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What is Legal Nursing?

Posted on by Dominick Flarey

What is Legal Nursing and What Does a  Professional Legal Nurse Do?

A nurse holding a clipboard
Legal Nursing can be a great career move!

Are you seeking some education, and you need to find the right college? Well if this is the case, and for instance, you want to look up legal nursing you would simply look online for the right college to provide you with the prerequisites and required courses that it requires for you to get this degree. There are many types of degrees that you can look for, and without the Internet, this would be a very difficult task to actually find the right position that you are looking for. Always be sure and discover the information that applies to you in regards to this very subject and always know that there is so much education to be absorbed and applied to with the subject. So, whatever you do, make sure you take advantage of the information that is out there so that you can acquire the position that you are looking for foreign occupation. So are you still wondering what is legal nursing?

Why Nurses Need Malpractice Insurance

Posted on by Dominick Flarey

The Legal Nurse

The legal nurse provides information for legal nurse consultants as well as registered nurses in areas of nursing malpractice, as well as other legal issues.
By: Janet Kress
Being a nurse is one of the most rewarding jobs a person can have. A nurse can save a person’s life, help someone recover from a surgery or even help a sick child. There are many nursing jobs available, the pay is amazing and the benefits are very good. However, a nurse can be held liable for anything that happens while they are on their shift. This is why nurses need malpractice insurance. If the time occurs when a nurse is being named in a lawsuit, even if it is unfounded, they will have to deal with a plethora of legal fees, worry about a ruined reputation or fear losing their job. This can all be dealt with if the person has nursing malpractice insurance.
The cost of having this insurance is negligible when one considers the amount of money a lawsuit can cost. Most people think that their employer will be covering any malpractice claims while they are on the job. However, most nurses do not realize that their employer’s insurance has the minimal amount of coverage for them. Sometimes their employer’s insurance might not even cover them in a malpractice lawsuit. This is because their insurance plans are tailored to their specific needs. It doesn’t make sense for them to cover their employees if they will not be held liable. Typically if a nurse is covered by their insurance, it will be for a miniscule amount. It is always important to know how much an employer’s insurance will cover and even if it seems good, there will be some drawbacks.
Even if an employer’s coverage is satisfactory, there is another big issue that could occur. They can decide to sue a nurse for all of the money they were held liable for if the nurse was indeed negligent. This greatly varies from place to place and some might provide adequate insurance for their staff. However, if the place of work is having financial issues and goes bankrupt, they might not have the means to pay for the nurse’s insurance anymore. This is why it is so important for a nurse to have their own personal malpractice insurance.
Circumstances can change greatly if a person has a hearing with the Board of Nursing. This will often happen when a nurse’s license is at risk of being revoked. This can be devastating because their livelihood could be at stake. Policies often have License Protection which will cover all of the costs associated with defending a nurse’s license to the board.
In the past, many nurses did not get insurance because it would actually extend lawsuits against them. Before nurses were paid the wages they are now, lawyers would typically drop their names from lawsuits. They knew that they did not have the funds to pay any settlements. Unfortunately, this has been spread around the nursing industry and people believe it is better to not have insurance for themselves. Lawyers have recently changed their mindset and will try to get any money a nurse may have. If found guilty, a person can lose any money in their savings accounts, be forced to sell their homes or even claim bankruptcy.
When getting insurance, a person needs to understand their policy completely. Knowing exactly what is covered will ensure that any negligence claims are handled hassle free. The most common coverage will include:
Liability: This will cover any charges, up to a certain amount, accrued by a lawsuit stemming from any medical incidents that might occur.
License Protection: When a lawsuit is brought against an individual, they might have to face the board of nursing. This will cover any costs, up to the limit in the policy, defending a nurse to the board.
Personal Injury Protection: This will cover any costs from claims of slander, libel, assault or even battery.
Although these are the basic coverage options available, there may be additional options that each insurance agency provides. Nurses, no matter how good they are, can all benefit from covering themselves with malpractice insurance. It is important to choose a policy that allows the holder to choose their own lawyers and does not cap the hourly rate that they are allowed to be paid. This will ensure that a nurse can find and afford the best possible attorney. Even if a lawsuit is dropped, a nurse without insurance would have to pay their lawyer’s fees.
Would you like more information on legal nurse consultant training? Access here.

