By: Dominick L. Flarey, Ph.D., MBA, RN,CS, CNAA, FACHE, CCH -
Vita
Certified Specialist in Legal Nurse Consulting
(By the American College of Legal Nurse Consulting) E-Mail
INTRODUCTION: Welcome to the Legal Nurse Consulting Certificate Program offered by Canyon
College. You have made a wise decision to pursue study and acquire the knowledge and skills
needed to practice legal nurse consulting. This area of specialty practice is growing all the
time and many nurses are using their skills to practice full or part time in this area. Legal
Nurse Consulting is a very exciting and challenging practice specialty. I am sure you will be
pleased with our certificate program’s course of study. This course will surely prepare you to
begin your career as a Legal Nurse Consultant.
This certificate course is formatted for 90 contact hours of self-paced study. Upon completion
of the course, participants will be awarded the Certificate in Legal Nurse Consulting as well
as 6 semester hours of credit from the College. The
cost for the program is
$900.
This course is designed to be self-paced. An authoritative text is used and communication with
the course instructor is by email, telephone, fax, and/or US postal mail. Participants can
utilize all of any one of these vehicles to communicate with the instructor.
The course is presented in four (4) modules
(see optional 5th module).
Each module is outlined below, including content and reading assignments. Following the
completion of each module, the participant will take an examination. The examinations for
Modules 1, 2, and 3 are objective type exams. The examinations are accessed below. Following
the assignments for Module 4, the participant will select one case study for analysis. The
participant will write up an analysis of the case according to specific instructions provided
by the instructor. After successful completion of all four (4) Modules and the four examinations,
the participant will complete the program and receive the Certificate.
The certificate program is a self-paced, guided study course. Participants are given twelve
(12) months to complete the program. You may study at your own pace, and can progress through
the course as quickly as you like, or as paced as you like. Instructions for moving through the
course are provided below.
INSTRUCTOR CONTACT: you have many avenues of access to the course instructor. You may
contact the instructor anytime you have questions, would like clarification, etc. Your
interaction with the instructor is one-on-one and this is highly beneficial as you proceed
through the course. You may contact your instructor anytime you need to. Here are the instructor
contacts:
This course of study requires the use of a text book. The text for the
certificate program is: "Legal Nurse Consulting: Principles and Practice." You are required to
purchase this text on your own. It can easily be purchased directly from the American Association
of Legal Nurse Consultants. You can phone in your order, or visit their website and print the
order form for the text and mail your order in. The cost of the text book is $ 95.00 for members
of the American Association of Legal Nurse Consultants and $ 99.95 for non-members. A fee is
added for shipping.
Legal Nurse Consulting: Principles and Practice, Second Edition, edited by Patricia W. Iyer,
MSN, RN, LNCC. CRC Press, 2003. ISBN: 0849314186
American Association of Legal Nurse Consultants
401 N. Michigan Avenue
Chicago, IL 60611
Phone: Toll Free: 877-402-2562
Fax: 312-673-6655
Email: info@aalnc.org
Website: http://www.aalnc.org
Call and order your text book as soon as possible so that you can begin your course of study.
You will need the text to start your assignments.
ABOUT THE INSTRUCTOR:
Dominick L. Flarey, Ph.D., MBA, RN,CS, CNAA, FACHE - is President of Dominick L. Flarey
& Associates, a health care consulting firm, and The Center for Medical-Legal Consulting.
He has held positions as a certified nurse practitioner, associate administrator of patient
care, chief operating office and administrator in acute care hospitals. He is a faculty member
for Learning Tree University. He was an executive consultant to a national "big 6"
accounting firm’s health care practice and was a service line administrator and consultant for
case management for another national consulting firm. He holds a BSN, an MBA, and Doctorates in
nursing administration and management.
Dr. Flarey is certified in nursing administration advanced and as an adult nurse practitioner
by the American Nurses Association Credentialing Center. He is a board certified health care
executive by the American College of Healthcare Executives, and is a Fellow in the college. He
also holds national certification in managed care from the Professional Education Institute. He
is a Certified Medical-Legal Consultant.
