If you are a Registered Nurse who is looking for a change, you might want to consider getting a legal nurse consultant certification. Earning a certification is fairly straightforward and does not take a lot of time and the career offers a little more flexibility in your schedule and possibly more money. Legal nurse consultants work with attorneys on cases related to medical issues by analyzing and evaluating medical information and data related to a case.
What Can You Do With a Legal Nurse Consultant Certification?
Legal nurse consultants may work on many different types of cases in the medical field including personal injury, medical malpractice, or creating life care plans for patients with long-term health issues. In addition they may work on product liability for cases involving law suits against pharmaceutical companies, or on cases involving health insurance fraud.
The Legal Nurse Consultant Certification Exam
Only a registered nurse is eligible to earn a legal nurse consultant certification as the job depends largely upon an extensive knowledge of the medical profession, patient care, and health statutes and standards. The legal nursing consultant exam is given by the AALNC (American Association of Legal Nurse Consultants). To qualify for the exam, one must be a registered nurse with at least 5 years of employment, and must have worked a minimum of 2,000 hours in legal nurse consulting.
The legal nurse consultant certification exam is a 4-hour test consisting of 200 questions – all multiple choice – and is focused on topics such as malpractice, negligence and personal injury, and on skills such as risk management and data analysis.
Legal Nurse Consultant Certification Exam Preparation
One way that many nurses prepare for the exam and gain the necessary credentials to achieve the 2,000 hours is to do a general paralegal certification course. There are many programs that offer paralegal certification course with a medical concentration.
In gaining certification to practice as a legal nursing consultant, an RN must become familiar with some basic theoretical and procedural legal knowledge, such as the claims process, tort law, and analyzing the depositions of witnesses. Paralegal certification programs offer students the opportunities to practice all of these skills over a relatively short period of time, enabling candidates to successfully pass the exam and gain their legal nurse consultant certification.