Comments on: What Does Your Email Really Say About You and Your Legal Nurse Consulting Business? – Part 1

By: Julie R. Gunn RN, CLNC

Julie R. Gunn RN, CLNC — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 19:49:04 +0000

The email spell check tip is one that should have been obvious. However, I am amazed at the number of emails I receive from professional individuals, including attorneys, containing HORRIFICALLY misspelled words. I wasn’t the best overall student in my class, but misspelled words have always stuck out to me like a sore thumb. Vickie is right! Emails containing misspelled words and/or improper grammatical structure tend to make me think a second time about the professionalism of the individual who prepared and sent the communication.
Personally, I love the automatic spell check feature within my email. However, some of the words we use are foreign to the feature. It is sometimes very funny to see the words that it interprets as errors and the alternative words it suggests for utilization. Therefore, even though I love the spell check feature, I don’t trust it implicitly.

By: Kathy Williams, RN,CLNC

Kathy Williams, RN,CLNC — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 19:45:56 +0000

I’m one of those people who’s still learning computers. I’m also antiquated because if I can’t find the sp ck button on a site, I’ll go to my paper dictionary to find the correct spelling & that’s bad, I miss words either from distractions or poor proof reading. (how very unprofessional, thanks Vickie)
I’m now taking my time to proof read & writing in word first, if I can’t find a spell ck button. (actually a suggestion from my husband, 6 months ago)
Please, adhere to Vickie’s “professional wisdom,” I will!
Oh, how professional & eloquent our email will be if we only take the time to find that button or go in Word and cut & paste! Thank you Vickie for caring & sharing that with us!

By: Diana Schmitt, RN, BSN, CLNC

Diana Schmitt, RN, BSN, CLNC — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 16:59:31 +0000

I joined a local writer's group shortly before I became a CLNC^® consultant. There are nurses who write very well, but many are like I was, good at charting but lousy at writing. In the last five years, my writing has improved. This writer's group has challenged and pushed me in writing endeavors whether it involved my marketing materials, newsletters, attorney letters, and even my success story recently published on the blog. Also very exciting, the writer's group challenged the participants to write a short story to be published in the national bestselling series, A Cup of Comfort. The facilitator of the writer's group (a retired English professor, published multiple times with novels and articles, and freelance editor) had her short story accepted...and mine was, also! To go from charting to getting published was a tremendous accomplishment for me. One suggestion that I would make for emails (this may be addressed next time in the blog) is for CLNC^® consultants to have a "signature" at the end of the email. It is frustrating for me when I have a need to mail an item to a subcontractor and there is no address or contact information in the email and I have to take the time to look it up. As CLNC^® consultants and comrades, sometimes we think that we don't have to be that professional with each other, only with attorney communications. But this is a mistake. We should be practicing these techniques in every communication so that when it is being sent to an attorney (or horror of horrors to Vickie), we need not be embarrassed for our own self or a fellow CLNC^® consultant. These tips are great Vickie. I didn't think to use the folder tip until the last case I worked on. The attorney literally sent me everything that he would email and everything that he received on the case clear until it settled. I made a folder in order to keep track of it.