LNCtips.com: LNC Expert Witnesses

An expert Legal Nurse Consultant is one who reviews cases and testifies about the adequacy of another nurse's care. Like other kinds of legal nurse consulting, there are pros and cons.

PROs / BENEFITS

* You can maintain your current clinical position.  In fact, in order to be an expert, you may be required by statute to have a recent job within a certain specialty in which you rendered care to patients, supervised those who did, or taught others how to render that care.

* You do not need top-notch writing skills, in some circumstances.  In some states, your oral report is the only requirement, because a written report would be discoverable.  In other states and for some types of cases, written reports are required, but the law firm that you're working with may be able to edit your report (with your approval of the edits, of course) prior to the report being filed with the court or sent to the opposing attorney.

* Additional money and prestige can result from being an expert.

* You get the best of both LNC worlds a steady paycheck from your nursing job and some of the perks of being an independent LNC.

* You can command a higher hourly rate than you would make in a bedside nursing position.

CONS / LIABILITIES

* You will have to testify, a scary prospect for some LNCs.

* You can't quit your day job. When you're deposed you'll be asked, "When was the last time you worked with this type of patient?"  You ideal response is "Yesterday."

* Some organizations, such as hospitals, may discourage or limit your expert nurse work.  They may even harass you, particularly if you work for plaintiff attorneys.

* You'll have multiple demands on your time. While you can review cases anytime you prefer, you will need to be available to discuss cases with attorneys and their staffs and you will need to be available for depositions and trials. Discussions, depositions, and trials usually occur Monday through Friday during normal business hours.

______________________________

Do you have the traits needed to be a great expert? Find out here. 

Do you need help locating great experts? Click here.

Have you been asked to provide an expert fee schedule? To learn more about expert fee schedules click here.

...Katy Jones