What does a Legal Nurse Consultant do? Katie Morales explains…

February 26th, 2010. By Kristine B

This past week, I had the pleasure of speaking with Katie Morales, a legal nurse consultant and nurse. Since it was my first time speaking with a legal nurse consultant (LNC) that I know of, I thought I would share with you what legal nurse consultants do.

How does a Legal Nurse Work with a Lawyer? 

“Legal nurse consultants help attorneys with any case that might be medical-legal, for example, medical malpractice, Katie says. “We help an attorney identify the issues: is there merit in this case, is there an issue with standard of care, are there issues for development? 

Usually, we are contacted by the attorney and our work can be both up front or behind the scenes. Say someone was in the hospital for an appendix problem and died. The family member might say, ‘Something is not right, here.’ An attorney will look for an expert to review the case. So the LNC would review the case and determine if there were deviations from the standard of care. If there are deviations from the standard of care, the LNC will give an affidavit to start the process of a medical malpractice suit. The LCN might then be called on to testify. 

Another case is where a hospital is being sued. The hospital might ask the LCN to come in and determine if there is a deviation from the standard of care. The LCN might say there are no deviations or might say, ‘Yes, there are deviations and this is where they are.'”

What made you decide to become a Legal Nurse Consultant?

“I was always interested in the legal part of nursing, but I didn’t want to be part of the group that was crucifying nurses. Since 1999, nursing has been the most trusted profession, except in 2001 when it was firefighters. I’m proud of this profession and I know we are doing our best. But, if we don’t define the standard of care, it will be defined for us. I don’t want someone dictating it for us. 

Legal nurse consultants know the system and we know where to look for information. For example, when attorneys request documents, they have to ask for exactly what they want. I am able to tell the attorney what documents to ask the hospital for. I know where to look for information and what information to ask for.” 

Katie Morales, RN, C, LNC, BSN, has been a nurse for 25 years and a legal nurse consultant for five years. In addition to being a nurse and legal nurse consultant, she also works for a company giving flu shots, and has helped set up a service, set to launch on International Nurses Day [May 12] that involves community learning and patient simulators. 

Her legal nurse consulting business is called DisceRNment, LLC, and can be found online at discernment.biz.

Tags: DisceRNment, Katie Morales, Legal Nurse, medical malpractice, Pleading Ignorance

This was posted on Friday, February 26th, 2010 at 2:47 pm and is filed under Pleading Ignorance . Feel free to respond, or trackback. Read our comments policy.