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A legal nurse consultant (LNC) is a registered nurse who uses existing expertise as a health care professional plus specialized legal training to consult on medical-related cases. This is also known as the nursing speciality of legal nursing.

Contents 1 Background 2 History 3 Training 4 References

Very few attorneys understand the complex medical jargon and health care requirements of patients. The legal nurse consulting profession has arisen to supply this perceived shortfall in the legal profession, allowing them to combine their existing medical skills with legal knowledge enabling them to provide advice and opinions to those in the legal profession.

Legal nurse consultants provide healthcare expertise for insurance companies, utilization review firms, government agencies, private corporations and hospitals, both as staff members and consultants. The legal nurse consulting profession allows nurses many options for establishing a satisfying and profitable part-time or full-time career. Services provided include assisting with discovery; conducting research; reviewing medical records; identifying standards of care; preparing reports and summaries on the extent of injury or illness; and locating expert witnesses. Although most legal nurse consultants work behind the scenes, they may also serve as expert witnesses. The legal nurse consultant acts as a specialized member of the litigation team whose professional contributions are often critical to achieving a fair and just outcome for all parties.

The industry is not directed solely at prosecuting litigation, but is also employed to advise on legal implications and defences for medical incidents, as is illustrated by the book The Health Care Provider's Guide to Facing the Malpractice Deposition^[1]. This book is puiblished in the UK, showing that the industry is not confined to the US.

Registered Nurses have acted as consultants to the legal profession on nursing and health care issues since the early 1970s. This began as expert witnesses offering opinions in malpractice cases. The Judicial system has come to recognize that nurses rather than doctors are best placed to provide expert opinions on standards of nursing care and practice.^[2]

The term "Legal Nurse Consultant" was a title defined in the US by the National Steering Committee for the American Association of Legal Nurse Consultants formally adopted this title and founded the American Association of Legal Nurse Consultants (AALNC) in 1989. In 1999 the American Association of Legal Nurse Consultants published the definitive position statement, AALNC Position Statement on the Role of the Legal Nurse Consultant as Distinct from the Role of the Paralegal and Legal Assistant (AALNC, 1999). This position statement addressed the distinctions between the nursing specialty practice of legal nurse consulting and the practice of the paralegal and legal assistant as defined by the American Bar Association. AALNC recognizes legal nurse consultants (LNCs) within the profession of nursing, not as a special category of paralegals.^[2]

The legal nurse consulting industry is recognised by tertiary institutions. For example UC Riverside offer a Legal Nurse Consultant Certificate course^[3] This course provides a "rigorous and challenging legal education to qualified registered nurses" to allow them to bridge the gap between the legal and health care professions.

1. ^ Uribe, M.D., Constance G. (1999-11-22). The Health Care Provider's Guide to Facing the Malpractice Deposition. CRC Press. ISBN 0849320593. Retrieved on January 12, 2007. 
2. ^ ^{a b} Ballard, MA, RN, et al, Karen A. (2005-07-18). LEGAL NURSE CONSULTING: SCOPE AND STANDARDS OF PRACTICE DRAFT DOCUMENT for PUBLIC COMMENT (PDF), American Nurses Association/American Association of Legal Nurse Consultants, 36. Retrieved on January 12, 2007. 
3. ^ Legal Nurse Consultant Certificate,UC Riverside,August 30, 2006. Retrieved on 12 January 2007.