What is a Legal Nurse Consultant?
What Does a Legal Nurse Consultant Do?
Where Does the Legal Nurse Consultant Practice?
What is the Role of the Legal Nurse Consultant?
AALNC Code of Ethics and Conduct
What is a
Legal Nurse Consultant?
The legal nurse consultant is a licensed,
registered nurse who performs a critical analysis of clinical
and administrative nursing practice, healthcare facts and issues
and their outcomes for the legal profession, healthcare
professions, consumers of healthcare and legal services, and
others as appropriate. With a strong educational and
experiential foundation, the legal nurse consultant is qualified
to assess adherence to standards and guidelines of healthcare
practice as it applies to the nursing and healthcare
professions.
What Makes a Legal Nurse
Consultant Distinct?
As licensed registered nurses, legal nurse
consultants bring specialized healthcare education and clinical
experience to the medically related issues of the litigation
process. This education and experience distinguishes legal nurse
consultants from paralegals and legal assistants and provides
the foundation for the legal nurse consultant's ability to
recognize, interpret and analyze all relevant medically related
information in a claim or case. <
What Does a Legal Nurse
Consultant Do?
- Acts as a liaison with attorneys,
physicians and clients
- Educates attorneys regarding medical
facts and issues relating to a case or claim
- Researches applicable literature and
evidence to determine the merits of a case
- Reviews and analyzes documents and
compares them to the allegations
- Summarizes medical literature
- Screens for record tampering
- Defines and evaluates the standards of
care practices
- Evaluates the possible breach of duty on
the part of the healthcare practitioner or facility
- Prepares witness and exhibit lists
- Interviews witnesses and involved parties
- Prepares persuasive graphic exhibits for
trial
- Assesses issues of damage and causation
- Identifies and retains expert witnesses
- Assists in obtaining medical records and
identifying missing records
- Organizes medical records and other
medically-related litigation materials
- Prepares chronologies of medical events
and correlates them to the allegations
- Develops collaborative case strategies
with those practicing within the legal system
- Provides support during discovery,
depositions, trial and other legal proceedings
Where Does the Legal Nurse
Consultant Practice?
As a liaison between the legal and the healthcare
communities as well as the consumer, the legal nurse consultant
can practice in a variety of settings including:
- Law firms
- Government offices
- Insurance companies
- Hospital risk management departments
- Forensic environments
- Consulting firms
- HMOs
- Self-employed independent practices
What is the Role of the Legal
Nurse Consultant?
The primary role of the legal nurse consultant is
to evaluate, analyze, and render informed opinions on the
delivery of health care and the resulting outcomes. For nearly
20 years, legal nurse consultants have acted as collaborators
and strategists, offering support in medically-related
litigation and other medical-legal matters in the variety of
practice areas including the following:
- Personal injury
- Product liability
- Medical malpractice
- Workers' compensation
- Toxic torts
- Risk management
- Medical licensure investigation
- Fraud and abuse, compliance
- Criminal law
- Elder law
- Other applicable cases
AALNC Code of Ethics and
Conduct
Preamble
The Code of Ethics and Conduct of the American
Association of Legal Nurse Consultants is based on beliefs about
the nature of individuals and society. The code of professional
and ethical conduct provides guidelines to its members for
professional performance and behavior. The success of any
professional organization results from the competence and
integrity of its members. Our goal to those we serve is that
they be assured of our accountability.
We recognize a responsibility to other
professional organizations with which we are aligned, in
particular, the American Nurses Association and the American Bar
Association. We accept and abide by the principles of their code
of ethics and conduct. By our support of the Code of Ethics and
Conduct of the American Association of Legal Nurse Consultants,
we affirm that the rights and trust placed in us will not be
violated.
Code of Ethics
- The legal nurse consultant does not
discriminate against any person based on race, creed, color,
age, sex, national origin, social status, or disability and
does not let personal attitudes interfere with professional
performance. Individual
differences do not influence professional performance and
practice. These factors are understood, considered, and
respected when performing activities.
- The legal nurse consultant performs as
a consultant or an expert with the highest degree of
integrity. Integrity refers to
uprightness, honesty, and sincerity. The legal nurse
consultant directs those attributes to the requirements of
the profession. Integrity is a personal and sacred trust and
the standard against which the legal nurse consultant must
ultimately test all decisions. Honest errors and differences
of opinion may occur, but deceit, poor judgment, or lack of
principles must not be tolerated.
- The legal nurse consultant uses
informed judgment, objectivity, and individual competence as
criteria when accepting assignments.
The legal nurse consultant does not purport to be competent
in matters in which he or she has limited knowledge or
experience. Only services that meet high personal and
professional standards are offered or performed.
- The legal nurse consultant maintains
standards of personal conduct that reflect honorably upon
the profession. The legal nurse
consultant abides by all federal and state laws. The legal
nurse consultant who knowingly becomes involved in unethical
or illegal activities negates professional responsibility
for personal interest or personal gain. Such activities
jeopardize the public confidence and trust in the nursing
profession.
- The legal nurse consultant provides
professional services with objectivity.
The legal nurse consultant provides services free of
personal prejudice and conflict of interest. The legal nurse
consultant reflects on all current assignments and
commitments before accepting assignments, making decisions,
rendering opinions, or providing recommendations. Personal
prejudices and conflicts of interest must be recognized, as
they may interfere with objectivity and adversely affect
performance.
- The legal nurse consultant protects
client privacy and confidentiality.
The legal nurse consultant uses confidential materials with
discretion. The legal nurse consultant respects and protects
the privacy of the client. The legal nurse consultant does
not use any client information for personal gain.
- The legal nurse consultant is
accountable for responsibilities accepted and actions
performed.
- The legal nurse consultant maintains
professional nursing competence.
The legal nurse consultant is a registered nurse and
maintains an active nursing license. The legal nurse
consultant is knowledgeable about the current scope of
nursing practice and the standards of the profession. The
legal nurse consultant does not practice law.
Conclusion
Each individual's personal commitment to the
Code of Ethics and Conduct of the American Association of Legal
Nurse Consultants is the ultimate regulator of his or her
behavior. By adopting this Code of Ethics and Conduct, we affirm
to those with whom we serve that they have the right to expect
us to abide by this code.
As members of the American Association of
Legal Nurse Consultants, we pledge to demonstrate to the public
this commitment of integrity and professional excellence.
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