National Alliance of Certified Legal Nurse Consultants

The 2011 NACLNC^® Eastern Caribbean Conference Cruise will be here before we know it. Whether you’re a veteran cruiser or a first-timer, I want all Certified Legal Nurse Consultants to have a good time and smooth sailing. Please pay special attention to these important instructions.

1. Make Sure You Have Your Passport to Fun! You and everyone in your party will need a current and valid passport not only to board the ship but to get back into the United States when we return. Conversely, if you meet an attorney in St. Thomas, you can jump ship, stay for a meeting, then fly back to the States later. Don’t worry if you don’t look like your photo now – you will by the end of the cruise and La Migra will let you back into the country anyway.
2. If You Want to Take Your Children and Bring Them Back, Make Sure They’re Papered. If you’re bringing a minor child and their last name differs from yours, you’ll need family legal documents allowing you to take the child out of the country, including a passport and possibly a notarized or certified copy of the child’s birth certificate. THIS IS IMPORTANT: You don’t want to find out that you have to leave your child unattended at the port for the week, or can’t bring him back into the country afterwards.
3. Here’s a Tip – Pay Your Tips in Advance. Your gratuities can be prepaid, and I’m sure you’ll want to because of the great service. There are recommended gratuities for the dining room waiter, assistant waiter and head waiter for bringing you plate after plate of delicious food. Then there’s your stateroom attendant who cleaned up after you all week. You can prepay in advance or just wait until the last night of the cruise to add the tips to your final bill.
4. Here’s Another Tip – All Drinks Have Tips Added In. Speaking of tipping, anytime you buy a drink for me or one of your CLNC^® colleagues, the ship will conveniently add a 15% gratuity. Plan ahead if you’re on a budget.
5. Leave Your Cash at Home Where It’s Safe. Cash is not accepted onboard. Instead, you’ll use your SeaPass^® card which functions as your ID, instant credit and cabin key.
6. Know Who You Are Before You Leave. The name on your cruise reservation must match the name on your passport or legal documentation. If it doesn’t, contact University at Sea^® at 800.422.0711 and fix it today.
7. Don’t Take a Pass on the Sodas or Wine. Buy your wine package ahead of time by calling 800.398.9819. This will keep you from having to wait in line once you’re onboard and you can spend your time doing more valuable things like tanning. If you want a fountain soda package, you’ll need to purchase it onboard, so if you don’t want to wait in line this would be a good time to quit your Coke^® habit.
8. Check-In Early to Save Time. Once all of the above is done, check in online at Royal Caribbean’s website using the “Before You Board” page just like you would an airline. If you haven’t done this yet, you can do it today and it will save time when you arrive at Port Canaveral. You do have to complete this no less than three days before sailing.
9. Don’t Miss the Boat. Be sure to get to the ship on time. It’s a lot easier to catch before it leaves the dock. I’m not kidding about this. If you need to, fly in the night before. You want to be sure you’re onboard when your ship sails! Consider trip insurance if you’re coming from a delay-prone airport. Also, Saturday, March 12th, Daylight Savings Time begins. Set your clocks forward one hour and make sure to set an alarm clock (you can’t rely on the hotel’s wake-up calls).
10. Travel Fast and Light. Carry a small bag onboard (meds, change of smart casual clothes and bathing suit) so you can start having fun the moment you get onboard and before your suitcase gets delivered to your room.
11. You Can Dress Them Up – But You Still Have to Take Them Out. We’d all like to see our man looking like James Bond in his tuxedo but to be honest, March of the Penguins was so last year. Formal nights aren’t as formal as they used to be. Men can get away with suits and ties and ladies can opt for cocktail dresses instead of formals. Or you can opt to go all the way. After all, when was the last time you got to do that?
12. You Can Blow Dry Your Hair But Not Iron It. When you’re dressing for formal night, keep in mind that that the ship will provide a hairdryer (low temperature) in your cabin but not an iron. Just hang the item in a steamy (but empty) shower for a few minutes.
13. Forget About the Dirty Laundry. You can have laundry done on the ship or you can just pack enough clean clothes so that you won’t need to do laundry. They can also press your clothes for a fee.
14. Disconnect – You Deserve It. Bring your cell phone, but don’t use it once we leave Port Canaveral. You may get a signal offshore but it will be at international roaming rates. Check with your cellular carrier for exceptions. For example, St. Thomas is billed by AT&T at regular U.S. rates, but if you use your AT&T phone while on the ship, even for email, you’ll be subject to maritime roaming costs (trust me it’s expensive!).
15. Really Disconnect – Email Can Wait Until You Get Home. You’ll have to buy your Internet access from the ship or else hit an Internet café while you’re in port. Better yet, rather than spending your port days checking email, let everyone know in advance that you’ll be on a week-long class-cation. They’ll understand. Give them and your family the ship’s emergency number of 888.724.7447 just in case a real emergency occurs.
16. Limit Your Duty-Free Purchases. Speaking of ports, cruise lines are pretty smart and won’t let you bring any alcohol onboard. If you buy duty-free alcohol while in a port, the ship will hold it and deliver it to you when you disembark. Then you’ll need to pack it in your luggage for the flight home. Better yet, don’t buy any – the extra couple of dollars you save won’t offset the dry-cleaning cost if a bottle breaks in your packed bags. Save your duty-free purchases for important things like jewelry and cheap souvenirs.
17. Give Yourself Some Credit. While you’re in port, they’ll be happy to take dollars, pennies, pounds or pesos. Major credit cards are also accepted with Visa and MasterCard a little more widely than American Express (but don’t leave home without it anyway).
18. Pack It So You Can Stuff It. Soft-sided or duffel-type luggage will fit in places hard luggage won’t. You’ll also need a small bag (same one you boarded with) for the last night of the cruise. On the last night, you must put your luggage outside leaving you with only a carry-off or small rolling bag for your essentials.

