More than a quarter of a million people lose their lives each year due to medical malpractice in the United States. A lot more patients suffer injuries in many of the country’s medical facilities. By taking legal nurse consultant courses, you can help such victims get a fair hearing during medical malpractice cases.
Medical errors, misdiagnosis, wrong prescriptions, and botched surgeries are some of the common themes in medical malpractice cases. While medical practitioners aren’t out to inflict pain and suffering on their charges, these mistakes have life-altering consequences in the lives of the patients. In the worst-case scenario, the effects are irreversible or can lead to a physical disability that lowers the quality of life. Due to the intricacies involved, most medical cases aren’t adequately resolved, denying many victims justice and compensation.
Bridge the two fields
Most medical malpractice cases often end up before a judge as victims pursue justice and compensation for their pain and suffering. While judges are only too well-versed with legal jargon, they are fish out of the water as medical terms and procedures go. They lack sufficient background to make sound judgments in such cases.
That’s where legal nursing consultants come in. You will step in to help judges make sense of the terms and procedures as the issue under contention. You can explain what went wrong during the process and point out some of the events that can lead up to such an outcome. You can also help the victim’s lawyer get a solid bearing on the matter.
While legal practitioners are steep in legal matters, they might not appreciate the nuances surrounding medical malpractice cases. That’s especially true in cases that involve psychological and emotional trauma. For instance, they would need someone with a medical background to explain the horror of a patient waking up halfway through surgery.
Take a break from the hospital room
The highs and lows that come with being a nurse can take a toll on your mental and emotional well-being. One minute you’re over the moon that a patient made a miraculous recovery. The next, you’re crushed by a patient dying in your arms. Swinging back and forth between these two states and everything in between can leave you psychological scarred.
If you’re a registered nurse with more than five years of experience, you can become a legal nursing consultant. This career trajectory needs you to meld both your training and nursing experience to make sound judgment and offer advice. You can still care for your patients without the rigors that come with operating out of a hospital room.
Coupling the two skillsets, you can educate judges, lawyers, and jurors on the extent, nature, and effects of wrong diagnosis or drug prescription on the life of a patient. That affords you a chance to indulge in nursing minus all the emotional heavy-lifting. You can help your victims make a strong case against their medical services providers and pursue adequate compensation for their pain and suffering.
You can take your nursing career to a higher level by registering for a legal nursing consultant course. The skills you acquire will be instrumental in helping medical malpractice victims pursue justice and compensations. You can work with lawyers and judges to help them understand the intricacies surrounding such cases.
You are in a position to explain the nature, extent, and effects of injuries sustained on the life of a patient. You can also explain how a wrong diagnosis or drug prescription affects the life of a victim in language that the court will understand. That way, you can help lawyers argue their case from the point of knowledge, and the judge to reach a fair decision.