NEWS FLASH
Vickie Milazzo Institute Will Present at the National Nurses in
Business Conference
The Vickie Milazzo Institute will give a one-hour presentation on The Role of the Legal Nurse Consultant for the National Nurses in Business Association (NNBA). Attend the NNBA's Nurse Entrepreneur Conference in Chicago, Illinois, July 15-16, 2003 and learn about the many services RNs can offer as legal nurse consultants to earn $100-$150/hr.
The NNBA's conference is the perfect opportunity to find out for yourself if the growing specialty of legal nurse consulting is for you. Call the NNBA at 866-246-6622 to register or register online at: www.nnba.net.
CLNC® Success Stories Book Featured in AORN Journal
The AORN Journal recently published a review of the Institute's book CLNC® Success Stories. According to the review, "This
book will serve as an inspiration to any professional nurse considering a career as a certified legal nurse consultant."
Mentioning that the contributing successful CLNC®s are nurses from diverse backgrounds, the reviewer adds, "The book shows that a nursing education can serve as a foundation for a career in business as well as acute care."
The review also states that CLNC® Success Stories addresses many aspects of running a successful business, such as "managing time, setting up an office, writing a business plan, and marketing the business." The reviewer goes on to say, "Each contributor discusses a different set of obstacles and strategies for coping with and overcoming them."
The reviewer stresses that, "Each [CLNC®] partially or wholly attributes her success to participation in an educational program
offered by the editor of this book," the pioneer in legal nurse consulting, Vickie L. Milazzo, RN, MSN, JD. "Each [CLNC®] regards [Vickie] as an exceptional coach and mentor who empowered her to fashion a profitable career as a certified legal nurse consultant."
For more information about the CLNC® Certification Program or to receive your FREE copy of CLNC® Success Stories, Second Edition, call
1-800-880-0944, or visit our website at www.LegalNurse.com.
FROM THE EDITOR
You Have to Be First at the River to Get a Drink
by Vickie L. Milazzo, RN, MSN, JD
While on vacation in the Serengeti Plains of Africa, I sat on a riverbank for three hours watching a herd of wildebeest (or gnu) build up the courage to drink from the water. This herd was part of the Great Migration that happens like clockwork every summer. More than 1,000,000 wildebeest move northward
from the arid Serengeti into the wetlands of the Masai Mara.
The migration is a long, dry and arduous journey. Frequently the only available water is the Grumeti River. Crisscrossing the wildebeest migration route through the Serengeti, the Grumeti represents both life and death to the herds. Unlike some creatures that can take their moisture from the grass they
eat, the wildebeest must drink from the river to live. Although they can survive up to five days without water, they try to drink twice a day.
The Life-or-Death Challenge of the Great Migration
Hot from the sun, thirsty from the effort and dry from the dust, the animals arrive at the river. They must drink to survive. Yet the river supports other life, such as scrub brush, trees and fresh, sweet grass along its banks. Some of that life such as the brush provides cover for predators that present a danger to the wildebeest.
Lions wait until the herd is stretched thin, then charge, trapping a gnu with its back to the river. The other wildebeest stampede, raising a dust cloud that obscures the view of those closest to the lions. A kill is almost guaranteed.
Where the water is still enough to form drinking pools, large crocodiles lurk just beneath the surface or sun themselves on the approaches. One day I watched 28 crocodiles feast on an unlucky gnu. Another day a gnu escaped the crocodiles with only lacerations and a broken leg – probably to fall victim to lions later that evening.
Sometimes the rushing water itself presents the danger. The massive weight of the herd may push the leading animals into the current, where they drown or get swept into the jaws of a crocodile.
To Drink or Not to Drink – The Dance of the River Crossing
The wildebeest seem to be aware of these horrific possibilities as they approach a low spot, ideal for crossing or drinking. Animals at the leading edge of the herd inch up to the bank. Individual gnus step forward tentatively, sniff the air, make their distinctive, plaintive "gnu" sound and step back. This dance continues for hours. The herd, smelling water, bunches up behind these "leaders," gradually nudging them toward the water, whether they want to go or not. If it's been a long time since the herd last drank, you feel their desperation. Yet the dance goes on.