Legal Nurses Can Protect You From Insurance Giants

Posted on by Dominick Flarey

Legal Nurses Can Protect Your Rights

Is your insurance company permitted to have access to your medical records? Do you know if they are reviewing the intimate details of your medical history and care? The answer to this is yes and in many cases it takes a legal nurse to help you.
Federal law allows this. This occurs because hospitals that receive Medicare reimbursements must participate in a Peer Review Organization System. This system provides for quality of care review to insure patients are receiving appropriate care. Hospitals must contract with a peer review organization. The peer review organization then selects patient care cases and does review of care via documentation in the medical record. The review organization in particular assess the reasonableness of the care provided as well as the adequacy of care received. While these organizations are not permitted to release your medical records to any third parties, still their employees do have access to your medical information.
Consumers should be made aware of this fact. Often, the patient has no idea who may have access to their private medical documentation. If you have questions about this, you can seek the consultation of a registered legal nurse who can provide you with more information

A Legal Nurse Consultant

Posted on by Dominick Flarey

A Legal Nurse Consultant

A  legal nurse consultant is a registered nurse that has been extensively educated and trained in the area of health care malpractice law. They come to this position with extensive backgrounds in health care, nursing and care delivery. Their health care knowledge and skills provides them a real opportunity to be of great asset in cases of malpractice. Many law firms and self-employed lawyers are seeking the services of legal nurse consultants to assist in them in preparing for litigation of cases. The nurse works to assist the lawyers in understanding medical terms and conditions and diagnostic procedures. They review patients’ medical records and also identify deviations from the standards of care. Lawyers find that they are invaluable in assisting in such cases. Their presence in the legal world is becoming more solid. More nurses are entering this field of specialization today. The curriculums for education are very intense and the nurses spend a great deal of time studying the elements of malpractice related to deviations in the standards of care.

A group of lawyers discussing a case at a table
Legal Nurse Consultants work with lawyers everyday.

Elements of Health Care Malpractice

Posted on by Dominick Flarey

The Legal Nurse

Medical or Health Care malpractice can be defined as a professional negligence by a medical professional i.e. a doctor, a surgeon, a nurse or any other healthcare professionals that results in emotional or physical harm to a patient. Medical malpractices come in many forms. For instance, a medical malpractice can be as a result of an act or an omission of a necessary act or care that eventually harms a patient.

 The four elements of medical malpractice

There are four main elements that have to be proven in any given medical malpractice case. These elements include; duty, breach of duty, damage and cause. These elements have to be assessed for a medical malpractice case to be determined.
1. Duty
Duty as the name suggests refers to the doctor patient, or health care provider relationship whereby a duty exists for the doctor to treat a patient according to the set professional code of conduct and practice. For a medical malpractice case to be determined, there must have been a given duty owed (to a patient) by a given healthcare practitioner i.e. doctor, nurse, pharmacist e.t.c charged with the care of a patient. The doctor-patient relationship is a common example of a situation where that duty would exist. A good example of a malpractice based solely under duty is when there is delayed treatment which is treatment that over four hours late. In such a case the duty owed is breached by a responsible party. It is however important to note that a medical malpractice case has to prove that all the four elements exist for it to qualify as a legal medical malpractice case.

 2. Breach of duty

Breach of duty in medical malpractice occurs in cases where a healthcare professional who has been charged with the responsibility/duty of care for a given patient fails in his or her duty by failing to exercise a certain acceptable degree of care or a given medical skill that any other healthcare professional practiseing in the same capacity or specialty would be able to give or address in equal circumstances. Such medical malpractices considered when an expert or experts in similar fields confirm that the professional should have been able to adhere to the set standard of care as required. A medical malpractice example based on breach of duty may include a practitioner i.e. a doctor failing to prescribe standard medication that may have serious health implications on a patient. A medical malpractice case has to proof that a practitioner breached their duty for compensation among the other elements for the case to qualify.