Success Is Onboard!

I am so enjoying all of your communications in anticipation of the 2011 NACLNC^® Conference cruise. I can’t wait to spend those seven days with all of you. Until we meet up on March 13th, here are 15 ideas for having the most fun possible on our cruise.

1. Be on the lookout for fun and games. Besides the usual suspects of Bingo and the casino, there are card games, scavenger hunts, late-night game shows in Studio B (not for children or the weak of heart) and other activities (like the rock-climbing wall) all day and practically all night if you want. Unless your sole ambition is to be the anchor-person in the tug of war, you’ll need to save some energy for the CLNC^® Beach Olympics.
2. But at the same time, RELAX. It’s more than an educational experience. It’s a cruise, a vacation and your chance to get away. If you try and do everything you’ll wear yourself out so save some time for just you! Plan on spending some time at the spa and treat yourself to a massage, facial or a mani-pedi.
3. Take some time out for a meal. Everyone jokes about how much food is available on a cruise ship, but do more than just eat. Your CLNC^® colleagues will be instantly recognizable by the pirate booty we’ll be passing out at Registration so every time you sit down for a meal look for a new networking opportunity. I know it’s fun to eat with your family, but while your spouse is climbing the rock wall and your children are surfing the FlowRider^®, take some time to make a new friend. Find another CLNC^® subcontractor or retie the connection with one of your classmates from the CLNC^® Certification Seminar.
4. Have some fun in the sun. Remember to pack plenty of sunscreen. You’ll need it every day. If you bring a big, floppy hat, make sure it has a chin-strap to keep it from blowing overboard when it blows off (and it will).
5. When it gets too hot (and it will), put yourself on ice – skates that is! There’s a great ice skating rink available and no better way to create a unique memory of the Caribbean than by ice skating hand-in-hand with your partner (or a new one) or just taking the time to perfect your triple axel.
6. Check out a sunset or a sunrise at sea. There are few things more beautiful than a sunset at sea. As an added bonus they’re free! Get out on deck either just before sunset or early in the morning (even if it means staying up all night).
7. Take a walk in the moonlight. If you’re out late, the period just after the late seating dinner is a terrific time to stroll the deck with someone special, a good friend or just by yourself. That’s when Tom and I will sneak up to the front of the ship and take turns doing the Titanic thing (he tends to hog).
8. Leave your inner introvert at home. With the exception of your CLNC^® colleagues, you’ll probably never, ever see your fellow travelers again so let yourself shine! If you can juggle jellyfish try out for the talent night. Find that dark karaoke bar and sing your lungs out or maybe even take that turn Dancing with the CLNC^® Stars at one of the many onboard clubs. You’ll probably find me in the hip-hop club bustin’ a move (or two). I’m glad I’ll be surrounded by nurses if I bust something else.
9. Anticipate smooth sailing, but prepare for heavy seas (not CLNC^® consultants). If you don’t know whether or not you suffer from sea-sickness make a stop at your local drugstore and stock up on Dramamine^®, Bonine^® or those small wristlets that activate your pressure-points. All work equally well. If in doubt you can also ask a friendly doc to prescribe one of the patches. Just a warning, the patch is known to make you groggy (But you’ll save money on drinks!).
