Legal Nurse Consultant Certificate Program (Non-Credit)

Announcing Our New Entirely Online Program!

• Learn anytime, anywhere
• Over 30 hours of video instruction
• Work on an actual case and get a full review on your final case work
• Access all course materials, assignments, and videos from one site
• Interact with faculty and other students
• Approved for 71 hours of nursing CEUs
• Complete at your own pace
• 10 Extensive Modules to get you started working as an LNC
• Register today!

What is a Legal Nurse Consultant?
A Legal Nurse Consultant (LNC) is a Registered Nurse that works in the legal arena. An LNC offers advice on medical/legal matters in the following areas:

• Personal Injury
• Products Liability
• Medical Malpractice
• Risk Management
• Workers Compensation
• Criminal Cases
• Negligence Cases
• Insurance Law Issues
• Nursing Home Abuse
• Professional Regulation
• Toxic Torts
• Disciplinary Hearings
• Psychiatric Malpractice
• Healthcare Licensure
• Investigation

About the LNC Program

As the leading educational institution in Central Florida, UCF is proud to offer this program supported and produced by members of the Greater Orlando Chapter of the American Association of Legal Nurse Consultants.

UCF has been educating RNs who have a desire to learn about the specialty of legal nurse consulting for more than 6 years. The course instructors are attorneys and credentialed legal nurse consultants from the central Florida area. This is an “active” program in which you will be required to perform work outside of class time and submit your work product in order to complete the program.

*This program is Approved by the Florida Board of Nursing. CEUs are under provider #50-3656.

Topics of Study
The focus of this program is on Nursing sciences as opposed to paralegal studies.

• Business principles for the Legal Nurse Consultant.
• The most common practice areas of legal nurse consulting: professional negligence, personal injury and wrongful death.
• Theory and application of the litigation process.
• Review and analysis of actual cases.
• The legal nurse consultant roles as a legal team member and as an expert witness.

About UCF
The University of Central Florida, the 3rd largest university in the US, is a metropolitan research university with an enrollment of more than 53,000 students who attend classes on UCF's main campus and its 11 regional campuses located throughout Central Florida. Established in 1963, UCF has 12 colleges, including the newly established College of Medicine and College of Graduate Studies. Offering 225 degree programs, it has become an academic and research leader in numerous fields, such as optics, modeling and simulation, engineering and computer science, business administration, education, science, hospitality management and digital media and has granted more than 186,000 degrees in its 40 years of offering classes.

Course Objectives

At the completion of the course, you will receive 71* nursing continuing education contact hours that may be used toward state RN licensing renewal; and if applicable, credit toward renewal of the LNCC credential. By completing this LNC Certificate Program, you will be able to:

• Review medical records pertaining to a case and identify the 4 elements of negligence.
• Locate and select appropriate health care experts who are needed to testify on the strengths or weaknesses of the merits of a case.
• Draft written reports and chronologies for the lawyer, risk manager or claims manager.
• Identify what skills and efforts are necessary to become a successfully practicing legal nurse consultant in today’s market.
• Describe the various roles of the Legal Nurse Consultant in the work environment
• Identify the elements of negligence in a negligence action
• List the steps in the evolution of a lawsuit
• Analyze a negligence claim for merit and standard of care issues
• Develop a format for communicating case issues and findings
• Identify the laws that impact medical malpractice and nursing home negligence claims

*This program is Approved by the Florida Board of Nursing. CEUs are under provider #50-3656.

Requirements

The following 3 steps are required to complete the registration process, once complete you will be ready to begin the online program instantly.

If you have additional questions or need assistance for any of these steps, please contact our office for more information 407.882.0260 or legalnurse@ucf.edu

To register for the program, please click on the Registration tab.

Step 1: Admission requirements
During the online registration process, students are required to upload a professional resume and enter their RN license number for admission purposes. Please have these documents ready prior to online registration.

Students registering for this program must have an active RN license for 5 years or more.

Step 2: Textbook Requirement
Prior to beginning the online program, students will be required to purchase their own copy of the course textbook.

