Legal nurse consultants are in demand today, not just for their research and interpretation skills, but also because of their credibility as expert witnesses in medico legal cases. LNCs are not required to hold a degree – an RN license and several years of experience should be enough to open up opportunities in the world of legal nurse consulting; however, if you hold a bachelors or masters degree in nursing, you stand a better chance of being taken seriously as an expert witness because:
• When you don’t hold a degree, attorneys from the opposing camp are definitely going to bring out the fact that you didn’t go to college and because of this, your “expertise” is questionable.
• A formal degree trains you to think critically, understand research, and have exposure to a wide variety of patients. You will use this knowledge to be credible on the witness stand, to stand up under tough questioning and cross examination from attorneys, and stick to your guns and avoid getting confused no matter how much the opposing attorney tries to throw you off track.
• Registered Nurses who hold a BSN or MSN degree are perceived to know more about nursing and so perceived as credible witnesses who are knowledgeable in their field of expertise.
• Four years of college (or more) provide you with an experience that is irreplaceable in terms of boosting your skills and enhancing your knowledge; you’re more confident and sure about yourself when you’re a graduate, and this attitude comes across as credibility and positivity on the witness stand.
Many RNs go back to school to earn their BSN or Masters Degree in order to further their careers, so if you’re considering a jump to the legal nurse consulting field, a degree bolsters your chances of professional success. If you cannot take time off work to go back to school on a full time basis, consider online options that are accredited and reputable. They’re good alternatives when traditional degrees are not possible and when you’re a working professional.
By-line:
This guest post is contributed by Bobbie Walker, she writes on the topic of BSN Degrees. She welcomes your comments at her email id: bobbiew862[@]gmail[.]com.
I was able to finish Online RN to BSN Program online. I can tell you from personal experience that there are two things to consider if you are thinking of doing it. First, find a school that has a traditional campus that also offers an online program. That way in the future when you send your resume out those that are still closed minded about online education will not be able to determine just from your resume how you got a degree. Second, if you are not a strong self starter do not do an online program. When you are at home and have all the distractions of your normal life available to you it can be hard to sit there and read four chapters, or to write a paper. I got my degree with Jacksonville University (http://www.jacksonvilleu.com). There are lots of choices out there now. Take your time and find the right one for you.
I am failing to see the logic in this statement. I know many RN’s who have had years of nursing experience but not a BSN or MSN. They have the same qualifications that are listed above and then some. I would like to think that nursing experience is enough. Critical thinking and research are required of all nurses no matter what initials they have behind their name. We need to be more supportive of each other.
I have worked as an expert witness on both sides, plaintiff and defense, multiple times, over the last ~15+ years in my legal nursing practice. I agree that we do need to be more supportive of each other as nurses. When working as an expert witness, the expert RN is working to support either the plaintiff (patient) or defense (nurses) and is working with the attorneys in an adversarial situation. This is about winning – for both sides – and the expert RN is hired for his/her side to do just that, win. We do that via our critical thinking and ability to communicate that critical thinking via deposition and testimony on the stand. I have known some attorneys that would not even speak to an RN about being an expert without at least a bachelor’s degree and I have known some who only cared about the RN’s ability to communicate their case. When I began my practice, I had an ADN degree and was very successful. I have recently gotten my MSN – I really do believe it has helped open doors. It has given me information that I did not previously have access to AND did not realize that I did not know about.
SueI Burnham MSN RNC IBCLC SANE-A