 3. Damage

In cases of medical malpractice damage, the patient has to have suffered either physical or emotional injury while under the care of a given healthcare professional/practitioner. This is among the most common element that dominates medical malpractice cases. For instance a medical practitioner i.e. a doctor may have operated a patient without following the set code/standards which eventually results in physical injury. A good example would be to operate on a patient and causing more new injuries that were not there initially or aggravation an existing injury. A medical malpractice case has to prove that the medical practitioner caused the new damage or aggravated as well as proof the existence of the elements for a case to qualify for hearing which can eventually lead to a patient wining the medical malpractice case and eventually getting compensated.

 4. Cause

The last element of medical malpractice is cause. For a medical malpractice legal case, there has to be concrete/solid proof that a given medical practitioner/professional directly caused a patient injury. Like all the above elements, the cause of injury must be as a result of all the above elements i.e. a breach of duty, duty and damage causing injury to a patient. Such medical malpractice cases are also common for instance when a doctor or a pharmacist prescribes the wrong medicine to a patient and then the patient takes the prescribed medicines and falls ill. The ’cause’ has to be proved in a medical malpractice case.
In conclusion, a successful medical malpractice lawsuit has to prove the existence of all four elements mentioned above four elements. If a healthcare practitioner being sued is able to prove that none of the elements exists, then the medical malpractice case is dropped.
Are you interested in becoming a Legal Nurse? If you are a registered nurse than you may qualify to enter a legal nurse consulting program. Legal nurse consulting is a highly rewarding career specialty for nurses and continues to be in high demand in our country. If you would like to learn more about a legal nurse courses and programs, click here.

Legal Nurse Consulting: Expert Witness

Posted on by Dominick Flarey

Legal Nurse Consulting: The Nurse as Expert Witness

Exploring The Nurse As An Expert Witness

It is not unusual for an attorney to utilize a nurse as an expert witness when the malpractice issue involves another nurse. There was a time when the attorney would have sought this information from a physician, but times have changed, and many states have ruled that expert testimony about a nurse should come from a nurse. The need for expert nurse witnesses is growing, and the job is not as easy as some might expect. The requirements to be an expert witness are many, and the job responsibilities are even more demanding once received. Let us explore the journey to becoming a nurse as an expert witness.

 The Nurse

The registered nurse is a highly sought after profession that involves providing personal health care to patients in a wide range of health care applications. To be a nurse one must complete the educational requirements necessary for specific specialties and degrees. There are various levels of credentials that can be earned in nursing that cover some 200 areas of certification. The more credentials a nurse have the better should they desire to become an expert witness.

 The Nurse As An Expert Witness

Some believe that an Expert Witness Nurse must be credentialed as a Legal Nurse Consultant. However, the two are not necessarily the same. The legal nurse consultant may well be an expert nurse witness. But, conceivably, any nurse may serve as an expert witness in a malpractice case and deliver an expert opinion.  An expert witness must maintain all of their existing credentials, qualifications, and be clinically active at the time of testifying. It is best if the nurse is certified, and current on the most recent procedures and related information. The basic mission of the expert witness is to conduct a review of the case and decide if the case should be pursued.
Should witness testimony be required from the nurse, they would utilize their experience, training to provide a scientific and technical opinion on whether or not there were deviations in the heath care standards surrounding the issue involved. Some malpractice areas where the expert witness nurse might be required include falls, misuse of medication, bedsores, or any deviation in the nurses function of adhering to applicable health care standards.
The expert witness is often used to show that the patient was not protected because a colleague administered substandard care. They may also determine if charts were accurately filled out, and to report incompetence by the nurse involved in the issue.

