In one of my
too infrequent BLOG posts
(see the blog link at
bottom of page), I
responded to yet another
question about "life in the
slow lane" as a retired
nurse. What started out to
be a quick, glib response
developed into a web page
of it's
own:
http://nursecrisis.com/Ask_a_Nurse---_Page_Five.html
At the
end of the Blog/Web Page, I
made a quick reference to
the work I am doing as a
Legal Nurse
Consultant/Expert
Witness.
I
guess I should have
anticipated the
series of questions
that would
follow. This
legal consulting work
is as interesting a
challenge as any I
have encountered in
my thirty year
nursing
career.
In a recent
conversation with
friends, we came to
the conclusion that
the world
economy is
little more than the
doctors, the lawyers
and the insurance
companies shuffling
and re-shuffling the
available currency;
and dealing
themselves in for a
healthy "commission"
upon each
exchange.
More
and more it seems
that we nurses are
there to see to it
that the patient
actually receives
some benefits from
a process that
used to be known as
the "Patient Health
Care System"; but is
now, more than ever,
referred to as the
"Health Care
Industry"----a
subtle, yet crucial,
distinction.
You've
probably heard the saying
that, "Nobody likes
lawyers, doctors or
insurance
companies...........till
you need them." So, perhaps
it makes sense, in a
twisted sort of way, for
the players in this
unpopular triangle to do
what they can to increase
our appreciation for
what they do.
Medically
based law suits are
increasing at
astronomical
rates. So are
the malpractice
insurance rates that
the doctors then pass
on to their patients.
Coincidentally the
insurance companies
then find it
necessary to raise
their rates to cover
the "rising cost of
health
care"........and
let's not even get
into the added costs
presented by the
murky world of
insurance fraud and
the litigation
involved
there.
There are
few
doctors,
though I suspect the number
will be on the rise, who
have any
legal
training.
The thinking used to be
that "you don't need to
understand a tort to remove
an appendix"........though
as it turns out, that is
now far from the
case.
There are
few
lawyers,
though this number must
also be on the increase,
who have any
medical
training.
Comparable thinking was:
"The only appendectomy I
need to concern myself with
is my own".......and as it
turns out again, nothing
could be further from
today's
experience.
Both of
these professionals, the
physician as well
as the
barrister, now
question their respective
schooling for paying
so little attention to each
other's
discipline.
Enter
the LEGAL NURSE
CONSULTANT whose job
is to translate all
the "medical-ese"
into terms which can
be understood by the
attorneys............for
either side of a
lawsuit.
The
Legal Nurse Consultant's
"translation" and
explanation must be a
totally objective review of
the facts of the
case-----totally
understandable
and usable to either
side of the
litigation.
Continued on
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