by Elizabeth Rudolph | May 26, 2020 | Legal Nurse Consulting
This is a two-part series entitled “Your Life as a Nurse Post Pandemic”.
Part 1 addresses life post pandemic after you’ve been working way too many hours — whether in a Covid-19 unit or another area of nursing. Part 2 addresses your life post pandemic after having your hours reduced, furloughed, or laid off and is entitled: “Your Life as Nurse Post Pandemic: Working Reduced Hours, Furloughed, or Laid Off”.
Part 1: You’re an “Essential Worker” which is shorthand for working more hours than you ever thought imaginable. Whether you’re working in a Covid-19 unit or in another area of nursing, you’re probably working way too many hours. You’re exhausted. You’re not feeling appreciated. And, rightfully so.
After working so hard taking care of sick patients, looking after your family, maybe taking care of some close friends, maybe some not-so-close-friends, you’re tired.
Now the Question is: How do you prepare for your life post Covid-19?
First, you need to know that coming out of this pandemic there will be an avalanche of medical and nursing malpractice lawsuits. Let’s prepare right now for your life post coronavirus pandemic.
There have been lots of lives lost and affected by Covid-19. This means a great amount of potential damages. Lots of lawsuits will be filed with the courts throughout the United States.
There will be TONS of medical records to be reviewed. But first, you must be qualified and credentialed to be able to assist attorneys in their medical and nursing malpractice lawsuits. How? Get yourself certified as a Professional Legal Nurse Consultant (PLNC). Attorneys want to know you completed a credible Legal Nurse certification course. Then, you’ll be marketable and be able to enjoy the lifestyle you’ve always wanted.
Lawsuits will come in all shapes and sizes. For example, there will be cases based on nursing negligence in Covid-19 units regarding failing to diagnose, failing to treat, failing to use that degree of care and skill expected of reasonably prudent nurses in the same, or similar, circumstances. There will be cases based on lack of, inappropriate, or improper Personal Protective Equipment. There will be claims by nurses and health care providers in Worker’s Compensation cases. All of these have medical records that must be reviewed. Who better to review them than you, the Professional Legal Nurse Consultant (PLNC)!
Next, put your Professional Legal Nurse Consultant (PLNC) Certification on your resume. Showcase your talents by listing all your nursing experience. You don’t have to specialize unless you want to. Most nursing malpractice lawsuits involve basic understanding of nursing practice. That’s the point you need to get across in your resume. Know that your resume is the place to boast and shine. If you don’t do it, someone else will in their resume.
Ask Yourself: Am I Going To Be Able to Work Like I Currently Am Forever? If your answer is no, then get moving and register to become a Professional Legal Nurse Consultant (PLNC) now!
Become certified as a Professional Legal Nurse Consultant (PLNC) before the deluge of lawsuits so you can be ready at www.JurexNurse.com.
by Elizabeth Rudolph | May 5, 2020 | Legal Nurse Consulting
Now that we’re making the shift from live to virtual events, effective video conferencing has taken on new importance. It’s essential that we communicate in the most effective way possible. As a Professional Legal Nurse Consultant (PLNC), you may find yourself using video conferencing more and more. Whether it’s FaceTime, Zoom, Microsoft Teams, Cisco WebEx, Skype, or any other platform, you’ll want to get used to using video conferencing software.
Incorporate these ten tips into your video conferences and you’ll find you will be a much more effective and persuasive communicator:
- Dress appropriately. Treat this as an opportunity to shine. When you look good, you feel good. Remember, the camera may show more of you than you thought, so be careful.
- Close all apps when screen sharing. Do this first before you screen share. Keep your computer clutter-free and you won’t have to worry as much about privacy issues.
- Stay close, but not too close, to the camera. You’ve seen others on camera, so you know how important camera position can be.
- Use quality audio. If the listener can’t hear what you say, you might as well not have said it. Be sure you’re close enough to your microphone.
- Be prepared. Nothing worse than being disorganized when you’re trying to communicate. Put together an outline in advance.
- Stay focused. Remember why you are video conferencing. Stay on track.