 The Role Of A Nurse As An Expert Witness

The expert nurse will review all records associated with the medical issue in question, and then provide their professional opinion to the retained attorney, as to whether or not the given case should be pursued. This requires a great deal of research to ensure the expert can see all aspects of the case clearly. In most cases the expert will review the Administrative Code of the Board of Nursing for the state in which the issue occurred. Any pertinent information discovered by the expert witness should only be provided to the attorney on the case.
Many states ask that a Certificate of Merit be filed by the expert witness. This will be used by the state to determine if the case should be pursued. The expert will either need to deliver a written or oral report on their opinion. They may need to gather information involving the relevant standards regarding the issue in question. All information must be handled with care. Court decisions have been decided all too often because paperwork was mishandled or filing dates were not met. The expert must be prepared for extensive questioning on the stand in reference to their credentials and professional opinion.
It can easily be determined that the responsibilities of an nurse as an expert witness is not easy in any form or fashion. These expert witnesses can earn a lot of money for their efforts, but they develop a sound reputation for honesty, and sustain the credentials to back up their testimony. Whether they work for the defense or the prosecution, it is imperative that their homework has been done. A malpractice decision may very well rest on the expert opinion they provide.
Registered Nurses may learn more about doing expert witness work as well as legal nurse consulting by access information: click here.

Legal Nurse and HIPPA

Posted on by Dominick Flarey

Legal Nurse Consulting Corner

HIPPA Privacy Rules In Simple Terms

HIPPA stands for Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act. This act, which was passed into United States law in the year 1996 under the mandate of President Bill Clinton, is intended to do several things at the same time. HIPPA is a very complex act that can seem inaccessible and difficult to understand to patients, entities and even some physicians. HIPPA privacy rules for health care are simply, when it comes down to it, a federal law used to protect patients from their information being used or released without their consent to other entities. This article discusses issues related to HIPPA as a review for practicing legal nurse consultants.

What Is Covered Under HIPPA

All your medical charts, your medical history, any conversation you might have with a medical professional, your billing information and any information on your insurance company’s computer systems are all protected by HIPPA from being shared to anyone unless it is necessary to do so.

When Is It Necessary?

When it comes to your care, if you are ever in an emergency, HIPPA allows for your medical history and information to be shared. Your information can be shared with your family or other caretakers, but you can stop this by putting a request in writing. Health professional are also allow it to be shared for billing, to protect the public’s health (if they think you might have an infectious or highly contagious disease, like the virus that causes SARS) or for the police to make reports on wounds. Doctors are not allowed by law to share any of this information with your employer and the information cannot be given to third parties that would use it for marketing or advertising.

Who Is Governed by HIPPA?

Not all health organizations that you are involved it will answer to HIPPA. Doctors, hospitals and insurance companies will, but if any other companies have your information like the place where you purchased life insurance, your employer, your school or even state agents, they do not have to abide by HIPPA.

What Are You Entitled To?

You can see your health records whenever you want, but you must submit a written request to get this done. You must say how you are going to use this information and who is going to see it. You may be charged for copies of your records.

What is a HIPPA form?

Health care providers need to inform patients how their information will be used and could possibly be shared. Health care providers must also ensure that the patient is always aware of his or her rights. This would usually be done in a HIPPA form. This is a document written in simple and straightforward language and it should ensure that the individual knows of his or her right to complain about any information being shared regarding medical records.

What Constitutes As A HIPPA Violation?

You might be accidentally violating HIPPA if you show your own medical records to a friend after having obtained them. Doctors and health insurance companies might be committing one if they are discussing your condition verbally or in a written form without your consent. A good indication of a HIPPA violation is if your medical records have been accessed too many times – this can happen due to curiosity and patients with very rare conditions are particularly vulnerable to this type of HIPPA violation.
Since its start, The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPPA) has been a rather controversial law. Although many patients like the protection it provides, it can be difficult for physicians to make the right judgment calls when they do not have all the information available to make a difficult decision. There can be a court summons of someone’s medical records, but this is a complicated and very long process that hinders how effectively doctors can do their job.
It has also affected some medical researches because they are no longer allowed to look at statistical data on medical charts to provide a historical sample of significance in their studies. This means that doing a historical study of a particular type of disorder or disease could be near impossible.
Additionally, HIPPA is very complicated and it can be quite difficult to follow. That is why many people in the health industry need to have extensive training when it comes to it. Many legal nurses are well versed in HIPPA and provide consultations to health care organizations regarding the many issues involved in the Act. They also provide staff education and training seminars related to HIPPA issues. To learn more about legal nurse consulting, access here.

What is a Living Will?