Legal Nurse Consulting Principles, 3rd Edition. 2010,
Edited by Ann M Peterson and Lynda Kopishke.
ISBN 978-1-4200-8951-6
Volume 1 only

Step 3: Computer System Requirements
You will need:

• a high speed Internet connection in order to view the streaming videos.
• Adobe Reader to view materials. Download for Free
• Adobe Flash Player latest version. Download for Free

Instructor & Guest Speaker Biographies

Joan K. Magnusson, BSN, RN, LHRM, LNCC
Ms. Magnusson is the owner of JKM Consulting, LLC. For the past 20 years, she has provided legal nurse consulting services to law firms throughout central Florida. Ms. Magnusson received her diploma in nursing from Orange Memorial Hospital School of Nursing and her Bachelor of Science in Nursing from Florida Southern College, graduating summa cum laude. She holds current Florida licenses as a Registered Nurse and a Health Care Risk Manager. Ms. Magnusson's clinical background includes experience in peri-operative nursing, nursing staff development/education, infection control/epidemiology, and hospital risk management. Ms. Magnusson is a charter member of the American Association of Legal Nurse Consultants (AALNC). She served on the national board of directors for five years, and was President during 1995-96. She was the founding president of the Greater Orlando Chapter of AALNC. From 1997-2001, Ms. Magnusson served as the Chairperson of the Board of Directors of the American Legal Nurse Consultant Certification Board (ALNCCB) and was integral in the development of the official nursing specialty certification for legal nurse consultants. The ALNCCB administers the only accredited certification program for legal nurse consulting and is a member organization of the American Board of Nursing Specialties.

Pamela Curren, BSN, RN, LNCC
Ms. Curren received her AA degree from University of Florida and her Bachelor of Science in Nursing from the Medical College of Georgia. She has practiced as a legal nurse consultant for 15 years and was among the first group of LNC’s to achieve certification in 1998. Initially, Ms. Curren worked in-house for a defense law firm and after nine years, she began an independent consulting business, Curren Consultants, Inc. She consults with law firms in Florida for both plaintiff and defense involving medical malpractice, personal injury and nursing home cases. Ms. Curren frequently lectures to paralegals and legal nurse consultants and provides in-service programs to nurses practicing in the clinical setting. Ms. Curren’s clinical nursing experience includes med-surg nursing and PCU, serving as the unit’s preceptor. She also worked as a home health nurse and a ship’s nurse, after which she worked in quality assurance for one of the larger hospital facilities in the Central Florida area. Her experience in quality assurance then led her into the legal nurse consulting arena. Ms. Curren is a member of the American Association of Legal Nurse Consultants and has been a very active member of the Greater Orlando Chapter of American Association of Legal Nurse Consultants (AALNC) since entering the field of legal nurse consulting. She has served on the Board of Directors and has served as the Chapter President for two separate terms. She remains active on the board, currently serving as the Treasurer.

Patricia Ann Bemis, RN CEN, is the president of the National Nurses in Business Association. She has held the position since 1999. She received the Great 100 Nurses award presented by the Florida Nurses Association in 2009 in the entrepreneur category. She is the author of the following books and columns: Self-Employed RN: Choices, Business Aspects, and Marketing strategies; Nurse Entrepreneurs: Tales of Nurses in Business; Emergency Nursing Bible (a peer-reviewed textbook); a regular column for RN Magazine on nurse entrepreneurship and one for The Medical-Legal News. Ms. Bemis has developed courses in RN Self-Employment, Emergency Nursing Review: ACE the CEN and Forensic Nursing as well as Legal Nurse Consulting: the Business Side.

Amy T. Dorman, BS, CLA, graduated from University of Central Florida with a bachelor's degree in legal studies and criminal justice. She is certified as a legal assistant by the National Association of Legal Assistants (NALA). Ms. Dorman has extensive litigation and trial experience in medical malpractice insurance defense, nursing home defense and life insurance disability cases since 1996. She has participated in over 20 trials in state and federal courts. Ms. Dorman currently works as a litigation paralegal with the firm of Quintairos, Prieto, Wood and Boyer, PA., Orlando, FL.

J. Chuck Ingram, Esquire, was admitted to the Florida Bar in 1982 and is admitted before the United States District Court, Middle District of Florida, and the United States Court of Appeals, Eleventh Circuit. He received his B.A. in 1979 from the University of South Florida and his J.D., with honors, in 1982 from Florida State University. While at Florida State University, he served as Articles and Notes Editor for the Florida State University Law Review 1980 -1981. He has served as Adjunct Faculty, Rollins College, 1992 -1993 and Valencia Community College, 1995.

