The American College of Legal Nurse Consulting

Legal Nurse Consulting CE Courses

Information: Those aspiring to achieve certification status in Legal nurse consulting practice as conferred by the American College of Legal Nurse Consulting, may enroll into the courses defined below. For additional information on the Legal Nurse Consulting Certification program:  Click here.

Continuing Education Courses

Course Fees: Below are listed the five (5) required courses for this curriculum. At the end of each course description you will find the course cost listed. All textbooks and learning materials are separate and not included in the course cost.  

The following CE courses have provider approvals:

The American Institute of Health Care Professionals Inc. is an Approved Provider of Continuing Education by the Florida State Board of Nursing and the District of Columbia Board of Nursing. CE Provider # 50-11975.

The American Institute of Health Care Professionals Inc., is a licensed Continuing Education Provider in the State of California, Board of Registered Nursing, Provider # CEP 15595. For additional information please access here.

The following CE Courses also have Nursing Board Rule Provider Approvals:

The American Institute of Health Care Professionals Inc: is a Rule Approved Provider of Continuing Education by the Arkansas Board of Nursing. CE Provider # 50-11975.
The American Institute of Health Care Professionals Inc: is a Rule Approved Provider of Continuing Education by the Georgia Board of Nursing. CE Provider # 50-11975.
The American Institute of Health Care Professionals Inc: is a Rule Approved Provider of Continuing Education by the South Carolina Board of Nursing. CE Provider # 50-11975.
The American Institute of Health Care Professionals Inc: is a Rule Approved Provider of Continuing Education by the West Virginia Board of Examiners for Professional Registered Nurses. CE Provider # 50-11975.
The American Institute of Health Care Professionals Inc: is a Rule Approved Provider of Continuing Education by the New Mexico Board of Nursing. CE Provider # 50-11975.
The American Institute of Health Care Professionals Inc: is a Rule Approved Provider of Continuing Education by the Kentucky Board of Nursing CE Provider # 50-11975.

LN 400 – Legal Nurse Consulting Theory & Practice I

This course is the foundational course for the Legal Nurse Consulting program and provides a comprehensive learning program for the current principles and practices of Legal Nurse Consulting today. This course examines issues of health care and nursing law, as well as the judicial system. This course utilizes the most current and authoritative textbook in the specialty of legal nurse consulting and presents all facets of the practice. You receive comprehensive education in the professional practice of consulting, as well as appropriate health care and nursing law. Continuation of the study of legal nurse consulting continues in the other three track courses for this specialty. Requirement for this course is current state licensure/registration as a Registered Nurse.

Course Code: LN 400. Contact hours of education = 45. Course Cost: $250.00. 

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LN 420 – Legal Nurse Consulting Theory & Practice II

This course is the second foundational course for the Legal Nurse Consulting continuing education program and provides for comprehensive learning of more of the current principles and practices and theories of Legal Nurse Consulting today. Students undertake an in depth study of the role, responsibilities, and practice options of a professional registered nurse practicing legal nurse consulting. Solid foundational principles of nursing law are examined as well as a model of research and practice for the legal nurse. This course provides a major emphasis on various types of cases that legal nurses consult on, including theory, practice and application for consulting.

Course Code: LN 420. Contact hours of continuing education = 45. Course Cost: $250.00. 

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LN 430 – Legal Nurse Consulting Theory & Practice III

This third course continues in the study of practice and case analysis for legal nurse consulting. The focus is on the responsibilities of the legal nurse consulting related to case consulting, the role of the legal nurse in expert testimony, and the role of the legal nurse in trial and in mediation/arbitration. Legal issues of practice as well as ethics are examined. Students also study practice setting, building and marketing strategies. This course brings all of the knowledge, skill attainment, and theories together in preparation for the fourth case, which focuses on case analysis and report/consulting writing. Preparation for expert testimony is also examined.

Course Code: LN 430. Contact hours of continuing education = 45. Course Cost: $250.00. 