He is editor-in-chief of JONA’s ( Journal of Nursing Administration) Healthcare Law, Ethics,
and Regulation. He is a member of the editorial boards of the Journal of Nursing Administration,
Seminars for Nurse Managers, Case Management: Managing the Process of Patient Care, and Nursing
Outcomes. He has authored over 50 published articles in peer-reviewed journals.
Dr. Flarey is editor/author of the book, "Redesigning Nursing Care Delivery: Transforming
Our Future," published by Lippincott/Raven publishers. He is also co-editor/author of the
following books by Aspen Publishers: "Reengineering Nursing and Health Care: The Handbook
for Organizational Transformation," winner of a 1995 AJN book of the year award, "The
Handbook of Nursing Case Management: Health Care Delivery in a World of Managed Care,"
"Case Studies in Case Management," "Health Care Outcomes: Collaborative,
Path-Based Approaches," and "Cardiovascular Outcomes: Collaborative, Path-Based
Approaches," and "Process-Centered Healthcare Organizations."
He lectures nationally on the topics of Case Management, Critical Pathways, Reengineering,
Redesign, Organizational Transformation, Managed Care, and Legal Issues in Health Care. He is
owner and president of his own consulting firm located in northeastern Ohio. He currently
practices as a medical-legal nurse consultant. He has consulted for numerous attorneys across
the country on medical and nursing malpractice cases, personal injury cases, product liability
cases, workers compensation cases, and has served as an expert witness in nursing malpractice
cases.
GRADING: Examinations for Modules 1, 2, and 3 are objective type exams. There are fifty
(50) questions on each exam. The grading scale is:
90 - 100 %
= A
80 - 89 %
= B
70 - 79 %
= C
60 - 69 %
= D
Below 60 %
= F
Grading for the Module 4 examination ( case analysis- written exam) is on a Pass/Fail basis.
GRADE REPORTS: every attempt will be made for the instructor to return to you your
percentage score and letter grade with in one week of receipt.
SUBMITTING EXAMS: examinations will be taken and submitted to the instructor through an
online exam. The link to the exam may be found in the electronic class-room. Prior approval must
be obtained to access each exam. Please contact the instructor to obtain the necessary security
access. Exams must be taken in the order of the modules, 1, 2, 3, and 4.
GETTING STARTED: as soon as your receive your textbook, you may begin your course of
study. Below is the syllabus with reading assignments. When you complete the reading assignments
for Module 1, and you have had any and all your questions answered by the instructor, you may go
ahead and take the examination for Module 1. When completed, submit it to the instructor and
begin your reading assignments for Module 2, and continue this way to completion of the entire
course.
Now, please take a few minutes and review the following. It provides a summary of the course
and the objectives for the entire Legal Nurse Consulting Certificate Program. Than, order your
textbook. If you have any preliminary questions or would like to speak to the instructor prior
to beginning your study, just contact him as provided above.
ON-LINE MESSAGE BOARD: Canyon College has provided an on-line message board for the
participants of this course. The message board is a vehicle whereby the instructor can post
news, current events, new findings related to the study content, etc. All currently enrolled
students may at any time post to the message board. This includes questions or information
related to the course and the course content. Once enrolled, you will receive directions for
accessing and using the message board.
CEU & CONTACT HOURS: our program has been approved for 90 contact hours of education
credit by the American College of Legal Nurse Consulting. After enrollment into the program,
students will receive futher information regarding obtaining the contact hours certificate.
CERTIFICATE COURSE SUMMARY: This course is a preparatory course for clinical practice
as a Legal Nurse Consultant and for preparation for national certification examinations offered
by various associations. Requirement for this certification course is state registration as a
Registered Nurse. This course is developed specifically for preparatory education for registered
nurses desiring to practice as a Legal Nurse Consultant. This course will prepare currently
practicing Legal Nurse Consultants to take one or more of the various certification examinations
in legal nurse consulting. It also provides practicing legal nurse consultants with a means to
gain new knowledge and review past knowledge gained through experience and education. This
certificate course also provides an excellent means to obtain an education credential in legal
nurse consulting and meet continuing education requirements for re-certification as a legal
nurse consultant.
