 |
|
|
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Don't Submit to a Limiting Label by Vickie L. Milazzo, RN, MSN, JD I've heard it said that "nurses are our own worst enemies." Unfortunately, that statement is often true outside the hospital as well. As legal nurse consultants we are the greatest threat to our own professionalism. By letting ourselves be labeled as "paralegals" or "legal assistants" and by supporting paralegal-based training programs for nurses, we hurt our profession and rob ourselves of our potential for a more prosperous future. We are nursing consultants first, last and always. We are professionals with more education and more substantial credentials than the average paralegal. When we let ourselves be called legal assistants or nurse paralegals, we place ourselves in a career box that will take us nowhere. Nurse paralegals and legal assistants have far lower earning capacity than nursing consultants. They have legal-related skills and training not relevant to the role of the Certified Legal Nurse Consultant. While some of the skills of the two professions are complimentary – do we really want to place ourselves on that level? Do doctors, architects, forensic document examiners and other professionals who interface with the legal field race to become legal assistants? The answer is "No." Granted, nurses are often starved for recognition and tired of being "just a nurse." But in our quest for a new identity, we must avoid grabbing for a brass ring that will turn out to be tarnished. Rather than address the symptoms of our discontent, we attempt a quick cure – another title and, ultimately, less respect. As Certified Legal Nurse Consultants, our skills, knowledge and expertise far outpace that of paralegals, secretaries, law clerks and other legal assistants (who often possess little more than high school diplomas). Many people can be trained to become paralegals – but not just anyone can qualify to call themselves a legal nurse consultant. A Certified Legal Nurse Consultant is far more than "just a nurse." We are professionals with highly specialized training. Many of us have master's degrees; many are CCMs, RNCs, or hold other certifications. Why sell out this training, education and experience for a job for which we are vastly overqualified? Instead we should turn to ensuring that legal nurse consulting is recognized as a specialty practice of nursing, a practice far different from that of the paralegals. In addition to fighting for recognition, Certified Legal Nurse Consultants must unite and demand fees and salaries that our level of training and expertise merits. Even with the glut of MDs and attorneys, they wisely charge fees and earn salaries consistent with their higher level of training and with the professional services they provide. This practice has guaranteed them a standard of living consistent with their vision. We all need to encourage each other to charge fair fees in the $125-$200/hr range. Whose throat do we slit when we undercut other consultants in our geographical area? Recently two Certified Legal Nurse Consultants contacted a third Certified Legal Nurse Consultant in their community to advise her she was underselling herself. They did not tell her what to charge – they just recommended that she charge fees more consistent with her qualificaions and level of service. If you want to earn what a hospital nurse earns, stay in the hospital. Do not undercut your peers just to get work. Don't even fall into the trap of thinking that you have to set your sights lower to start your business. This demeans both you and your profession. If Certified Legal Nurse Consultants pull together strategically, we can be all that we can be. We need to distinguish ourselves and stand on our own. We must do so quickly or we will perish as a specialty practice. Let's reject nurse-paralegal programs and charge fees that allow us to attain the financial freedom necessary to pursue our dreams. Former Colorado Governor Richard Lamm said, "Beware of solutions which are appropriate to the past, but are disastrous to the future." If we're not careful, our future will be limited by the labels we foolishly accept today. © 1996 Medical-Legal Consulting Institute, Inc. Reprinted from National Medical-Legal Journal, Vol. 7, No. 3, 1996 |
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Tell a Friend About This Site