10. When in port, explore more than the surf. On St. Thomas and St. Maarten, get out and explore the island before you hit the beach. You’ll have more than enough beach-time at Coco Cay in the Bahamas and, to most of us, beaches look the same everywhere (think about it, sand, crystal-blue water, palm trees and cabana boys in Speedos^®). Soak up some of the local traditions and culture first, then hit the beach where you can relax on the sand with one of those cold drinks with the little umbrellas. The memories will last longer than a tan and won’t itch like sand in your swimsuit.
11. Wear your souvenirs. Over fifty percent of cruisers buy souvenirs. I don’t know how many bedazzled starfishes you need, but t-shirts make great souvenirs. Plan on wearing  them on board and it’s less you have to pack. Of course, you may need to bring an extra fold-up bag to get all those dirty souvenir tees home (and maybe a haz-mat tag to keep TSA from searching your luggage).
12. Churn and burn! Let’s face it, you’re going to be eating more than you’re used to. You may even eat more than you’ve ever dreamed of (or maybe you have). For some reason, calories build up faster on a cruise ship than you can infiltrate an IV. Ameliorate some of the effects by taking a walk around the deck and skipping the elevators when moving between decks. If you’re serious about exercise there’s a great health club onboard so you can pump some iron for long-lasting calorie burn. But if you’re only going for the treadmill, why not breathe the fresh air on deck while you walk?
13. Hang up the phone and turn off the laptop. You can buy an hourly, wireless Internet pass once you get onboard to avoid international roaming charges on your laptop. That way you can update your Facebook status with all the fun you’re having and communicate with your attorney-clients. Keep your cell phone switched off or in “airplane mode” so as not to incur expensive international calling rates (except on St. Thomas (U.S. Virgin Islands)). Check with your carrier before you go to be sure you know what you’re getting into. I’m looking forward to seven days without my iPhone^® and email. Really, I really am.
14. Buy yourself a round, or two or three. I know some of you are so tough that you take your caffeine cold instead of warmed up and poured into a coffee cup. Soda bills can add up quickly onboard, especially if you’re traveling with children. Save yourself a few dollars by purchasing an all-you-can-drink soda plan before or after you board. Even though you’ll be surrounded by water, if you want bottled water you can buy a water package in advance too. Finally, if you like your wine (I do), you can purchase a wine plan in advance. My last information was that pricing varies with the quality of the swill so call Royal Caribbean at 800-555-WINO for pricing and wine options (just kidding, the number to call is 800.398.9819).
15. Don’t miss the special NACLNC^® Networking Events. We have a raft (no pun intended) of special events planned for you and you want to make sure you don’t schedule that massage with Rolando and his magic fingers during any one of them. Remember also that your family, cruise companions and cabin mates are invited to ALL of the networking functions. Look for me, your CLNC^® peers and the pirate flags.
    
