Comments on: What Every Certified Legal Nurse Consultant Should Avoid in Your Resume

By: Effie Pittman, RN, BSN, CLNC

Effie Pittman, RN, BSN, CLNC — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 15:57:58 +0000

Vickie,

This article was perfect at reminding me to focus on my USP. Your examples of how to articulate our USP was just what I needed. I am always thinking “USP”, but sometimes, I forget how to articulate it. I saved this article for reminding me, you explained it very well.

Thanks:)

By: Brian Brandser, RN, BSN, CCRN, CLNC

Brian Brandser, RN, BSN, CCRN, CLNC — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 08:03:18 +0000

Vickie:
Excellent article. About a month ago I was looking at the Washington State Trial Lawyer’s website and wrote down the names of some law firms that currently had needs. Not one law firm listed a need for a “legal nurse consultant or Certified Legal Nurse Consultant.” However, since I knew that these offices had needs that were not being met (for example, clerical work), I sent one attorney at a law firm in downtown Seattle an e-mail. At the end of the e-mail, I stated, “I also have a Spanish degree (B.A.).”
About two weeks later, I received an e-mail from a paralegal at that law firm (who I have never met or heard of) asking if I could represent its Spanish-speaking client at his IME. I recently did that and I’m grateful for the power of networking. I say thank you to that attorney for passing on my contact information to the paralegal.
My USP is the fact that I can speak Spanish (even though I’m Caucasian and from North Dakota originally!).

By: Diana Schmitt, RN, BSN, CLNC

Diana Schmitt, RN, BSN, CLNC — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 16:53:17 +0000

Developing my own USP was difficult for me. It seemed as if a barrier barred me from grasping onto what seemed to be obvious to others. This was very frustrating as I struggled to transform my nursing skills and newly acquired legal nurse consulting skills into services that would be interesting to attorneys. Everything seemed to be in place, but I did not stand out as a unique Certified Legal Nurse Consultant.

Early on, Vickie shared a strategy that helped me tremendously to develop my own USP. My problem was that I thought everyone else’s USP was more impressive than mine, more technical, more interesting, more whatever. I didn’t realize what this was doing to my fledgling business or my ability to be effective in my marketing. Fortunately, because I am a long-term care and rehabilitative nurse, I have a broad health care knowledge base which has served me extremely well with medical literature research. It did take time for me to understand how my nursing experience could benefit the target attorneys I was focusing on, but I didn’t give up. Thanks Vickie for those illustrations of excellent USP’s.