You’re doing some work-related tasks, and a voice ( your inner critic) tells you you’re doing it all wrong. Someone wrongly criticizes you, and you don’t speak up for yourself. When you try to go to sleep at night, you keep on thinking of everything you have to do to complete a project.

Pat Iyer, host of this podcast, usually recommends that legal nurse consultants allow 3-5 years to develop a full-time practice. She is delighted to showcase an exception to that flexible rule.

Ashley Moreau began her LNC practice in 2020, four months after the pandemic began. Prior to that time, she’d been working in a nursing home. Although she loved working there, the rigid schedules and greatly worsening conditions caused by COVID restrictions and staff shortages, accelerated her decision to become an independent LNC.

In 2019, thirty percent of the money spent on healthcare in the U.S. was wasted through inappropriate care levels, unnecessary procedures, abuse, fraud, and other deviations from established standards of care.

Mary Ann Seibold, who worked four years reviewing care given to Medicare Advantage patients explains the vital watchdog nature that utilization management plays in attempting to keep down the cost of wasteful medical activity.

As a nurse, she served on the front line of this reviewing process, and she asserts that nurses’ healthcare knowledge, familiarity with accepted standards of care, and evidence-based criteria processes are crucial in evaluating healthcare practices and procedures.

Every legal nurse consultant needs to understand risk management and quality assurance as practiced in a clinical setting. It’s often where one finds patients whose needs have slipped through the cracks created by insufficiently considered procedures, new medical practitioners, and even the routine event of a shift change.

Alfreda Whitley has extensive experience in risk management, quality assurance, and root cause analysis. She is also an LNC and is well aware of the connections between the above clinical procedures and the investigative work that an LNC does.

As a legal nurse consultant or someone who wants to open a business as an LNC, you have a primary question to answer: What makes you unique? What sets you apart from other practitioners? How can you make that distinction clear so that you can attract the attorneys and cases you want? How narrow should you make your niche?

All of these questions relate to branding, and understanding this concept can help a clinical nurse with no experience in marketing make the necessary transition to working as a confident businessperson. Kim Speed, a branding and visibility expert, is here to answer those questions.

People often think your brand is your logo, your business, cards, or the name of your business. These outward symbols express your brand. Kim recommends that you think of it as your reputation, i.e., what you want people to think of you.

Whether the patient’s setting is a nursing home, hospital, or their own home, wound prevention and care forms a primary aspect of treatment. Rebecca Corbet, wound care expert and LNC, shares with you both the optimal ways to preserve skin integrity and the standard of care for treatment of wounds.

That treatment begins with a thorough physical examination and a detailed medical history and demands equal meticulousness during the course of wound treatment. Rebecca provides the details of what is required.

Jane Shufro never planned to become an LNC, but when she got an unexpected phone call asking her to review a case, she recognized the opportunity and has never regretted taking it.

During the 11 years since she first entered this field, she has learned a lot, and this podcast provides information that can help the new LNC develop their skills and give the seasoned practitioners the opportunity to review their work.

In terms of practical, foundational abilities, Jane emphasizes good grammar and writing skills, familiarity with computers, and the ability to network.

Where do you document the procedures by which you run every aspect of your business? If you answer, “In my head,” have you asked yourself what would happen if you’re a solopreneur and got sick? Have you considered how you could sell your business without policies and procedures? Have you noticed that issues recur because no one wrote down how they solved them the last time?

Whether you’re an experienced LNC, a new practitioner, or someone who’s considering this field, Joe Flores will give you invaluable advice about working as an expert witness. An attorney and nurse practitioner, he has a unique perspective on how to succeed as an expert witness.

He begins by assuring the hesitant that one can practice as an expert witness in a consultant role without having to go to trial. He also reminds the audience that over 90% of cases don’t go to trial.

Anyone familiar with cardiology knows that what laypeople know as a heart attack and professionals know as an EMI has many variations, any of which can be difficult to diagnose—and delay in diagnosis can lead further damage and possibly death.

An LNC who is working on a malpractice suit involving a client who has had an EMI needs to know what roles misdiagnosis and delays in treatment have played in creating a situation in which the standard of care can be questioned. Here to help us with detailed information is Jenna Gaines, a doctorally-qualified nurse practitioner who works in the area of cardiology.

She describes the tests generally given to a patient who presents with chest pain and how quickly, according to the standard of care, these tests should be administered. This is critical information for an LNC, as delays in this process can lead to further deterioration.

Jenna emphasizes that the most important information comes from the patient. He or she is the only one who can describe what’s going on in their bodies. The patient can answer key lifestyle questions about exercise patterns, diet, drug use, and stressful conditions in their lives.

This kind of information is especially critical because other conditions, such as panic attacks or musculoskeletal pain can mimic the symptoms of a heart attack. Jenna lists some of these conditions.

This podcast is well worth listening to—and/or reading in transcript form—several times. It contains information that you must have for any case involving an EMI.

What are the different kinds of EMIs?

What is the most important information for an EMI diagnosis?

What questions are most critical to ask the patient?

What are the time standards for diagnosing a suspected EMI?

How are EMIs misdiagnosed?