    • Sunday, March 13 from 1:30pm-4:00pm – MANDATORY NACLNC^® Conference Registration. Go to the Conference Center on Deck 2 to sign in and collect your CLNC^® Pirate Booty. This will be the only registration day and if you miss it, you’ll end up walking the plank and won’t get to attend any of the extraordinary sessions or events listed below! Get registered early so you can be on deck when the ship sails at 4:00pm.
    • Every evening at 8:30pm – NACLNC^® Networking Dinners. Every evening starting at 8:30pm, join your fellow CLNC^® Pirates of the Caribbean in the Main Dining Room for late-seating dinner. We have a special section just for CLNC^® consultants, their guests and families. To make the most out of this unique opportunity, be sure to sit with someone new every evening. Nothing’s better than networking over dessert!
    • Monday, March 14 from 7:45am-3:00pm – CLNC^® Beach Party at Coco Cay. Find us on the beach at Coco Cay and join your CLNC^® shipmates and their travel companions for some quality beach time, sand in your swimsuit and an open air lunch in on Coco Cay. Then, from 10:00am-1:00pm, help make American Gladiator look like a kindergarten recess with our exclusive CLNC^® Beach Olympics. You can choose to play, participate, cheerlead or just heckle the amateur Olympians. CLNC^® consultants, families and friends of all ages are invited. We’ll have beach games for all skill levels (including total lack of skills). A fun time is guaranteed for the survivors and spectators.
    • Monday, March 14 7:30p-8:30pm – Captain’s Welcome Aboard Reception in Pharaoh’s Lounge and it’s formal night, so put on your tux, little black dress or something fancy so you can strut your CLNC^® stuff at our 8:30pm NACLNC^® Networking Dinner! After dinner if you want, hit the ship’s casino while we’re dressed and we’ll all look like extras from a James Bond movie!
    • Tuesday, March 15 from 7:45am-2:30pm – NACLNC^® Poolside Networking and Pickle Eating Contest. I’m just kidding about the pickles but serious about the networking. Join us anytime at poolside for some networking and tanning. Hang out with your CLNC^® colleagues and their guests for a few minutes, a few hours or the entire day. Just bring plenty of sunscreen and remember, this is the one time it’s okay to look like an iced wedding cake. One reminder, no Speedos^® are allowed (Sorry!).
    • Tuesday, March 15 at 3:00pm – Matinée Ice Show. Take a break from the poolside networking, slip on your jeans and join us in Studio B on Deck 3 at 3:00pm for a performance by the Freedom of the Seas ice skating team. Just like a hockey game, seats near the ice go quick so you’ll want to be on time for this “cool” show and find room in our special seating area (limited seating)!
    • Tuesday, March 15 from 7:15pm-8:15pm – Private NACLNC^® Welcome Reception. Get dressed for networking success and boogie back down to Studio B. If you’re not bringing your spouse (or they’ve already walked the plank), bring your cruising companions or cabin mates instead!
    • Friday, March 18 at 7:00pm – Special CLNC^® Night at the Arcadia Theatre. We’re turning the “dinner and a show” formula upside down. Before we go to dinner, we’ll enjoy one of the ship’s special shows with our own special CLNC^® consultant and guest-only seating section (limited seating). Join us on Deck 2 in the Arcadia Theatre at 7:00pm for what’s guaranteed to be the biggest show you’ll see that night! As an added bonus, it’s formal night again so we’ll all look pretty swell when we parade to dinner after our show. Heads are sure to turn when we enter the Main Dining Room. I’m sure you’ll want to be there.
    • Saturday, March 19 from 7:15pm-8:15pm – Private NACLNC^® Farewell Reception. It will be our last night on the ship and what better night for a farewell reception (funny how we worked that out)? Time to toss your shawl over your shoulder in your best mysterious woman manner (guys can wear mirrored sunglasses) and head back to Studio B for the last time to raise a farewell toast to all your new best CLNC^® friends. You’ll laugh, you’ll cry, you’ll have some hors d’oeurves and possibly a drink or two or three.

