MPH, MSN, WHNP-BC
You’re here because you’re wondering what a legal nurse consultant is! A legal nurse consultant is a registered nurse who uses their knowledge of health care and nursing care to consult on medical and nursing-related legal matters.
This career path emerged in the 1980s and continues to evolve as the demand for nursing legal experts grow.
Like all nurses, LNCs are educated and trained in anatomy, physiology, pharmacology and assessment. It is important to note that legal nurse consultants (LNCs) are not nurse lawyers and do not have a law degree.
When I first started to read about nursing and the different nursing career paths, I wondered about the differences between a nurse attorney, legal nurse consultant, and other nursing options. If you’re curious about the intersections of nursing and the legal system, this post is for you!
LNCs are registered nurses with an Associate’s degree or Bachelor’s degree in nursing. To receive training as an LNC, nurses can either complete a legal nurse consulting certification or certificate program through a university or organization, such as the American Association of Legal Nurse Consultants.
Something to note about LNCs is that they often have years of experience as a nurse prior to become an LNC. Whether it is through emergency room nursing, med-surg nursing, or ambulatory care nursing, most employers and LNC programs will recommend to have at least three years of experience as a nurse prior to becoming an LNC.
Salary ranges often vary by state and place of employment, such as a law office or public hospital. Typically, legal nurse consultants with more experience tend to have a higher salary than those without experience.
According to Glassdoor.com, the average salary for a legal nurse consultant is $88,000. Note that this average varies depending on experience, location, and place of work.
LNCs can work in many places, such as:
A legal nurse consultant can also work as an independent consultant, continue to work in direct patient care, be part of nursing management, or teach at nursing schools.
Legal nurse consultants have many tasks and responsibilities, such as:
This is just a sample of what legal nurse consultants can do! The scope of work for a legal nurse consultant truly depends on their training, local boards of nursing and law, workplace practices, and local legislation.
A legal nurse consultant is a registered nurse who has completed training, such as certification program, to be a legal nurse consultant. A nurse attorney is a nurse who has also received a law degree.
LNCs do not need to pursue a law degree in order to perform their work. Nurse lawyers can act as both a lawyer and a nurse. LNCs are not attorneys.
When thinking about one path over the other, it is important to consider your career goals. If being both a nurse and lawyer is important to you, then you might want to consider going back to school to pursue a legal degree.
Both LNCs and nurse attorneys work in both the legal and health care fields at different places and for different purposes.
If you are considering being a legal nurse consultant, I would recommend that you ask yourself if you truly are passionate about the legal system, have good critical thinking skills, love all things documentation, and strive to provide the best patient care.
If you are thinking about becoming a legal nurse consultant or learning more about the profession, I would recommend looking into the American Association of Legal Nurse Consultants and the American Nurse Association.
You can also learn about the growing work of legal nurse consultants by reading the Journal of Legal Nurse Consulting and the Journal of Issues in Nursing.
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