Nurses are entering the court room today as expert witnesses in nursing malpractice cases. These nurses are known as legal nurse consultants and are active members of legal teams. They investigate what particular nursing standards of care apply in a case of alleged negligence. Once they identify deviations from the standards of care they are able to define what deviations from the standards occurred. Their health care and nursing backgrounds allow them to easily enter the legal world in malpractice litigation. Most legal nurse consultants practicing today have completed legal nurse consulting training programs and have achieved certification. When legal nurses provide expert testimony in a malpractice case, they are only permitted to give testimony related to deviations from nursing standards of care. They are not permitted to testify to deviations in standards of care of physician medical practice. Nurses do get sued. The legal nurse providing expert testimony in a nursing malpractice case can really influence the outcomes of a whether providing such testimony for the plaintiff or the defense.