- Choose your background carefully. The background should complement, not distract, the viewer.
- Lighting can make a difference. Too much, or not enough, light is a distraction. Even flickering lights from an overhead fan can be annoying.
- Posture must be natural. Don’t slouch. Don’t be too stiff. Be you.
- Good eye contact is a must. Look at the camera, not the other individuals on the screen.
Even if you incorporate only one of these ten video conferencing tips into your Professional Legal Nurse Consultant (PLNC) practice, you’ll be a much more compelling communicator. After all, communication is key to a successful PLNC practice.
by Elizabeth Rudolph | Apr 23, 2020 | Legal Nurse Consulting
It is more important, than ever, that we keep expanding our minds. As we go through this Covid-19 pandemic chapter in our lives, we must be ever more resolute to pursue our dreams, our thoughts, and our lives. Especially as Professional Legal Nurse Consultants or for those who want to become Professional Legal Nurse Consultants (PLNC).
Whether you are at home or at work. Whether you are working as a nurse or not. Whether you are in the location of choice. We must all get in the mind-space that we can expand our minds by expanding our nursing skills.
Think about mind blowing: There should be lots and lots of lawsuits that come out of the coronavirus pandemic, many of which will be in the health care field. For a Professional Legal Nurse Consultant, that means lots of medical records to review. But, to be able to review these medical charts, you must first have BOTH the Legal AND the Nursing knowledge.
That’s where being a Professional Legal Nurse Consultant is absolutely essential. As a PLNC, you are trained to review medical records in legal cases. You draw on nursing skills and apply those skills in the legal realm.
Consider these three aspects to using your mind to expand your nursing skills:
- You are a nurse. That means you are already part way there. Just add the legal component by being certified as a Professional Legal Nurse Consultant and you’re there.
- You can acquire the knowledge. It has been said that “knowledge is power” and we, as nurses, are powerful. Go get your PLNC certification and you’ll be both powerful and
- You will use your nursing and legal skills to enhance your life. Yes, this means you’ll be able to do more, and earn more, because you have more skills to offer the world.
Expand your mind and you expand your world. Now and forever. Are you ready?
by Elizabeth Rudolph | Feb 5, 2020 | Legal Nurse Consulting
Ask yourself this question: “What do I want to be doing in five years?”. Do you envision yourself in your same job, or maybe you’re still working as a nurse but in a managerial position? Maybe you’re working less and earning less, maybe more, but still not as much as you’d like. Five years in your nursing career goes quickly. Make it count. But how?
The best way to earn more AND enjoy your life at the same time is to work at a job you love. Start with your nursing degree. Make it work for you.
#1. Get More Education. That’s the quickest way up the ladder of success. You’re already a nurse, get your Certification as a Professional Legal Nurse Consultant (PLNC). Don’t Wait!! Do it Now. REGISTER at www.JurexNurse.com.
#2: Set a Five Year Goal. Then, create a simple Plan to attain it. No sense even thinking about a goal if you don’t have even a simple plan to go with it. Remember in nursing school creating patient goals (or even nursing diagnoses) and then creating the steps to help patients attain them? Same applies to us.
#3: Keep Thinking About Your Five Year Goals. You must keep your goals top of mind, even when you want to think about other things. It has been said “out of sight, out of mind”, so be sure you manage your thinking.
So, if you’d like to get your Professional Legal Nurse Consultant certification, now is the time!
by Elizabeth Rudolph | Apr 1, 2019 | Legal Nurse Consulting
As a Professional Legal Nurse Consultant, you’re reviewing lots of medical records. The same issues seem to be popping up. Think in the back of your mind “I should be looking for these three negligence issues“:
Three Most Common Nursing Malpractice Issues:
1. Communication problems: Whether you see lack of communication, or the opposite — too much but no substance to it, often the key to pursuing or defending a case lies in this one issue alone: COMMUNICATION. Sad, but often true, you need to be looking for communication breakdown. Sometimes, in your Professional Legal Nurse Consultant review, you’ll see little, if any, communication. As they say, “the right hand doesn’t know what the left hand is doing”, is not an excuse. So, be vigilant in your legal nurse consulting review and look for areas where there was either good or not so good communication among the nurses as well as between the nurses and the other health care providers.