Finally, remember you’re not there just to have fun, you’re there for the premier educational and networking experience for legal nurse consultants. Yes, that means you do have to come to class but we’ve scheduled them for the last two days when we’re at sea so you’ll be tired of all the fun, ready to quit relaxing and yearning to sink your teeth into some great content.

Success Is On Board!

There I was nearly nine years ago, suffering from what I now refer to as “professional bradycardia.” I signed up for Vickie Milazzo Institute’s CLNC^® Certification Seminar and had my breath taken away! That 6-day seminar in 2000 was about to change my life forever and ever. However, at the time I only knew it was The Best program I had ever attended as a nurse, bar none!

It would be one and a half years later that I would have to wait for another positive breathless moment. It came after my first attorney-client gave me my first three cases, one right after the other, and then stated to me after paying his third retainer, “Larry, I just want to let you know that that you are not charging enough for these reports.” That was the icing on the cake. It made me realize that I could do this type of work and do it well, but thinking at the same time…well duh…I was trained by The Best! Based on that attorney’s advice and knowing that I was trained by the best, I substantially increased my hourly fee, never looked back and now never blink, shudder or stutter when I quote my fee to attorneys.

I was so excited that I picked up the phone and called Vickie Milazzo Institute in Houston. I asked if I could thank Vickie in person at the next CLNC^® 6-Day Certification Seminar in Philadelphia (my CLNC^® training ground). The answer came back, “yes,” and I found myself driving to Philadelphia in September 2002. I gave my little thank-you story with a microphone in front of me and I found myself breathless again, both from the fright of public speaking and from the reaction I received from the 300 nurses in attendance. I remember pinching myself and smiling from ear to ear on my drive home that day from Philadelphia.

I once again became breathless in March 2003 as I received the National Alliance of Certified Legal Nurse Consultants CLNC^® Success Story Award at the annual NACLNC^® Conference. Imagine, this old-as-dirt nurse, with average nursing skills, up on that huge stage with Vickie Milazzo in Orlando, Florida receiving such an award! It DID take my breath away and It DID FEEL GOOD!

One final breathless moment I would like to share, came very recently as I expanded my CLNC^® business to include nine subcontractors, all of whom are Certified Legal Nurse Consultants! I refer to my initiative as Peas in a Pod with the POD being my company who will act as the Point Of Distribution for casework to the Peas who are the CLNC^® subcontractors. We have bi-weekly group phone conferences and also stay connected by Pea Pod Ponderings, a weekly email sent by Larry Pea to the other Peas. All the Peas, each with their specific area of nursing expertise, makes the POD strong and unique, however what takes my breath away is the fact all the Peas are very, very special to me and as a POD, we are able to offer my attorney-clients over 225 years of nursing experience, guiding them as we journey through the medical records! Another breathtaking moment indeed will also be when the Peas collectively meet at the next NACLNC^® Conference!

Thank you Vickie for making me one SOB (Short Of Breath) Certified Legal Nurse Consultant!

Lawrence H. Frace, RN, CLNC

Many of you know I like to start each day with a cup of healthy green tea. I especially like to enjoy that first healthy cup of green tea while comfortably ensconced in the recliner in my bedroom, drinking tea and looking out to the silhouettes of the giant timber bamboo that surrounds our home reaching heights of easily 60 ft.

During the week I’m up at 4:00am and I love that the bamboo is one of the first things to greet me (second to Tom of course) as I sip my tea and before I’m off to the gym. I love to watch the gentle ballet of the bamboo as it sways in the wind. Even the slightest breeze will set it moving gracefully, dancing in the dawn light. A strong wind makes it look and sound like giant wind chimes and I love hearing the clacking of the stalks through the stillness.

