Easy Ways To Locate Other Medical Expert Witnesses

You're reviewing the medical records in a case as a Professional Legal Nurse Consultant (PLNC) and your attorney asks if you know if a physician expert witness. How do you find a physician expert witness? Simple - go to www.jurexdoctor.com. Here are some things to consider:

Get paid for your referral. Remember, there's no such thing as a free lunch. If you provide the name of a physician who serves as a medical expert witness, you should be paid a referral fee.

What is the amount of your referral fee? Depends upon the market, but you're generally looking anywhere from $250 - $1000. The case could not go forward without the medical expert witness, so what you bring to the table is absolutely essential.

When do you get paid? You should seek your referral fee as soon as possible. Send an invoice for the amount of the referral fee to the attorney. Attorneys are used to paying for this service. Your referral fee should not be contingent upon the ultimate outcome in the case. Remember your ethics and it should serve you in good stead.

Providing other medical expert witnesses is another service you, as a PLNC, can provide. This could be a valuable source of income for you and win-win for both you and the attorney.

Marketing Your PLNC Business Online

There are so many outlets to market your Professional Legal Nurse Consultant (PLNC) business online. Where do you start? Pick three tools and start using them.

1. Twitter: Easy to sign-up and get started immediately. But wait, you need a name so people can follow you. Use your company name, if it's easy to remember, or your name. Then, proceed to post relevant, useful tweets that are 140 characters or less. You must make your posts useful or people will stop following you.

2. Jurex Expert Directory: In today's environment, you need to be accessible via internet. Be sure you've created a profile in the Jurex Expert Directory so attorneys can find you. It's FREE with your PLNC certification and FREE with your PLNC certification renewal. Add your photo, download your resume and add your comments.

3. LinkedIn: Why not get on LinkedIn and start connecting and reconnecting with others? It's amazing how many people you can actually reach this way.

While there are lots of ways to reach people, start with just three. Dedicate even just a little time to these and watch your PLNC blossom.

Your Number One New Year's Resolution: Earn More Money in 2010

How do you make more money in 2010? As a nurse, you first get yourself certified as a Professional Legal Nurse Consultant (PLNC) and then you use cost-effective marketing tools to get yourself noticed and hired.

You don't need to spend a fortune to get your nurse expert witness certification. Take the Jurex PLNC Certification Course in 2 days (Four ways: Live Course, Audio Course, Video Course or E-Course) and you're already on your way. Next, included in any of the Jurex certification courses is your one year listing on the Jurex Expert Directory. Create your profile and you're ready. It's that simple to getting started.

Now, if you want to do more marketing of your PLNC services, you can get business cards, letterhead, envelopes and brochures customized for you in the Jurex Marketing Pack. Want extra help? Then, register for Mentoring. Would prefer to have everything you need in one package - then get the Get Certified & Go! Package.

Most importantly, get going on the road to success. Even a little effort should yield results. Your resolution is to earn more money in 2010 and that's fully attainable. Start now!

Time to Testify: Tidbits of the Trade

Testifying -- what do you think of? Sounds daunting, but testifying can be quite straightforward if you're prepared. Now, think of testifying as an expert witness. You probably feel a bit calmer because you'd be testifying about facts which already occurred.

Testifying Tidbits for Legal Nurse Consultants:
Nothing can substitute for being prepared. Reread the medical record you last looked at over a year ago. Read every entry because you don't know which entries you may be asked about. You're thinking, I'm the nursing expert not the medical expert so I'll skim over the physician's notes. Think again. While you may not be asked about the medical standard of care, you're expected to have reviewed the entire record.

Reread your notes. Sure, you put your notes into a final report, but if you still have your notes, you should reread them. Remember, you may be asked to produce your notes but these notes might help support your opinion.

Remain calm. Don't loose your cool. Remember, you're the expert. You didn't create the facts, you're just testifying about them.

Testify and move on. Just be sure to put yourself in the best position by doing your prep work first.

Thanksgiving - Time To Use Our Nursing Skills

Thanksgiving. This is time of the year when we give thanks for all that we have. As nurses, we have skills we can use in so many ways. How do we simply use these skills to help others as well as ourselves? We're probably good at helping others, it's the "ourselves" part that we probably need to work on.

The Thanksgiving List:

1. Make a list of five of your most unique nursing skills.
2. Make a list of five dreams, or goals, you have for your professional life.
3. Combine #1 and #2 above and see if they can somehow fit together.

Now, be determined to put your unique nursing skills to work so you can become more fulfilled. After all, the majority of your waking hours are spent working. So, you might as well be happy doing something(s) you enjoy doing. If not, it's time to broaden your horizons. Check out www.nursinglink.com for ideas to expand the nursing side of yourself.

Make the Most of Client Meetings

As a Professional Legal Nurse Consultant (PLNC), you may have to meet with clients for any number of reasons. Perhaps you are helping answer discovery or you are sitting in with the attorney on the initial consultation. Regardless of the reason, there are a number of ways you can make these meetings productive:

1. Plan ahead. Go into the meeting knowing its purpose. Make a list of questions you will ask the client. Bring pen and paper.

2. Eliminate distractions. Make it clear that you are not taking calls or visitors during the meeting.

3. Take good notes. In order to get something out of the meeting, you must take good notes. Plus, taking notes gives off the impression that you are smart.

4. Review your notes immediately after the meeting. By doing so, you can get a handle on the information you learned and decide what to do with it.

Meetings can be time-wasters if you don't use the time wisely. Remember, make the most of a few key meetings.

No Such Thing As Cold Calling: Handling the Phone Call

We all get a little unsettled when thinking about the possibility of "cold calling". In your Professional Legal Nurse Consulting practice, think about the different ways you could approach telephoning an attorney for medical records to review.

First, get organized. Try using a spreadsheet. Whether you use Excel or some other spreadsheet format, or write it out by hand, have a contact document organized as follows:
Column 1: Name (Attorney's name or law firm)
Column 2: Address
Column 3: Telephone number
Column 4: Description - make it brief
Column 5: Email address

Second, do a search about the attorney or law firm before you pick up the telephone. Go online and type in the name of the law firm or attorney in the search engine toolbar and see what you get. Cut and paste into your spreadsheet. Or, go to the library and look through an attorney directory.

Third, make the call. There's no time like the present, as it has been said. Now, the next time you make a phone call, think of it as warm calling instead of cold calling and soon it'll turn into hot calling. It gets easier and easier.