Mr. Ingram's publications include: "And The Walls Came Tumbling Down: Applying Strict Liability to Real Property Improvements", published at 1 Products Liability: Commentary and Cases 8, January 1987; "The Subject of Money", Preparing for Trial, Desk Reference Manual, and "Trying the Medical Malpractice Claim", both published by National Education Network, 1993; "For All You Do, This Chart's For You," published in both the Florida Hospital News, February, 1994 and The Risk Writer, 1995; "Professional Liability Insurance," Insurance Law: Third Party Coverage in Florida (1997) "Ethics & Other Settlement Considerations," Personal Injury Settlements in Florida (1998) and "Current Issues in Nursing Liability," Nursing Law in Florida (1999), “Ethical Considerations” and “Trial of the Case - The Defense Perspective - Trying the Soft Tissue Injury Case in Florida (200) all published by National Business Institute. Seminar Presentation: “Trying the Soft Tissue Injury Case in Florida”, National Business Institute, 11/16/00. He is a member of the Orange County Bar Association, Defense Research Institute and Florida Defense Lawyers Association. Mr. Ingram is a Board Certified Civil Trial Lawyer, Florida Bar Board of Certification. E-mail address: jci@hei-law.com.

Scott R. McMillen, Esquire, principle attorney for the McMillen Law Firm, A Professional Association, received his Doctor of Law degree from Emory University in 1979. He is a a member of The Florida Bar and the State Bar of Georgia. He is rated "AV Preeminent - 5.0 out of 5" by the widely referred to Martindale-Hubbell Lawyer Directory. He has also been featured in Leading American Attorneys in the field of medical malpractice. Mr. McMillen is involved in numerous bar association activities. He has served as Chairman of the Judicial Nominating Commission for Florida's Fifth District Court of Appeals. He is a member of The American Bar Association; The Florida Bar Board of Governors; and the American Association for Justice (f/k/a Association of Trial Lawyers of America). Mr. McMillen is a frequent lecturer to other lawyers and to the medical profession about medical malpractice issues. He currently serves as the author of the monthly medical malpractice law column in the Journal of the Academy of Florida Trial Lawyers. With his attorney daughter, Allison McMillen, he co-authored a chapter in the Florida Medical Malpractice Handbook, Second Edition, published by the Florida Bar in 2009.

Chuck J. Meltz, Esquire, is with the defense law firm of Grower, Ketcham, Rutherford, Bronson, Eide & Telan, P.A.. His practice areas include: Medical Malpractice Defense; Accountants Malpractice Defense; and Dental Malpractice Defense. He was admitted to the bar in 1993 to the Florida and U.S. District Court, Middle District of Florida. He attended the law school at the University of Florida, J.D., and graduated in 1993. He is the member of the Florida Bar. Prior legal experience includes: Moot Court and Assistant State Attorney, 18 Judicial.

David Paul, of Paul and Perkins, P.A., graduated first in his class at Stetson University College of Law. In addition to academic honors, David won numerous national and regional trial competitions and was selected as the Best Advocate in the country in the ABA (American Bar Association) National Trial Competition. David began his career at a prominent Orlando law firm, defending health care facilities and other corporations. Currently, David represents individuals and families focusing on litigation and trial practice in serious personal injury and wrongful death cases, involving auto and trucking litigation, nursing home litigation, insurance bad faith litigation, and professional negligence cases.

Richard B. Schwamm, Esquire, managing partner of Haliczer Pettis & Schwamm’s Orlando office, focuses his practice in the areas of medical malpractice, personal injury, premises liability, wrongful death and commercial/corporate litigation. He earned Martindale-Hubbell’s top “AV” rating for his high professional and ethical standards. Mr. Schwamm received a bachelor’s degree in international relations area studies from Rollins College in Winter Park, FL, in 1988 and a law degree from Stetson University College of Law in Gulfport, FL, in 1991. He became a partner of the firm in 1999. Throughout his career, Mr. Schwamm has accepted responsibility as a “first chair trial lawyer” in the most complicated of legal matters in Florida courts. He frequently accepts invitations to lecture throughout Florida and the U.S. about numerous medical and legal issues, including catastrophic injury, medical malpractice, hospital law, patient confidentiality, advance directives, and patient complaints against healthcare providers before the Board of Medicine and Department of Health. In addition, he routinely provides lectures about general litigation topics, including the most advanced trial strategies and tactics, such as electronic courtroom presentations.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why is this program different from other Legal Nurse Consultant courses?
The UCF Legal Nurse Consultant program was designed and developed by experienced legal nurse consultants. The program focuses on the knowledge and skills in nursing sciences that are utilized in the legal arena, rather than focusing on paralegal skills. The program adheres to the American Association of Legal Nurse Consultants (AALNC) position statement pertaining to legal nurse consulting education and also adheres to AALNC’s position statement distinguishing the role of the legal nurse consultant from the role of the paralegal and legal assistant.