Posted on by Dominick Flarey

Legal Nurse Consultation

One of the most difficult things that a family member can go through is having to make a important medical decision regarding a loved one who is unable to speak for himself or herself. The stress of making such a decision in a hospital or nursing home can be overwhelming to those making the decision. Additionally, if there is any disagreement within the family about what course of medical action to take regarding the loved one, the situation can only become worse. The living will can help relieve some of the burden in difficult times when a difficult medical decision is required.
The living will is a type of advanced health care directive used to instruct medical personnel about what measures to take on a patient who is incapacitated and unable to make informed decisions about his or her healthcare. Two other forms of advanced health care directives include a power of attorney and a health care proxy. The various directive forms work alone or in tandem to provide instruction to doctors and nurses. It is important not to confuse a living will with a living trust, which is a form of estate planning that distributes a person’s assets after his or her death. This information is brought to you by our legal nurse consultation post on our blog.
It is essential to have a living will because it informs medical personnel and your family of what kind of medical treatment you want in case you are unable to speak for yourself. This can include instructions for what you want to happen in the event of an accident that leaves you in a permanent vegetative state or instructions how to handle your medical care if you have a terminal illness which progresses to the point of you being incapacitated. A living will should be written by a lawyer to ensure that it is legal and will serve its purpose if the need arises.

Understanding the Living Will

A living will generally describes the types of treatment you desire in the event you become incapacitated. For example, if you are in a vegetative state after an accident or other medical event, a living will can instruct your doctors whether or not to keep you alive through the use of ventilators, feeding tubes or other medical means. Other treatments often described in a living will include whether to administer pain relief, perform cardiopulmonary resuscitation, or provide hydration.
The living will only becomes effective if a doctor certifies you as being terminally ill or otherwise permanently incapacitated. For example, if you have a heart attack and are unconscious laying in a hospital, but expected to recover and regain consciousness, your living will does not come into effect. You will still receive life saving medical treatment even though your living will stipulates that you do not want life prolonging medical procedures. That is an important distinction and essential to understand. A living will only comes into effect if you are terminally ill, in a permanent vegetative state or permanently mentally incapacitated.
If the situation ever arises where you are incapacitated and unable to speak for yourself, but your medical condition is not terminal or permanent, you should use a health care power of attorney or a health care proxy. Either one of these documents allow you to provide a third party, usually a family member or close friend, the legal authority to make health care decisions on your behalf in the event you are unable to express your wishes.
Being proactive and having both a health care proxy and the living will is both a responsible and loving thing to do. It removes the burden of making extremely difficult decisions from your family members if and when the time arrives. You do not need to be terminally ill to have the living will.

Creating a Living Will

To set up the living will and health care power of attorney, consult a lawyer who specializes in these documents in the state where you live. But before you consult with a lawyer, talk to your doctor about the different scenarios when a living will might be needed and what your options are for each scenario. It’s important to make an informed decision now, so your wishes are known in the event the living will becomes effective. Each state has slightly different variations in terminology and living will laws so a lawyer’s help is crucial. Additionally, once your living will is written, keep it in a safe place. Make sure your doctor and the person you select to have health care power of attorney know of its existence. Your living will does no good to you if nobody knows that it has been written. For more information on health care directives, you may want to consult a legal nurse consultant.

Legal Nurse Consultant As Expert Witness

Posted on by Dominick Flarey

While the primary vocational call of a nurse is to provide direct care to patients at the bedside, many nurses are hoping to enhance their career scope and enter into other exciting nursing fields beyond the bedside. Legal nurses have the ability to work on legal issues that pertain to nursing and also to many other health care professionals. A major role of a legal nurse consultant  is to provide expert witness testimony. In such cases, this nurse expert will actually develop a case related to officially recognized standards of nursing care. In the expert role, the nurse will then present the standards of care in the court room and demonstrate to the jury just how and why there were deviations from the standards of care. Why this type of work is research intensive and professionally challenging, the high benefits of having a nurse testify in a case has been established. Besides having skills and knowledge in issue related to nursing malpractice, the nurse must also have considerable expertise in the clinical practice area of the nursing specialty for which the malpractice case is being heard. Nurse expert witnesses are in high demand today.

legal nurse consultant
legal nurse consultant

Legal Nurse Consultants Testify in Malpractice Cases

Posted on by Dominick Flarey

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.