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HL 420 – The Expert Witness: Role, Process & Strategic Applications

This CE course focuses on the major components of becoming an Expert Witness and refining your skills as an Expert Witness. The two texts selected for this course will provide you a solid foundation to build and improve your expertise as an effective expert witness. You will review interesting complex methods and strategies to enhance your skills while learning the best ways to partner with the attorneys you work with on cases. Learn the intricacies of how to effectively connect with jurors by employing Person-centered credibility tactics proven to gain jurors attention. Understand why you goal is to build trust with jurors and the judge. You will learn how to recognize and nullify the opposing attorneys attempts to minimize your competence as an Expert Witness who attack your credentials and experience. The importance of the appropriate use of vivid language and visuals is reviewed. In addition, the elements of pre-trial preparation and prepping methods for cross-examination are described. The study of social communications and non-verbal ques will help you recognize the effectiveness of your communication and storytelling efforts. You will learn how to blunt physical threats from the cross-examining attorney during testimony. You will gain insight to the potential motives of case stakeholders and how to navigate when new unanticipated information is introduced during a trial. The importance of studying and knowing all the details your assigned case is emphasized. The effect of your choice of words and their impact on others is put in perspective in this course. You will learn to recognize when your testimony is being brushed-off in court. The section on training methods and skills will help you improve your courtroom performance. The effective expert witness knows they have to practice their skill in order to be successful. The role of improvisations and humor are discussed. Learn methods used to help you maintain emotional control while providing clear, calm responses that enhance the testimony you are providing. You will understand that what you do not do in the courtroom is just as important as what you do. This course will expose any prospective or experienced Expert Witness to the many contemporary issues they need to be conversant with in order to be more effective and successful when testifying. This course is developed for those in Legal Nurse Consulting as well as all Health Care Professionals who are doing Legal Consulting in Medical Malpractice cases. Whether providing expert witness testimony as a professional consultant or recruiting expert witnesses for malpractice cases, this course is invaluable in its scope and depth on the subject matter. (Note: effective 9-8-2023: this course will be a required course in the Legal Nurse Consulting Curriculum for Certification for all students entering the LNC program; students currently in the program prior to 9-8-2023 may take this course as an elective course and it can be used toward their first re-certification).

Course Code: HL 420. Contact hours of CE = 50.  Course Cost = $ 200.00

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LN 450 – Legal Nurse Consulting Process & Application

This final course is pivotal for bringing everything together in the building of a solid knowledge and theory base in legal nurse consulting practice. Students study actual cases and legal nurse consulting reports and learn additional skills related to work product for attorney clients. Effective report writing methodologies are examined. This course culminates in the actual full analysis of cases from the legal nurse consulting viewpoint and work product. Students conduct a real case analysis with full applicability of learned materials from the entire continuing education program of study. This course also provides the knowledge necessary to undertake one more additional and “optional” Continuing education course for those seeking a CE activity in a preceptorship with an attorney, law firm or a practicing legal nurse consultant. More information is provided to enrolled students concerning this option.

Course Code: LN 450. Contact hours of continuing education = 30. Course Cost: $200.00. 

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Overall Program Objectives:

Additional Information:

• Interested applicants must be a current, licensed registered nurse in the state or country of current practice.
• All four courses are required to be successfully completed in order to be eligible for Certification status.
• All courses are continuing education courses and are provided in online classrooms via our website. Upon enrollment a unique identification and password is provided for classroom access. The online classrooms provide full syllabi and course information, including the course exams and evaluations. Students must a achieve a minimum score of 70% on the course examination to pass the continuing education courses.
• You may register for one course at a time. Once a student registers for the first course, they have a full two-year period of time to complete all four courses required. The total number of contact hours for the courses is 165 hours of continuing education.
• Upon completion of each course, you will be awarded the corresponding continuing education contact hours and receive the CEU certificate verifying course completion and the award of education credits. Registration may be completed online, by accessing the links below.

Additional Links

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What is Certification?