2. Lack of interventions: First, the nurse must assess the patient. So, check out the nursing assessment forms for completeness. If you can’t get a thorough understanding of the condition of the patient at the time of the nursing assessment, this is a red flag. Next, go to the interventions. In your Professional Legal Nurse Consultant opinion, are they appropriate, timely, performed as described, and documented? While just because it wasn’t documented doesn’t mean it wasn’t done, there is a strong presumption it wasn’t. What makes you, the reviewing nurse expert, believe or disbelieve the nursing charting? As nurses, we are blessed with nursing judgment. Now’s the time to use it.
3. Medication errors: We, as nurses, administer lots of medications. It’s no surprise that there’s room for error, but that’s not an excuse. Remember the expression “Measure twice, cut once” when sewing or building? This means nurses need to double check themselves before giving a medication to be sure it’s right. Just like they taught us in nursing school. Sure, it could have come up from the pharmacy wrong, maybe it was written by the prescriber wrong, but who had the last clear chance to make it right? Professional Legal Nurse Consultants need to thoroughly review the Medication Administration Record and corresponding Nurses Notes. These two sections of the medical records alone can be a gold mine of information!
Keep these three common nursing malpractice issues in mind when, as the Professional Legal Nurse Consultant, you’re reviewing any medical record.
Next blog post we’ll examine the nursing practice areas where there’s the greatest likelihood of nursing malpractice. Stay tuned.
by Elizabeth Rudolph | Mar 14, 2019 | Legal Nurse Consulting
You’re thinking about becoming a Professional Legal Nurse Consultant (PLNC), but you want to know exactly what you will learn.
Here is what you will learn in the PLNC Certification Course:
Introduction: The Formula for PLNC Success: Get the PLNC success formula. Case examples are sprinkled throughout the course to emphasize key points.
Chapter 1: Becoming a PLNC: You will explore whether to be self-employed or an employee. Most PLNCs are self-employed, but traditional PLNC employment may be the option you select.
Chapter 2: Marketing: The ins and outs of marketing yourself and your Professional Legal Nurse Consultant business are discussed in-depth. Cost effective marketing tools are described.
Chapter 3: Business Development: How to set up your PLNC business from the start is the focus. Essential business equipment, software, and filing systems are presented. Plus, you’ll get lots of home office tips. This section wraps up with ethics and contract negotiation.
Chapter 4: Litigation: You will be taught the legal terms and their meanings. Best of all, you will be taken through a case from start to finish.
Chapter 5: Litigation Support: Find out ALL the Professional Legal Nurse Consultant services you can provide (and there are A LOT!). You will be surprised how marketable your newly-acquired skills really are.
Chapter 6: Evaluating Cases: You will go through medical records and find out EXACTLY how to review them and what to look for. Plus, you will get a roadmap for PLNC success.
Chapter 7: Research: Research can easily be done on your tablet, desktop, or phone. Come hear the great easy tools for looking things up.
Chapter 8: Reporting Your Findings: No heavy report is required but find out what should be in your merit review report. You will be shown what issues and conditions are usually found inside medical records.
Chapter 9: PLNC Tools: Make your reports shine through use of a simple chronology or timeline. It makes your report even stronger and enhances your work product which could lead to you getting even more cases to review!
Chapter 10: Testifying: Learn what it’s really like to testify, whether or not you decide to testify. Lots of case examples are provided so you can apply all the great knowledge you just acquired!
Sample documents, forms, resources, medical records, terms, contracts, and the like are provided. All are yours to use in your Professional Legal Nurse Consultant business.
Now, there you have it. Getting certified as a Professional Legal Nurse Consultant (PLNC) is so worthwhile!
Get your PLNC certification in JUST 2-DAYS! Wow, that’s the way to do it.
REGISTER NOW at www.JurexNurse.com
