether it is a standard of nursing care or use of new equipment.
Now is your time to give. Your gift does not always have to be physical present. You are a PLNC and you have all kinds of options. Just simply choose one (or more). Happy Holidays!
