If you are on my mailing list, you recently received a gift from me, an expanded second edition of CLNC® Success Stories. This special book is a collection of my favorite Success Stories. It provides an inside look at the personal journeys of RNs who have triumphed in the world of legal nurse consulting.
If you'd like your own FREE copy of CLNC® Success Stories, Second Edition, (a $12.95 value), click here to add your name to our mailing list or phone us toll-free at 1-800-880-0944. When your gift book arrives, use its tips and strategies to create your own CLNC® Success Story.
We'd love to see YOUR CLNC® Success Story in the next edition. Begin your Success Story today.
A genius for all times, Albert Einstein, once said, "You can't solve a problem with the same mind that created it." When I first read this I contemplated its meaning and thinking abstractly, thought, "It is only a problem if I allow myself to view it as such." Applying Einstein's statement in a practical way to my everyday CLNC® business, I thought, "To solve a problem I've obviously helped to create, I need to start with a new and fresh MIND."
For example, we condition ourselves to do things the same way, rarely trying new and fresh approaches. For many of us, myself included, the Pavlovian response to new ideas and to solving problems is, "The problem with that is...." Well, the problem with that is precisely what Einstein knew – that we can't solve problems as long as we make them problems. Unless you change your mind-set, your thoughts or your inner talk, you will get the same results. Every problem will be a problem when instead it could be a real adventure and opportunity.
Oversimplification? Perhaps. Business world applications? Infinite. One of the things that makes my husband Tom good with computers is that he doesn't see a computer problem as a problem. He simply views it as a fun puzzle to solve. I've watched him call tech support on an issue and then help the techie resolve the issue purely because he thinks with a different mind-set than the trained techie.
Insanity is defined as doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result. Nurses often find themselves struggling to change their careers and change their lives with the same mind and the same thoughts that got them to where they are in the first place. The same mind that saves the lives of patients in the middle of the night when the rest of the world is sleeping can surely undo what it is that keeps you from moving forward with your career goals.
As an RN, you already know how the mind works. Here are a few strategies to putting what you already know to use.
Break the Patterns
Your mind is made up of neural pathways that are like roads connecting bits of information. Most of us have found ourselves walking or driving home only to jolt alert and wonder how we got home so fast. The road is so familiar we follow it automatically. The same thing happens in your mind. Once you learn a thing and do it over and over, you follow that pathway from one thought to another automatically, which allows you to walk, speak and move a fork from plate to mouth.
The mind likes patterns, and it's not always easy to break a pattern. But breaking a pattern is a wonderful way to find a new solution to a recurring problem. Merely going to a unfamiliar coffee shop to brainstorm ideas can give you a new mind-set. You'll discover fresh ways to implement new and useful solutions.
Stimulate New Senses
The mind stores information along with the entire sensory environment present when that information is acquired. That's why the smell of vanilla cake baking can bring back a memory of a favorite aunt or the smell of motor oil always reminds you of that time your car broke down on a lonely road. Manage sensory input and you can redirect your neural pathways, at least for the time it takes to tackle a problem. Use candles or potpourri or simply reach into your pantry for a wealth of stimulating scents.
Change Some Small Action or Behavior
Often taking action, even a small one, will automatically change your thoughts. Instead of going immediately to your computer, if that's your habit, stop instead to write out a short list of what you want to accomplish and then power up.
For example, consider the two CLNC®s I was mentoring on marketing. The first was complaining about the lack of attorneys in her rural area. She thought her market was limited. The other CLNC®, also from a rural area, had marketed to attorneys outside her town and was so busy she was struggling to keep up. She thinks the market is unlimited. The only difference is, she took action.
Think about which mind you have working to solve your CLNC® challenges. Try Einstein's approach beginning today. Visit a new coffee shop, burn a scented candle or change one small action or behavior each day. Your problems and challenges won't disappear, but suddenly you'll find them easier to solve. You may even awaken the genius that is within you.
CLNC® SUCCESS STORY
My Miracle Journey – From Park Bench to "Park Avenue"
by Denise C. Lemakos, RN, CLNC
EDITOR'S NOTE: Congratulations to the 2003 CLNC® Success Story contest winners Denise Lemakos, RN, CLNC and Lawrence H. Frace, RN, CLNC. In this issue read Denise's CLNC® Success Story – an amazing story of triumph and accomplishment. Read Larry's funny and inspiring CLNC® Success Story in Legal Nurse Consulting Ezine #8.
Two years ago, I stood in the ambulatory care unit holding a dirty colonoscope. Case No. 6 canceled because the patient was non-compliant with her preparation. I glanced up at the light fixture filled with dead flies (where was maintenance?) and thought, "I can't do this anymore. I didn't get clean and sober for this!"