This morning, I watched the swaying stalks and I started thinking about how much Certified Legal Nurse Consultants can learn from bamboo. Bamboo is unnaturally strong – just the way your CLNC^® business should be. It’s also flexible and will bend and flex a long way before breaking – just like your attorney-clients expect you to perform.

If its base grows weak and it begins to lean, it will rest against other bamboo and continue to grow, rather than become uprooted. A stand of bamboo supports each other just as CLNC^® consultants do when networking and subcontracting through the National Alliance of Certified Legal Nurse Consultants. There’s also safety in numbers as a forest of bamboo exhibits as it blocks the wildest wind. Rather than break in the face of a strong force, it bends and twists, reactively dealing with changes in weather and wind direction. After Hurricane Ike, Houston was covered with downed trees and broken tree limbs but almost no bamboo stalks lay in our yard. When was the last time you networked, collaborated and masterminded with three to five Certified Legal Nurse Consultants?

Though strong, bamboo is also thin and lightweight. It reminds us to keep our CLNC^® businesses fast and agile – not becoming lumbering dinosaurs or institutionalized like hospitals. Bamboo thrives by co-existing with other plants just like your CLNC^® business can thrive as you co-exist with other CLNC^® consultants in the National Alliance of Certified Legal Nurse Consultants Association. In my backyard, some stalks of my bamboo have grown taller than my house and do so by growing through a 50-year-old oak tree that separates my home from my neighbor’s. I like to think that each are helping support the other, like we all do in our legal nurse consulting businesses but I also remember that like businesses, are in competition. The bamboo is in competition with the oak for the water and nutrient resources in the ground. After more than 15 years, both seem to be doing quite well together.

Bamboo can also be used for many things. Once hollowed out, I’ve seen it used in the place of pipe. Its shoots can be eaten. An enterprising bird has created a nest at a location where four stalks come together high in the air (it seems a bit precarious to me). In Asia, I’ve seen bamboo used as construction scaffolding. How many other plants or trees can you use for that? In Hawaii, I’ve hiked through a bamboo forest that was so thick I almost needed a flashlight in mid-day to find my way along the trail. In Japan, bamboo is sometimes treated with reverence and there are entire parks dedicated to its beauty.

This morning, there was an unnatural stillness outside my windows. There was not even the slightest trace of a breeze and the bamboo looked like a still-life or black and white photo in the early light. I can’t wait to see what it looks like this evening.

Success Is Inside!

I have been a nurse almost 26 years, with 24 of those years working in critical care. For most of that time I loved what I did. However, the last six years have been fraught with increasing dissatisfaction with the nursing profession. I grew (in my old age!) intolerant of the toxic, disrespectful atmosphere of hospital nursing. I had increasingly grown tired of physicians, nursing administrators and hospital administrators minimizing my knowledge, experience and contributions. What else was there to do? This was it, right? But, Vickie’s ads for the Institute’s CLNC^® Certification Program caught my attention every month FOR YEARS. I thought, “That must be nice!”

In October 2007, I decided I had to make a move. I hated my job. However, due to circumstances resulting from my husband suffering a work accident, I was financially responsible for my family. I enrolled in Vickie Milazzo Institute’s 40-hour CLNC^® Certification Home-Study Program. My goal was to complete the program, and sit for my CLNC^® Certification Exam by December 2007. Viewing the DVDs, and following along with the textbook was like sitting in the auditorium of a live conference. While I didn’t achieve my goal of CLNC^® Certification in December, I did pass the CLNC^® Certification Exam on March 4, 2008. And two weeks later, I attended my first annual National Alliance of Certified Legal Nurse Consultants Conference.

I returned home from the conference energized and motivated and ready to build my CLNC^® business. But was I really? It was so comfortable to go back to what I knew – going nowhere in hospital nursing. Sure, I developed and mailed marketing folders, but contrary to what Vickie taught, I did not follow-up. In December 2008, I finally placed a follow-up call to an attorney to whom I had sent one of my marketing folders. We met for lunch the next week, and I left with a case. The attorney was a plaintiff attorney from an aggressive, successful firm. His specialty is construction accidents and products liability. I was a wreck. What the heck did I just agree to do? That same afternoon, I emailed questions to the Institute’s CLNC^® Mentors, re-read sections of my Core Curriculum for Legal Nurse Consulting^® textbook, and referred to the many real case reports included with the VIP CLNC^® Business System.

