CLNC® PROS REVEAL
"Why I Chose a Professional Legal Nurse Consulting Program
Over a Nurse Paralegal Program"
EDITOR'S NOTE: If you've ever been curious about nurse paralegal programs, read what these eight CLNC® Pros have shared about
why they only recommend a true legal nurse consulting program.
My CLNC® Credential Gave Me Professional Recognition and the System for Success
I had the opportunity to work on my first legal nurse consulting case before I knew what the profession was all about. I had the exciting privilege of being involved in a trial, developing trial exhibits and educating the attorney about nursing Standards of Care for long term care. During that first case I placed high priority on learning how to maximize my nursing knowledge, organize it and convey it in a manner that would be useful to an attorney.
I researched different programs via the Internet. But my question was, "What's the difference?" I found out the nurse paralegal programs were task oriented. They trained participants to offer attorney-support services, such as summarizing depositions and issuing subpoenas. But most of all, it became apparent that the nurse paralegal depends upon employment within a law firm. I gathered that over time the attorney would rely more on me as "his paralegal" and forget my specialty was nursing. The hallmark of the legal nurse consultant role is providing medical and nursing care analysis and blending legal causation with this analysis. A "paralegal" does not provide that level of analysis.
I decided that I wanted nursing certification. Becoming a nurse paralegal would be more like learning pseudo-law, and nurse paralegal training is not recognized within the nursing profession. The Vickie Milazzo Institute provided the CLNC® Certification recognized by the nursing profession. Another bonus was the opportunity to learn through my preferred learning style at a live seminar.
Was the CLNC® Certification Program the right choice? Absolutely! Vickie not only provides the tools and motivation necessary to build a successful legal nurse consulting practice and a full lifestyle, but she also provides the systems and resources CLNC®s need as they develop their businesses and their individual cases. No other course or organization offers this magnitude of support. Thank you, Vickie.
– Suzanne E. Arragg, RN, BSN, CDONA/LTC, CLNC
As a CLNC® I Have Many Options and Professional Respect
I never even considered a paralegal program. I wanted to be a professional nurse consultant. A paralegal is part of the legal team on the level of the clerical staff. I didn't want to be a "gofer." I have always wanted to be my own boss. As a legal nurse consultant, I knew I could create a business that could give me the lifestyle I wanted. I knew I could choose to work in-house or as an independent consultant. There are not many options for a paralegal. Being a CLNC® sets a higher professional standard that commands so much more respect. I am a nurse with expertise in my field, and I
am paid to consult as such, not as a paraprofessional in another field. My choice was the right one for me because I am so happy with what I do.
– Dale Barnes, RN, MSN, CLNC
Being a CLNC® Is a Way To Use My Nursing Skills and Is a Step Up, Too
Why on earth would I choose a nurse paralegal program when I have the Vickie Milazzo Institute's CLNC® Certification Program? I never
even considered a nurse paralegal program. I see being a nurse paralegal as a step down. While I have great respect for the paralegals
I work with, that is not the direction I wanted my nursing career to go.
I wanted a career that built on all my years at the bedside. All that work was not going to waste. I wanted to use my clinical skills, but use them in a different way. Legal nurse consulting is a satisfying step up from my clinical nursing career.
Becoming a CLNC® was definitely the right choice for me. I grew up in a close-knit neighborhood and church community. As a nurse,
I saw my nursing colleagues as another important community. As a CLNC®, I see other CLNC®s as a vital part of my community. Now I can have long-distance friends joined in a close community via email and cell phone. We CLNC®s need each other. A small
business owner can feel isolated – but that is not the case when you are a CLNC®. I love being a part of the National Alliance of
Certified Legal Nurse Consultants (NACLNC®) Community.
I gained a great CLNC® education with Vickie Milazzo at the helm. I am also part of a program that offers continual support, mentoring
and ongoing education. The best program is always the right choice.
– Sue Burnham, RNC, CLNC
CLNC® Certification Was My Ticket to Controlling My Time and My Life
I was not looking for a legal nurse consulting program when Vickie's materials about the CLNC® Certification Program arrived in the mail. I had a strong background in quality assurance and quality improvement so I was used to intense, in-depth records review. Vickie's information indicated I could use these skills to get back into business for myself (I had previously been a survey/administrative consultant) using my nursing experience to consult on legal issues. This was my answer.
I wanted more than what paralegals do. I'm a nurse wanting to do nurse kinds of things, not a paralegal wanting to do paralegal kinds of things. That's exactly what the CLNC® Certification Program teaches, so I immediately signed up.
There is no question I made the right choice. I love working independently, controlling my time and my life, while using all my skills to provide services to attorneys. I enjoy the legal arena, interacting with well-versed attorneys and helping those attorneys who are not up to speed on long term care issues. Given the opportunity to do anything else with my life, I'd still choose to be a Vickie Milazzo trained CLNC®.
– Nancy Dion, RN, MSM, CPHQ, CHCRM, LNHA, CLNC
I've Grown Professionally as a CLNC® and I Have Unlimited Earning Capacity
Though paralegal work is an honorable profession and certainly has an important function in the legal world, I have never considered adding that to my professional resume. From the first time I listened to Vickie talk about legal nurse consulting, I knew which path I would follow. I have never regretted my decision. My CLNC® Certification continues to offer me many new career opportunities, opportunities I would not have had as a nurse paralegal.
The first and most important aspect of being a CLNC® is the opportunity for growth in my profession. As a Certified Legal Nurse ConsultantCM, I have many opportunities to expand my role to all areas involving medicine and the law.
Another benefit of being a CLNC® is the professional status. As a nurse I have always been considered a professional. I'm not willing
to give up that distinction. The nurse paralegal is considered support staff within a law firm and is expected to perform secretarial and support staff duties. Every staff position is important to the law firm and to the attorney, but my expertise lies in my nursing experience and medical knowledge.
