The difference between the medical and the legal fields have always been clear and distinct. These two worlds collide eventually, however, as many medical disputes need to be settled in court, especially medical malpractices.
With these changes, a new breed of professionals —one who can cater to the challenging nature of both disciplines — have come to the fore: legal nurse consultants.
Medico-legal Disputes
In many murder cases, you can imagine a battery of medical professionals to pore over the details hoping to shed some truth to the crime. Doctors and physicians are certainly no strangers to the four corners of the courthouse.
From the processing of physical evidence (e.g., hair samples, biological fluids) to the examination of dead bodies, there certainly is a huge need for medical practitioners to cater to such growing demand.
Over time, however, the legal field has not only been crowded by doctors, but also by registered nurses willing to lend their medical knowledge to the industry.
According to The Center For Legal Studies, a new breed of nurses, one dubbed as legal nurse consultants (LNC), has risen to the challenge, combining the medical and the legal world in the process.
Becoming a Bona Fide Practitioner
Those who are interested in both the medical and legal practices will certainly enjoy becoming an LNC.
While there is no need to get a law degree, you have to be a registered nurse to become an LNC. In this regard, legal nurse consulting programs are available online and in many colleges to facilitate formal education. These courses greatly enhance the capacity of a nurse to analyze medical facts vital to any litigation.
More often than not, having vast experience in the nursing industry is a valued asset that would come in handy for many law firms or government agencies wishing to hire the services of an LNC. Usually, a minimum of five years of clinical experience is a standard requirement to get started.
A person who performed well in nursing school has greater prospects as an LNC. This only shows how the two fields are greatly related.