“A certification is a third-party attestation of an individual’s level of knowledge or proficiency in a certain industry or profession. They are granted by authorities in the field, such as professional societies and universities, or by private certificate-granting agencies. Most certifications are time-limited; some expire after a period of time (e.g., the lifetime of a product that required certification for use), while others can be renewed indefinitely as long as certain requirements are met. Renewal usually requires ongoing education to remain up-to-date on advancements in the field, evidenced by earning the specified number of continuing education credits (CECs), or continuing education units (CE’s), from approved professional development courses. “ 1

Certification is an official recognition from a “Professional Organization” that one has met all of the established standards as determined by that professional organization to be conferred the specific “certification” by that professional organization.  Certifications are most frequently established and conferred by “professional organizations.” Certification is thus a validation that a professional has thus achieved a high standard of knowledge, learning and skills in a specific specialty area of practice. It attests to an achievement in professional practice that is beyond that achieved for licensure. It is also specialty practice specific, rather than generic in nature.

Certification is distinctly different from ‘licensing.” Licensure is conferred /granted by the Government. In most all cases, licensure is the responsibility of the State Government. Every state has its own government agencies that oversee and confer licensure to professionals, i.e. the state boards of nursing.  Licensure is established by “laws” and then specific rules and regulations which conform to the tenets of the state’s laws. Licensure is granted and over-seen by state agencies. Certification, on the other hand, is NOT licensure and is not established by any “laws.”  Licensing agencies generally do not “oversee” professional certifications, unless their specific laws mandate a certain professional certification, in order to practice. An example of this would be: for a registered nurse to receive and be conferred a license as a “Nurse Practitioner” most states require that the RN also have Certification from the American Nurses Credentialing Center or the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners.  So, in order to be licensed as a nurse practitioner, the nurse must hold certification from one of those two professional organizations. The State Board of Nursing does not oversee the certification, but rather requires it for nurse practitioner license.

Why Achieve a Certification?

“Professional certification shows consumers and potential employers that you are committed to your profession and are well-trained. It gives them confidence in your abilities and knowledge. Certification makes you more valuable to employers, so you can expect to earn more than someone without certification. Certification also offers advancement opportunities.” 2  Other compelling reasons to consider a specialty practice certification include: Acquire advanced knowledge and skills in a sub-specialty health care practice: 1) Achieve national recognition for attainment of knowledge and skills by meeting established standards of professional advanced practice, 2). Enhance and expand your health care practice, 3). Increase your marketability, 4). Be viewed as a credentialed expert in your practice specialty, and 5). Become part of a professional group and network of recognized and certified health care specialists.

Report findings published on Nurse.com revealed the following regarding Nurses that held certifications: 1). Certified nurses make more money, 2). Certified nurses have respect and recognition, 3). Certified nurses have validated competence in their specialty area, 4). Certified nurses are more marketable and hirable, 5). Certified nurses perceive they have more power in their organizations, 6). Certified nurses have more professional opportunities, 7). Certified nurses have standing among their professional peers, and 8). Certified nurses are more confident. 3

While these study finds were specific to the nursing profession, we believe such benefits are applicable to all health care professionals who hold practice specialty certifications, especially related to recognition, opportunities in employment and validated competency in their practices.

Ongoing Learning

A major hallmark of quality Certification programs is the mandate that Certified Members commit to continued learning in order to maintain their certifications. This is most generally achieved by requiring a recertification process in which certified member’s document continued learning in their practice specialty by way of continuing education. Certifying bodies will establish quality standards for the requirements for its certified members to achieve contact hours of continuing education credits in order to maintain their certification status by the organization or association. 1, 2

The American Institute of Health Care Professionals upholds this high quality standard for recertification of its members by an established program of recertification via mandatory continuing education as well as clinical practice hours over a four-year time frame.  Certified members may recertify their status upon meeting the standards established for recertification of their practice specialties.