No one at the hospital knew that years ago I had survived a long history of neglect and addiction. I had been battered, homeless, living on the streets of Brooklyn for two years. After nine years of recovery the physical scars and bruises had faded.
I'd come such a long way, yet my career still wasn't going anywhere. Every shift I endured eight hours of bickering among the five staff nurses I was assigned to work with. Even worse, my take-home pay was less than $14 an hour, pitiful for a seasoned "Cracker Jack" operating room nurse with 22 years of experience. My heart told me I could be happy and do more with my life.
Then someone at work showed me a brochure from another nurse who had taken the CLNC® Certification Program. I thought, "I can do this."
After a little investigation, I found Vickie's website. With one little click I began a dramatic transformation in my professional and personal life. The staff member who answered the Institute's 800-number explained a whole new venue for practicing nursing. Legal nurse consulting sounded so exciting, I signed up for the next CLNC® 6-Day Certification Seminar.
This was a daring feat for my family. We were already in major debt with virtually no money to spare. But my life on the streets paid off – I could take risks because I knew nothing worse could happen to me. I used "OPM" (other people's money), charging the course tuition, flight and hotel room. I wore borrowed business attire and ate cereal in my room at night to save on meals.
I was determined to continue on this new path, and I didn't let anyone or anything stop me. Nurses, doctors and some legal professionals tried to undermine my resolve. They told me there was no need for this service in my area. I proved them all wrong. Anthony Robbins said, "Create a need and fill it," so I did.
My Income Tripled – And So Did My Time Off
In less than one year after receiving my CLNC® Certification, I almost tripled my income while at the same time tripling my time off. At 10:00 a.m. today, still in my PJs, with 31 inches of snow on the ground, I had already made $500.00.
One of my favorite assignments is sitting in on depositions. This is my chance to shine. When my attorney-client struggles to pronounce the medical terms, I pass him notes. Sometimes we can't help but laugh. It's great having this valuable knowledge lawyers need to make their cases. I know more about what the attorney wants and needs than he does.
Recently, I had the glorious opportunity to attend an event where I hobnobbed with the New York State Bar Association LAP director, a former district attorney from a county near my home and about 100 attorneys and their families. I found my niche, and I felt comfortable with and supported by this group. I received three nursing home cases and two med-mal cases from this one weekend.
I love the challenge of creating a new freedom and a new happiness I never knew existed before. I also have the freedom to "give back" by participating in social service activities, such as the state nurses' association peer assistance program. And I go to many social functions attended by lawyers and judges, and they all have friends.
Vickie's Program Set Me on a Lifetime Path to Honor, Dignity and Success
I am the proud mother of a 5-year-old son, and I have the time to go to his plays and other school activities. I take computer and business classes and attend writing seminars.
My husband is building me a beautiful office in our home. I picked the color pink because it's bright and happy, and I'll be spending a lot of time there reviewing cases. I'll also have my own website, thanks to a university program in which students build webpages for credit. My new career is coming together, just as Vickie said it would, along with my new image. I love dressing up in real clothes instead of constantly wearing scrubs. I go to a salon now to have my hair done, and I look like a woman again.
I'm not married to a hospital anymore, and my work is fun, interesting and lucrative. I call the shots, and I love not reporting to anyone. I dance all the way to the bank. The Mary Tyler Moore Show theme song said it just right: "We're gonna make it after all."
The Student Was Ready and the Teacher Appeared
Vickie Milazzo and her illustrious staff have put together an awesome program I can grow old with. At 46, I've done my share of being on call, working long hours with no lunch break, too many patients and a crabby staff. I can work as a CLNC® till I'm 80.
Sometimes I feel like Vickie is sitting on my shoulder. If I feel stuck, I hear her saying, "Just do it!" and it works. She empowered me to come out of my shell.
At one legal conference I attended, a presenter said, "If you can get a good legal nurse consultant, you'll be blessed." I went up and gave him my card, because Vickie's voice was in my ear, reminding me to network, network, network.
For years I lived through hell, often without enough money to buy a sandwich. Now, by the grace of God and Vickie Milazzo, I earn $125 an hour. It's a miracle. I traveled a long, hard way from the streets, but only when I found Vickie's course did I discover the path I was meant to take. The joy is in the journey. Today I am a woman of honor and dignity and a successful CLNC®.
Denise C. Lemakos, RN, CLNC is the owner of Lemakos and Associates in upstate New York. She specializes in medical malpractice, long term care, workers' comp and OR cases.
