Elder Abuse Cases: How the Legal Nurse Consultant Can Help

Attorneys involved in litigating elder abuse cases may benefit from the help of a legal nurse consultant. Your ability to interpret medical records helps your clients investigate these types of elder abuse cases. Here is handy guide to elder abuse cases terms. Neglect as the foundation of elder abuse cases: when an elder does not…

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Analysis of Long Term Care Falls

My preparation for being a long term care expert witness When I first became interested in becoming a long term care expert witness, I knew that I had to have ample education, and that being able to prevent long term care falls was important. I already had lots of letters after my name. I had…

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Expert Witnesses: Supporting Your Nursing Opinion

long term care, nursing home records, long term care expert witness, nursing home expert witness, pat iyer, angie duke haynes, dana jolly, report writing, polish your writing skills

Expert witnesses need to provide an attorney with evidence to support their opinions. I am an independent legal nurse consultant with over a decade of experience who has reviewed dozens of expert cases and thousands of “behind the scenes” cases. I have provided deposition and trial testimony. Communicating this evidence of your opinion can be…

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“If you didn’t chart it you didn’t do it.” Part 1

physician looking at medical record

In the medical legal world, “if you didn’t chart it, you didn’t do it” engenders more fear in nurses than almost any other phrase as it is used to reiterate the importance of documentation. The phrase is also used to accuse nurses whose documentation is not complete. Incomplete documentation can dramatically affect a malpractice case.…

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Bed Entrapment: Killed by the Mattress

mattress entrapment

Bed entrapment may be fatal. What factors can lead to a patient being killed by a mattress? I worked on a case involving a man who strangely himself on a side rail. The staff left the facility for a fire drill. The man, who had bilateral wrist restraints, slid off the mattress and got his…

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12 Top Patient Falls Allegations

elderly man on crutches at risk for one of the patient falls

The analysis of nursing liability after a patient fall addresses whether there was a deviation from the standard of care. These are the most common allegations that nursing expert witnesses and plaintiff and defense attorneys should consider. Nursing liability surrounding a patient fall may fit into one or more of these allegations: Common Allegations in…

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Breaking Down the Nursing Home Chart

nursing home staff and patient

Nurses without long-term care experience may be very hesitant to review one of these cases due to their lack of knowledge of these industry specific records. Once you understand where important information is located within a nursing home chart you can use them to create your analysis of the matter. Minimum Data Set in a…

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