AALNC defines legal nurse consulting as a specialty practice of the nursing profession and supports obtaining knowledge of the legal system through various means including interacting with attorneys and attending seminars. However, AALNC believes that legal education is not a prerequisite to the practice of legal nurse consulting, but rather nursing education and clinical experience are the characteristics that make LNCs unique and valuable to the legal profession in select areas of law. On that basis, AALNC states legal nurse consulting education should be developed and presented as specialty nursing curricula by nurse educators in partnership with legal educators. AALNC’s position statements can be found on AALNC’s web site: www.aalnc.org

What type of certification will I obtain at the completion of the UCF Legal Nurse Consultant program?
At the completion of the course you will receive a Certificate of Completion, indicating you have completed the course. It does not indicate you are "Certified" as a Legal Nurse Consultant. The American Association of Legal Nurse Consultants (AALNC) requires that before you sit for the certification exam, you have at least 2000 hours experience working in the capacity of a Legal Nurse Consultant and a RN license. If you pass the 4 hour exam then you become Legal Nurse Consultant Certified. Being certified by AALNC is like any other sub-specialty of nursing: rehab nursing, ER nursing, Critical care nursing....it is reflective of your experience in that area of nursing. The LNC class at UCF teaches the basics of the legal nurse profession and is not a review course for the certification exam. In addition to the Certificate of Completion, 71 CEUs are also offered upon successful completion of the online program.

Beyond the online lesson modules, are there any other requirements such as papers, exams, etc.?
A major portion of the course involves answering post session test questions and preparation of written materials pertaining to a case study. Participants also must submit all written assignments by the final module in order to receive the certificate of completion and contact hours. 

Students are required to complete pre-reading assignments listed at the beginning of each module.  At the end of each module there will be a post-test, students must pass the post-test with a 70% or higher in order to continue to the next module.  There will also be a final case study that needs to be evaluated and requires research and analysis.  For the entire program, it is recommended that students spend at least 20 hours on pre-reading assignments, 30 hours on the online modules, and 20 hours on the final case study. 

Who will be teaching the LNC Program?
The course will be taught by professional legal nurse consultants who are experienced and credentialed, and by members of the legal and medical profession.

How do I know that legal nurse consulting is for me?
Successful legal nurse consultants possess several quality traits. As a nurse, he or she has had an extensive clinical experience. He or she is analytical, assertive, organized and efficient. The legal nurse consultant verbally communicates effectively, is skilled in professional writing and knows how to prioritize his or her work schedule.

Upon completion of UCF’s LNC Program, what do I receive?
At the completion of the online program, the student will receive a certificate of completion with 71 nursing contact hours [provider numbers to be provided by UCF's School of Nursing.]  As this is a non-credit, non-degree program students do not receive college credit for completing the online Legal Nurse Consulting course.

What is the difference between a certificate obtained from attending a LNC course and being certified?
The requirements for taking the certification exam have changed. An individual who receives a certificate after attending a LNC course reflects that individual successfully completed that specific course. Certification in a nursing specialty denotes that one has met specific practice criteria and passed an examination reflecting his or her knowledge in the field. The American Board of Nursing Specialties (ABNS) recognizes the LNCC as the credential for legal nurse consultants. The American Legal Nurse Consultant Certification Board (ALNCCB), which is part of AALNC, developed the criteria and exam for this certification. In order to take the certification exam, the nurse must have a current RN license, have a minimum of a bachelor’s degree or the equivalent of five years of experience as a registered nurse, and show evidence of 2,000 hours of legal nurse consultant experience within the past three years at the time of application.

Will the LNC program prepare me for the AALNC certification exam?
The course is designed specifically for registered nurses who are planning to enter the field or wish to enhance their skills and knowledge in this field. The course is not a preparatory course for the LNCC certification exam, but will enhance the practitioner’s knowledge in legal nurse consulting when he or she meets the eligibility criteria for application for the exam.

What do LNC’s earn?
The salaries and compensation of LNC’s vary depending on the practice setting, practice area and level of legal nurse consultant experience. AALNC has published a compensation survey for legal nurse consultants. For information contact: AALNC
4700 W. Lake Avenue, Glenview, IL 600025.
Toll free: 877/402-2562, Fax: 847/375-4777
Web site: http://www.aalnc.org, or Email: info@aalnc.org 

Will this LNC program guarantee job placement?
No. The program will provide the student with the basic knowledge and skills in legal nurse consulting that are considered desirable by most firms and agencies employing or contracting with legal nurse consultants in this area. The course provides an opportunity for the student to meet legal nurse consultants and attorneys who are practicing locally.  There is a module within the module that discusses business practices and focuses on networking and professional memberships that provides resources for employment.

When does the online course access expire?
You will have 1 year from the date of registration to complete the online program.