This course is a comprehensive course and provides instruction/study on all of the major facets
of legal nurse consulting, including business principles and practices. The text book used in
the course is endorsed by the American Association of Legal Nurse Consultants.
This course is formatted as an on-line course offered by Canyon College. Students, once
registered, receive instructions for accessing the legal nurse consultant classroom. Here
students are provided with course reading assignments, course examinations, access to the
course instructor, and case studies for analysis. A required text book is used for this course.
This course is presented in four (4) modules (see below). Each module is 22.5 hours of
instruction. After completing the study requirements for each module, the student takes an
on-line examination which is submitted electronically or via fax to the instructor. A passing
score of 70% is required to continue with the next module. Students who do not receive a passing
score can re-take the module exams after reviewing the module materials again. The module four
(4) exam is an analysis of a case study. Here the student utilizes all of the knowledge gained
in the modules and writes a complete analysis of case study, as would be written for a client
attorney. This comprehensive exercise prepares students to practice legal nurse consulting as an
independent practitioner, or as an employee of a law firm or insurance firm.
When all four module examinations have been successfully completed with passing scores of 70%
or above, the student receives a certificate for Legal Nurse Consulting Certificate from Canyon
College.
Hours of Study/Instruction = 90 hours; 6 Semester credits
Overall Course Objectives:
To prepare registered nurses to enter the practice of Legal Nurse Consulting with sufficient
knowledge for practice at a standard required by the employment market.
To prepare registered nurses to practice in a variety of practice settings as a legal nurse
consultant including; medical and nursing malpractice, expert witness role, toxic torts,
product liability, insurance industry, law firms, health care related organizations, and as an
entrepreneurial legal nurse consultant.
To gain the knowledge and skills required to comprehensively analyze cases for attorney
clients, or other types of clients
To learn effective report writing skills and presentation skills for analyzed cases.
To understand and practice legal nurse consulting with regards to high ethics and adherence
to standards of practice
To prepare new legal nurse consultants to increase their body of knowledge related to the
practice of legal nurse consulting for personal and career growth.
To prepare registered nurses and practicing legal nurse consultants to successfully achieve
certification by examination.
To prepare legal nurse consultants to develop their own marketing plans for career and
business growth.
To provide legal nurse consultants with a college level credential for the practice of legal
nurse consulting.
MODULES
Module I – Content
Legal Theory
The Law, Standards of Care, & Liability Issues
Access to Medical Records
Discovery & Disclosure
Informed Consent
Treatment Decisions
Profession of Legal Nurse Consulting
The History & Evolution of Legal Nurse Consulting
Entry into Specialty Practice of Legal Nurse Consulting
Professionalism, Standards of Practice & Professional Performance
Certification
Ethical Theory and the Practice of Legal Nurse Consulting
Nursing Theory: Applications to Legal Nurse Consulting
Module II - Content
Legal Practice Areas
Evaluating Professional Negligence Cases
Elements of Triage
Nursing Home Litigation
Principles of Evaluating Personal Injury Cases
Common Mechanisms of Injury
Evaluating Product Liability Cases
Evaluating Toxic Tort Cases
Evaluating Forensic Cases
ERISA & HHO Litigation
Complex Litigation
The LNC as a Case Manager
Roles of the Legal Nurse Consultant
Practice within a Law Firm
Communication with Plaintiff Clients
Interacting with Defense Clients
Role of the LNC in the Insurance Industry
The LNC in Health Care Risk Management
Health Care Claims Analysis
Defense Medical Examinations
Module III - Content
Responsibilities of the Legal Nurse Consultant
Legal Writing
Medical Record Analysis
Literature Research
Report Preparation
Locating and Working with Expert Witnesses
The Legal Nurse Consultant as Expert Witness
The Liability Nurse Expert Witness
The Expert Fact Witness
The Life Care Planning Expert
Business Principles for the Nurse Expert Witness
Mediation, Settlement & Trial
Alternative Dispute Resolution
Preparation of Technical Demonstrative Evidence
Trial Preparation
The Trial Process
Business Principles
Starting a Business
Successful Marketing for the LNC
Growing a Business
Business Practices and Ethics
Module 4 – is the composite of sample case studies. These are posted in the LNC Classroom.
