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Legal Nurse Consultant Training Should Be Delivered By Nurses, Not Paralegals by Deborah D. D'Andrea, RN, BSN, BA, Illinois I believe nurse paralegal programs undermine the professional growth of legal nurse consultants. We are nurses first, drawing upon our medical and nursing knowledge to perform the tasks of legal nurse consulting. We are proud of our nursing background, always making sure we attend a school of nursing approved by the National League of Nurses. Attending a non-NLN approved school of nursing would be detrimental to our future in nursing. Why would we settle for second best for our training and education as legal nurse consultants? Recently, a local junior college started a legal nurse consultant program. This junior college has a paralegal program as well as a nursing program. The rationale for attaching the legal nurse consultant program to the paralegal department was that if the legal nurse consultant program was connected to the nursing program, the curriculum would need to be scrutinized and approved by the National League of Nurses. The NLN requirements would be harder to implement, and these requirements would set stricter, higher standards. Connecting the legal nurse consultant program with the paralegal program would mean fewer, less stringent requirements. To me, this means the standards would be much lower. My understanding is that most of the course material in this paralegal-based legal nurse consultant program is being taught by paralegals and attorneys. I believe the curriculum and course material should be developed and taught by our fellow legal nurse consultants, not by paralegals and attorneys. As legal nurse consultants we are still in the beginning phases of educating attorneys about our role and what an legal nurse consultant can offer to the legal profession. Since attorneys don't even know what we can do, they are not in a position to educate future legal nurse consultants about their roles or to dictate what should be covered in a legal nurse consulting program. Our own legal nurse consulting standards of practice state that we, as legal nurse consultants, will acquire and maintain current knowledge about nursing and health care issue s. Can we in good faith believe attorneys will be able to educate us on this level? Our fellow legal nurse consultants can and should be our educators in order for us to maintain higher standards. I firmly believe in providing the best education possible for our future legal nurse consultants. I want the best and brightest nurses to enter this profession. The nurses entering this specialty of nursing today are our legacy, our future. I want these future legal nurse consultants to be proud of being nurses and to demonstrate to the world that nurses are smart, educated professional leaders, as well as qualified consultants. I find it interesting that the ABA has determined that the legal nurse consultant falls within the "definition of a paralegal," yet the ABA does not recognize any engineering or architectural consultant as a paralegal. I see no difference between the services provided by an engineering consultant and those provided by a legal nurse consultant. By classifying us as paralegals, the ABA, in essence, reduces us to a level below the other professional consultants that serve the legal field. Since we live in an era of free enterprise, I am not sure that we can stop these paralegal-based programs from developing. Nor would I ever want to curtail the free enterprise system. If you feel strongly that these paralegal programs should not be educating future legal nurse consultants, then you may take the stance that you will not be a part of their programs as an educator, instructor or student. As established legal nurse consultants, we can educate the nurses interested in becoming legal nurse consultants about how to do so without becoming paralegals. Talk to future legal nurse consultants about their own self-worth. If a future legal nurse consultant is interested in becoming a paralegal or is interested in learning about legal processes, then this is an individual decision. However, if a future legal nurse consultant does not want to become a paralegal, the legal nurse consultants of today should educate them. We should also educate the various legal organizations, such as the ABA, about the role of the legal nurse consultant and specifically that legal nurse consulting is a specialty practice of nursing. My belief is that we as legal nurse consultants should stand tall and strong for our convictions and take an active part in shaping the future of legal nurse consulting. If we do not take a firm stand now, others will do it for us! © 1999 Medical-Legal Consulting Institute, Inc. Reprinted from National Medical-Legal Journal, Vol. 10, No. 3, 1999   
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