The AIHCP CE Model for Certification

The Model for Certification at the American Institute of Health Care Professionals is one based on a core curriculum of focused Continuing Education (CE) Courses. We feel strongly that the conferral of a professional certification requires the attainment of current knowledge and skills in a specialty practice and those who achieve certification should all have the same educational achievements and knowledge/skill base. We insure this by modeling our Certification programs on student’s achievements in a strong curriculum of continuing education in order to achieve our professional Certifications.

Why is continuing education important as a foundation of our model? There are several reasons why continuing education is important for health care professionals. First, it helps them keep up with the latest advances in their field. Second, it helps them maintain their skills and knowledge. Third, it helps them stay current with changes in the healthcare industry. Fourth, it helps them meet their licensure requirements. Finally, it helps them improve their patient care skills. With the rapid pace of change in the medical world, it is essential for health care professionals to keep abreast of new developments in order to provide the best possible care for their patients.

Another reason that we proposed continuing education courses as the foundation of our Certification model is that the benefits of continuing education courses are numerous. For one, they can keep you abreast of the latest developments in your field, which can be beneficial both professionally and personally. Additionally, they can help you network with other professionals in your field, which can lead to new opportunities. Finally, continuing education courses can simply be enjoyable and enriching, providing student candidates with a chance to learn new things and explore different topics.

Our model consists of several types of continuing education courses. Many of our CE courses are self-directed and self-paced with faculty-mentoring as required by the student candidates. Students utilize text books for the course and very often supplemental learning materials such as course handouts, articles and videos. Other types of courses we have include online video on demand lectures courses that provide for printable copies of the slides used in the videos.

All of our CE courses have examinations that must be successfully completed in order for students to receive credit for the courses and also receive a CE Course Certificate. Most all of the examinations on taken right online with a computerized system and are objective-type questions such as multiple choice and true/false questions. Students take the examination online and once completed receive immediate feedback of their examination score and the questions they may have missed including what the correct responses are to missed questions. Students must complete a comprehensive online course evaluation in order to receive their CE Course Certificate. Students may communicate with their course instructors regarding any questions they have about the examination both pre and post-test taking.

All of our CE Courses are approved by the California Board of Registered Nursing. We are an accredited provider of continuing education for the California Board of Registered Nursing. For many of our CE Courses we also have Board of Nursing Approval by the Florida Board of Nursing and the DC Board of Nursing. As well we are a Rule Approved Provider for CE by the following Boards of Nursing: Arkansas, Georgia, South Carolina, West Virginia, Kentucky and New Mexico. The AIHCP is also an Approved Provider for Continuing Education by the South Carolina Professional Counselors, Marriage & Family Therapists and Psycho-Educational Specialists licensing board.

Upon successful completion of our CE Courses, our student candidates receive a full-sized Course CE Certificate with the full name of the course, date of completion, number of earned contact hours as well as all Board and Organizational approvals for the course. As our student candidates are generally health care professionals they have the added benefit of being able to use their earned CE Course contact hours for their State re-licensing CE requirements and many can use them for their CE requirements for recertification in other professionals organizations.

Our foundational model of CE for Certification is also based on the importance to stay current in the health care field as changes in technology and treatments occur rapidly. As a health care professional, you need to be able to provide the best possible care for your patients. Staying current also allows you to keep up with the latest guidelines and standards of care. Additionally, new research is constantly emerging that can impact patient care.

In conclusion, our foundational model of continuing education courses for certification for health care professionals is important in order to keep up with the latest advancements in health care. They also help to refresh and update the skills of those who have been working in the field for many years. All of our courses can be taken online and are self-paced for the student candidate’s easy of self-paced learning and many employers offer financial assistance to employees who enter our programs.

References:

1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Professional_certification October 2018. Page 1.
2. https://www.collegetransfer.net/AskCT/WhatisProfessionalCertification/ October 2018
3. https://www.nurse.com/blog/2018/03/14/enjoy-the-perks-of-nurse-certification/ October 2018