On the day I watched for three hours, a young gnu finally stepped ahead of the herd and started drinking. Was it innocence and ignorance of the danger that moved this young gnu into the water or was it simply thirst?
The fearful adults held back until the herd pushed them forward and a number of them began drinking. Moments later the surging masses shoved one gnu further into the water than it was willing to go. It panicked and in turn panicked the others. They all retreated quickly from the water and returned to the migration. Only those that had been brave enough to be at the leading edge of the herd in the first place got a drink. The others, more fearful or
perhaps simply mired in the pack, went thirsty.
What kept the rest of the gnus from drinking? Did they know too much? Were they too afraid? Or were they simply too comfortable in the relative safety of the middle of the herd? Whatever the answer, only a few animals got to drink at that crossing.
In ritualistic fashion twice each day the wildebeest line up at the nearest river crossing to start the process all over again. Another afternoon I watched a smaller herd stand on a cliff 30 feet above the river. The vertical drop kept them from reaching their goal. But just 100 yards upstream lay a shallow crossing they could have easily reached. Instead of moving toward their goal, they stood on the cliff, moaning and bleating over the water they
couldn't reach.
Lessons from the Wildebeest – Take a Risk to Satisfy Your Thirst
Are you kin to the wildebeest? What keeps you bound to the herd and thirsty for the water of success? Is it fear of the unknown, what might be in the bushes? Or are you lulled by meaningless daily rituals that take you no further toward your CLNC® career goals?
Successful CLNC®s are risk-takers. They are the ones who get to the CLNC® river, drink and, admittedly, sometimes get eaten. All of life is risk. When you drive onto the freeway, step into your facility, enter a grocery store or eat in the hospital cafeteria, you
face a risk that you won't return home. In the words of T.S. Eliot, "Only those who will risk going too far can possibly find how far
one can go."
Lots of RNs want to get their lives back and do something different. Instead, they stand just out of reach of the water of success, watching others drink while they go thirsty.
Don't let your fears hold you back. Don't wait for the momentum of others to push you forward. You must commit to act. The consequences of your action or inaction are in your hands. Only you have the power to start your new life. One of my favorite quotes is from Katherine Mansfield: "Risk! Risk anything! Care no more for the opinion of others, for those voices. Do the hardest thing on earth for you. Act for yourself." Take a risk – take a drink
today and you'll never be thirsty another day in your life.
See you at the river. I'll be up front!
Vickie L. Milazzo, RN, MSN, JD
Marketing is one of the simplest subjects you will ever study. So, why do so many people fail miserably at it? Because they just don't do it.
Wayne Gretsky, the famous hockey player, says you miss all the shots you don't take. These words of wisdom apply as much to marketing as they do to hockey.
The easy part is developing your marketing plan. But a plan without action won't get you clients. Develop a plan, set measurable, results-oriented objectives and target dates, then commit to acting on your plan.
For example, if you set a goal of marketing to five lawyers each week, you could meet that goal without accomplishing any results for your business. You'll be more effective if you set a results-oriented objective, such as marketing to a minimum of five lawyers weekly until you get a case assignment from a new attorney. This results-oriented objective not only propels you to act, but requires you to act until you achieve the desired result.
Most people know what they need to do, they just don't do what they know. Get out there and just do it!
CLNC® Q&A
When Should I Pay My CLNC® Subcontractors?
You should pay your CLNC® subcontractors as quickly as possible after receipt of their work product.
Even though you and your CLNC® subcontractors may be working on the same case, your subcontractors perform their services for
you, and not for your attorney-client. You are the one who has hired them and therefore you have taken on the obligation to pay them. Payment for the work they put in on a case should not be conditional upon when you are paid. You should get a retainer from the attorney up front that will cover most of your subcontracting expenses and refresh that retainer as you apply hours against it. There is always a chance that you could be paying your subs
before you collect from the attorney, but if you've covered the case and your cash flow with a retainer then this should be a
rare occurrence, if it happens at all.
While it is legal to put a clause in the sub's contract that states that they'll get paid when you do, I don't recommend it. Think about how you would feel if your hospital facility or your employer had a similar clause in your contract? Treat your subs the same as you want to be treated – the result will be happy and efficient subcontractors.
