A nurse is open to hundreds of opportunities, like being a school nurse, private nurse or clinic nurse. A nurse can also work in a hospital and choose a specialty such as being a cardiology nurse, maternity nurse, pediatric nurse, operating room nurse, critical care nurse, emergency nurse, psychiatric nurse and so many more. Now, in this new era, nurses take a few more steps to reach out to other professions, which lead to the evolution of legal nurse jobs as part of the nursing career.
Legal nurse- a breakthrough in the nursing career
Being a legal nurse entitles a registered nurse to do nursing work as a health care provider and at the same time, work with legal matters. Legal nurse jobs are becoming more famous nowadays especially that more cases are medical in nature and attorneys handling the case would require someone to give a thorough explanation of the case in the medical perspective. Another thing that is also good to know what makes a legal nurse job a sought after occupation is the rewarding compensation that it can offer.
Even if attorneys are very good in handling cases, when it comes to cases that requires medical terms and explanations, these attorneys will need the help of a legal nurse. A legal nurse simply bridges the gap of the attorney’s knowledge. Every medical related case, the attorney takes care of the legal issues, while the legal nurse handles the medical inner workings.
What it takes to become a legal nurse
To become a legal nurse, having an active registered license for US and Canada is needed. A basic certification is necessary to practice as a legal nurse. To get a certification and become a certified legal nurse, several courses that offer basic education, programs, and comprehensive trainings are available. Before a nurse can upgrade his or her status as a legal nurse, a nursing experience of at least 3 years is needed in order to assure quality service as a legal nurse. Nurses with different backgrounds, such as psychiatry, obstetrics, emergency care, and so on, can take up programs to make them legal nurses.
Responsibilities of a legal nurse
The main responsibility of a legal nurse is to apply the knowledge from the nursing, health, and medicine and use them to make the job of the attorneys easier and more effective. Without this help, it would be harder for attorneys to solve cases that require thorough medical clarifications and rationalizations.
In a legal case, the responsibility of a legal nurse is to review medical records, identify standards of care, conduct literature and medical research, create demonstrative evidences, act as an expert witness, screen cases for merits, summarize the extent of the illness or injury and prepare reports.
Diverse and numerous opportunities await legal nurses with the widely differing cases that are available almost every day. Common cases handled by legal nurses are the medical and nursing malpractice cases, which involve professional negligence; generally personal injury cases, such as auto accidents, toxic mold cases and liquor liability; products liability cases which involves heart valves, silicone breast implants and Prozac; non-medical device cases, like cases relating to cigarettes, motor vehicles and children’s toys; workplace injury cases, such as those arising from machinery-related cases and back accidents; and criminal cases such as sexual assaults, physical assaults, psychiatric defenses and violent crimes.
The standing of legal nurse jobs in the nursing career
Legal nurses that handle medical-related cases can earn up to $125-$150 per hour. According to the American Bar Association Market Research Department, there are around 1,162,124 attorneys in the United States. From all cases handled in courts, about twenty five percent of which deal with medical cases such as personal injuries and malpractice. Attorneys handling cases like these rely on a specially trained legal nurse in order for them to win their case.
More job opportunities are open for legal nurses, such as providing consulting services to private corporations, government agencies, and insurance companies. They can also choose to work independently for attorneys from their own homes. They can work for 3-5 attorneys at a time. Some nurses work full time as a legal nurse, while others work only part time. What’s good about being a legal nurse is that these people can still work in hospitals as stuff nurses and in spare time, work with attorneys as legal nurses. That’s double opportunity for them.
The opportunities a nurse can get are unlimited and being a legal nurse can double the chances of finding more nursing work which empowers nurses to establish a satisfying and more profitable nursing career. Aside from that, legal nursing industry is continuing to bloom and is rapidly growing in number. Legal nurse jobs are indeed a good opportunity for every nurse to grab and enjoy.