Please read, review and study all of the sample cases, in preparation for your Module 4 final
examination.
Examinations for Modules I, II, and III are multiple choice, 50 questions for each examination.
A passing score of 70% or above is required on all examinations.
Examination for Module IV is a written examination. Students select a case study from among
several provided. Students review the case and provide a full case analysis as they would as a
legal nurse consultant. Various skills of the legal nurse consultant are assessed in this
examination. Grading is based on a Pass/Fail score. Students who do not pass the case analysis
can select another case to write the examination on.
Examinations will be available on the website and can be taken online and submitted to the
instructor. This includes the module IV written examination. The instructor will also accept
examinations via fax if this is more acceptable to the student.
Module I – Content - Read pages 1 – 256 in the textbook
Legal Theory
The Law, Standards of Care, & Liability Issues
Access to Medical Records
Discovery & Disclosure
Informed Consent
Treatment Decisions
Profession of Legal Nurse Consulting
The History & Evolution of Legal Nurse Consulting
Entry into Specialty Practice of Legal Nurse Consulting
Professionalism, Standards of Practice & Professional Performance
Certification
Ethical Theory and the Practice of Legal Nurse Consulting
Nursing Theory: Applications to Legal Nurse Consulting
You are now ready to take the Module 1 exam.
Module II – Content – Read pages 259 – 673 in the textbook
Legal Practice Areas
Evaluating Professional Negligence Cases
Elements of Triage
Nursing Home Litigation
Principles of Evaluating Personal Injury Cases
Common Mechanisms of Injury
Evaluating Product Liability Cases
Evaluating Toxic Tort Cases
Evaluating Forensic Cases
ERISA & HHO Litigation
Complex Litigation
The LNC as a Case Manager
Roles of the Legal Nurse Consultant
Practice within a Law Firm
Communication with Plaintiff Clients
Interacting with Defense Clients
Role of the LNC in the Insurance Industry
The LNC in Health Care Risk Management
Health Care Claims Analysis
Defense Medical Examinations
You are now ready to take the Module 2 exam.
Module III – Content – Read pages 677-1074 in the textbook
Responsibilities of the Legal Nurse Consultant
Legal Writing
Medical Record Analysis
Literature Research
Report Preparation
Locating and Working with Expert Witnesses
The Legal Nurse Consultant as Expert Witness
The Liability Nurse Expert Witness
The Expert Fact Witness
The Life Care Planning Expert
Business Principles for the Nurse Expert Witness
Mediation, Settlement & Trial
Alternative Dispute Resolution
Preparation of Technical Demonstrative Evidence
Trial Preparation
The Trial Process
Business Principles
Starting a Business
Successful Marketing for the LNC
Growing a Business
Business Practices and Ethics
You are now ready to take the Module 3 exam.
After completing the Module 3 examination, please proceed to the sample cases posted in the
classroom. This is a composite of actual cases. You are to read, review and study them. This is
your preparation for the Module 4 ( final ) examination. The Module 4 exam is a short answer
exam. You will read, study and review the case posted for the module 4 exam. This is a real case
based on a gynecological surgery. You must read and study this case in order to complete the
module 4 exam. When you are ready for the module 4 exam, please notify me according to the
directions provided above.
The sample case studies can be found inside of the classroom by clicking on the link "assignments." You will note that there are seven (7) case studies. Each case study has its own link. Be sure to open up all seven and read/review them. The case study for the Module 4 examination is located by accessing the link "testing" inside of the classroom. You will note: "Module 4 Exam Case Study." Your module 4 examination is based on this case study. When you are ready to access the module 4 examination, please notify me in advance and we will program in your examination access.