Finally, as a CLNC® I have unlimited earning capacity. While a nurse paralegal can be both a paralegal and a nurse consultant, their salary will be computed at the lower paralegal rate, not at a consulting rate. Unlike the nurse paralegal's lower salary range, the Certified Legal Nurse ConsultantCM has no ceiling placed on her earning capacity.
– Patsy Howard, RN, CLNC
As a CLNC®, I Implement Concrete Changes Rather than Fight the Healthcare System
I chose the Vickie Milazzo Institute's CLNC® Certification Programover a nurse paralegal program for several reasons.
Paralegal programs focus on the legal aspects of case analysis, while the legal nurse consulting program focuses on the knowledge needed to represent nursing and healthcare issues in the legal arena.
I feel strongly about the quality of nursing care. The Vickie Milazzo Institute's legal nurse consulting program taught me to become an effective legal nurse consultant who can speak to jurors, attorneys, families and healthcare professionals about nursing and health issues. A paralegal is rarely, if ever, hired as a consultant.
A nurse paralegal is considered a paraprofessional, whereas a Certified Legal Nurse ConsultantCM is considered a professional consultant. I prefer to be part of a profession where my nursing expertise and advice are sought after, as opposed to being a paralegal doing legal tasks under a lawyer's supervision. If I had wanted to focus on legal tasks, I would have become a nurse attorney, not a paralegal.
I believe this was the right choice. Being a CLNC® has afforded me the opportunity to become a successful business owner, while maintaining my clinical skills. I speak to medical, nursing and healthcare issues in an arena where concrete changes are made based on legal case outcomes, as opposed to "fighting the system" as a staff nurse in the hospital.
– Colleen Lindell, RN, MHSA, CNOR, CLNC
I Made the Right Choice the First Time – To Better Myself and the Nursing Profession as a CLNC®
I chose a nurse consulting program over a paralegal program because I wanted to apply my nursing knowledge to better our nursing profession and myself. I was not interested in learning the many different areas of law that a paralegal's role encompasses. A consulting program would enable me to focus only on my role as a nurse consultant and to learn exactly how I could channel my nursing knowledge to best assist my new attorney-clients with their cases.
Selecting a nurse consulting program was definitely the correct choice. The Vickie Milazzo Institute's CLNC® Certification Program gave me exactly what I needed to get started and to become a very successful Certified Legal Nurse ConsultantCM. All the information in the program is relevant to the nursing profession and how it applies to the legal field. I still re-listen to my home-study tapes, and I continue to pick up helpful information from them. I have talked with many nurses who have taken paralegal courses, only to become frustrated and then go through Vickie's program. I am glad I made the right choice the first time.
– Gina I. Rogers, RN, BSN, NMCC, CLNC
Becoming a CLNC® Was a Natural Evolution of My Patient Advocate Role
I am a nurse. That is part of my identity after practicing as a nurse for 38 years, mainly in a hospital setting. I was born a caretaker. That turned into being a patient advocate as my nursing career evolved. I am also a woman, daughter, sister, friend, wife and mother. These different roles are all integrated into one person, ME.
Deciding to invest in taking my nursing career to a higher level was not difficult. Vickie is a nurse who has empowered herself to a higher level of nursing. I admire that. I knew that the Institute's program would work for me, rather than a paralegal program, because I AM A NURSE. In addition to all my other roles, I am now a Certified Legal Nurse ConsultantCM.
Becoming a CLNC® was a natural evolution in my patient advocate role. I still continue to use my nursing knowledge in the healthcare setting, and I am still a NURSE as a CLNC®. I feel the value I contribute when I am part of the legal team. They bring their legal knowledge to the team. I bring my life and nursing career experiences with me and that is what sets me apart from the other members of the team.
– Marie L. Wendle, RN, BS, CCRN, CLNC
Suzanne E. Arragg, RN, BSN, CDONA/LTC, CLNC is the owner of SEA Consultant Company in California, specializing in long term care cases.
Dale Barnes, RN, MSN, CLNC, an independent CLNC®, has owned Barnes Medical Legal Services in California since 1999. She consults on medical malpractice, bad faith insurance, general personal injury, home care, elder abuse and research services.
Susan J. Burnham, RNC, CLNC owns Burnham and Associates in Washington state. She has been an independent CLNC® since 1996 and specializes in quality of care issues.
Nancy L. Dion, RN, MSM, CPHQ, CHCRM, LNHA, CLNC has more than 35 years of experience as a healthcare professional. She is a Florida-based CLNC® with expertise in clinical services, organizational redesign, quality improvement, risk management and executive team building and management.
Patsy Howard, RN, CLNC is the owner of Metro Legal Nurse Consulting in Missouri. She has 23 years of nursing experience in hospital nursing, home health, management, medical malpractice litigation and legal nurse consulting.
Colleen Lindell, RN, MHSA, CNOR, CLNC is CEO of Med-Legal.net, Inc., a Wisconsin nurse-owned firm providing attorneys with research, expert case review and opinion.
Gina I. Rogers, RN, BSN, CLNC is the founder of Medical Review Consulting, LLC in Kentucky. Her company consults with plaintiff and defense attorneys as well as insurance companies. She serves as a CLNC® Mentor as well as a faculty member for the Institute.
Marie Wendle, RN, BS, CCRN, CLNC is the president of Medical Legal Nurse Consultants of Washington. She specializes in working with law firms on medical malpractice and personal injury cases, attends IMEs for her attorney-clients and serves as an expert witness on standards of nursing care.
See this Special Report to learn how to tell the difference between a true legal nurse
consulting program and a nurse paralegal program.
– Suzanne E. Arragg, RN, BSN, CDONA/LTC, CLNC