After emailing the attorney my completed report, he responded, “This is way more than I expected. We need to talk.” Again we met for lunch. He asked if I would “take control” of working to create a visual to use in court as demonstrative evidence of the client’s damages. “Absolutely!” I responded. On my ride home, my thoughts were, “Where do I start?” Then I remembered I had a business card from a medical illustrator vendor that exhibited at the NACLNC^® Conference. With a budget of essentially nothing, and a timeframe of just two weeks, I worked with a phenomenal team in Florida to create a 2D presentation of our client’s injuries. The presentation was used during the expert testimony portion early in the trial. On the evening of the fourth day, the defense offered a settlement of $4.5 million.

For the next four months, I continued to work for this attorney. His paralegal would email me that there was a case that needed to be picked up. I would develop the case, and, with great anticipation and excitement, wait for the next email. All the while, I was spending most of my time in a hospital position which exhausted me, both physically and mentally.

Vickie’s words resonated in my head: “Go all in.” Summer was approaching, and it was as good a time as any. I emailed my attorney-client, expressing my desire to consult on more medical-legal cases. He responded by asking me to come down for a meeting as he had “an idea that will work for both of us.” I met with the attorney-client, his paralegal and his secretary. He asked me to be his medical-legal coordinator. “Did you just make up this job title?” I asked. “Yep,” he chuckled.

I maintain a consultant status, but completely manage the medical issues of all the attorney’s cases. My most common CLNC^® services include reviewing medical records and developing chronologies, researching and defining alleged injuries, researching past medical history, calculating pain medication requirements post-injury, working with medical illustrators to create demonstrative evidence, writing comprehensive reports and assisting with discovery. I present possible defenses, and suggest the best expert witnesses. I speak with my attorney-clients at least monthly to just “check-in.” My attorney-clients love this! I also attend trials and depositions.

I took a leave of absence from my job at the hospital for the summer and have not gone back! I worked from the beach all summer! My time was totally my own – I could work at the crack of dawn or after midnight. My goal, by the end of 2009, was to bill $8,000.00 for one month. For December 2009, I billed for $10,000.00! And this was just part time!

I love what I do. I feel appreciated and part of a team again. My nursing knowledge is valued. Thank you, Vickie, for giving me the tools, support and encouragement to be a successful Certified Legal Nurse Consultant. As Vickie says, “We are nurses, and we can do anything!^®”

Guest Blogger Profile

Annmarie Johnson, RN, ASN, CLNC owns and operates Bucks Medical-Legal Consulting. She has been a nurse for 26 years, 24 specializing in critical care. Annmarie’s CLNC^® business specializes in construction accidents and products liability.

Take the Stage for Legendary CLNC^® Success. That’s right – take it. Don’t just wait for legendary success to happen to you.

You’re probably wondering: “Okay Vickie, how does someone just take what they want? Especially legendary success?” Easy. To have legendary success, you just have to be legendary. Likewise, to be legendary, you have to act legendary. So how do you act legendary?

First, ask yourself what would a CLNC^® legend look like?

How would they walk?
How would they talk to attorneys?
What would their marketing consist of?
What would their work product be?

And most importantly – what would you look like if you were a CLNC^® legend?
Even if to start, you’re only a legend in your own mind. Johnny Cash knew he was a legend long before anyone else knew.

Once you convince yourself that you’re a legend, and really believe it, you’ll find it easy to convince your attorney-prospects that you are indeed legendary. When you go to the attorney’s office, you’ll carry yourself with legendary confidence. You’ll stand apart from the crowd. Soon you’ll be walking out with more cases than you ever imagined.

