Legal Nurse Consulting: Principles and Practice, Second Edition

Preface

The first edition of this text in 1998 was a culmination of years of effort to establish standards and define the core curriculum of legal nurse consulting. The first edition guided the development of the certification examination administered by American Legal Nurse Consultant Certification Board (ALNCCB), leading to the granting of the LNCC credential to experienced legal nurse consultants who have demonstrated a mastery of this practice area. Students in legal nurse consulting curriculums and by independent learners eagerly purchased the text. The material presented in the first edition was used as the entry way to this exciting field.

Legal nurse consulting and the American Association of Legal Nurse Consultants have continued to expand since the publication the first edition of this text. The publication of this second text represents over a year of intense effort.

The process began with an analysis of the first edition. The structure was evaluated to identify redundancy of material, see if the chapters were logically placed into sections, and identify new chapters that were needed to expand the scope of the publication. This analysis resulted in the reorganization of the chapters, elimination of four chapters, and condensing of five chapters into two.

This new edition includes 15 new chapters. Each of these chapters highlights important aspects of legal nurse consulting practice.

Chapter 7: Entry into the Specially
Chapter 9: Certification
Chapter 11: Nursing Theory: Applications to Legal Nurse Consulting
Chapter 13: Elements of Triage for Medical Malpractice
Chapter 14: Evaluating Nursing Home Cases
Chapter 15: Principles of Evaluating Personal Injury Cases
Chapter 16: Common Mechanisms of Injury in Personal Injury Cases
Chapter 20: ERISA and HMO Litigation
Chapter 22: The LNC as Case Manager
Chapter 33: Report Preparation
Chapter 34: Locating and Working with Expert Witnesses
Chapter 40: The Role of the LNC in Preparation of Technical Demonstrative Evidence Chapter 44: Marketing
Chapter 45: Growing a Business
Chapter 46: Business Ethics

In addition to development of new chapters, each of the other 31 chapters was examined by the original or replacement author for relevance and currency. Changes were made as needed to update examples and content to reflect the current state of legal nurse consulting practice. Chapters were made uniform with the inclusion of objectives and test questions to help the reader focus on key concepts and test understanding of the material. A comprehensive glossary was compiled from terms provided by the authors. Each chapter was reviewed by the editor, associate editors and a peer reviewer, who are all legal nurse consultants. The authors were given helpful suggestions for additions and changes.

Each of the associate editors maintained an active role throughout this project. Responsible for between 4-10 chapters each, they worked with the original or replacement authors, recruited reviewers, ensured that the publisher’s formatting guidelines were adhered to and that permissions to reprint material were obtained. Most importantly, they encouraged the authors and helped them accomplish the goal of completing the chapters.

It has been a privilege to have been an associate editor of the first edition and editor of the second edition. I had the enjoyable role of recruiting the talented and dedicated associate editors, reading and editing each chapter, and steering the project to keep it on target. This work represents the collective wisdom of a large group of experienced legal nurse consultants. We are proud to offer it to you.

Patricia Iyer MSN RN LNCC
Editor

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