People associate legendary with successful and so once attorneys perceive you as legendary, they assume you are successful and want you on their team. The more success you have, the more success you will have. That sounds unfair, but it’s true. Attorneys want to win so they want to hang with winners.

Once you’ve landed the attorney as a client, how do you prove that you are authentic – that you are indeed legendary? By being better today than you were yesterday. By being stronger and swifter each day. The same static behaviors day after day and year after year won’t cut it. Remember the definition of insanity? Doing the same behavior over and over again and expecting different results? To get different results, you need to change your behavior. In fact, just to get the same results year after year, you have to change your behavior.

That’s why I love what Geoff Colvin says in his book Talent Is Overrated.
His position is that high achievers are not just talented (i.e. have an inborn ability) – they might not be talented at all.

So what trumps talent? What separates highly successful entrepreneurs from the rest of the pack? Repetitive, focused and deliberate practice designed to specifically improve performance.

Now, if that sounds like hard work – it is. If you’ve ever watched American Idol or Dancing with the Stars you know it’s not always the most talented who advance. It’s the one who puts on the best show who wins. And to put on the best show requires repetitive, focused and deliberate practice.

Another distinction of people who are legendary – they are able to assess for themselves how they’re doing. They don’t need someone to watch over them or push them. You can only improve performance if you know what needs improving. That’s why honest and competent self-analysis is so important. You must act as though you’re on the outside looking in. You’re an active observer of your own actions.

We all know it’s easier to analyze someone else (like our spouse) than to analyze ourself. To analyze yourself objectively is truly a legendary quality. For example: if you’re about to interview with an attorney, you don’t just show up, you apply repetitive, focused and deliberate practice to make that interview the best one yet. Once in the interview, you need to be able to recognize if you’re off target and pull your act together swiftly. You must be able to self-analyze at the very moment something is going wrong, so you can rescue the situation. If you can’t competently self-analyze the situation, not only will you fail in that interview with that attorney, you’ll keep making the same mistakes over and over again in future interviews with other attorneys.

It’s no surprise that people who fail, fail often. And people who succeed, succeed often.

Practicing the answers to interview questions over and over is an important step to mastering your self-analysis skills. But, that only works if you’re practicing the correct responses. Repetitive, focused and deliberate practice is worthless if it’s the wrong practice. Practicing the same bad tennis swing over and over just produces more of a bad tennis swing. At first you need a tennis coach to straighten out your swing. And then you’ll be able to tell for yourself when your swing is off.

As Vince Lombardi said – “Practice doesn’t make perfect. Perfect practice makes perfect.” That’s why you must choose your mentors and advisors carefully. An inept coach doesn’t just fail to help you, they actually help you to fail.

I recently invested 8 months mentoring a woman at the Institute through repetitive, focused and deliberate practice on a job function I wanted her to master. I required her to do the job herself first. Then I gave her feedback so each time she was doing it more and more correctly. Sometimes we don’t know what we don’t know. That’s why the correct mentors are so important to the process of learning how to analyze yourself competently. And I didn’t just give her feedback. At first, I would ask her to tell me what she needed to do differently the next time. I wanted her to analyze herself, before I mentored her. My goal was – she would become me. In other words, it would be like Vickie was standing over her shoulder guiding her every step of the way. I wanted her to be able to assess herself in the same way I would assess her if I were standing there.

It was time consuming, and sometimes painful for both of us, but this investment has paid off in tens of thousands of dollars each year. She still occasionally looks over her shoulder to see if I’m there. And sometimes I am! But not to correct her, just to ask her how her day is going.

I challenge you to apply repetitive, focused and deliberate practice to key parts of your CLNC^® business (such as marketing, report writing or anything significant of your choosing). When you do, you’ll never be the same Certified Legal Nurse Consultant again. Hey! You might even become legendary. Any of you can, because after all, talent IS overrated.

Remember – We Are Nurses and We Can Do Anything^®!
Especially something easy like becoming legendary.

Success Is Inside!

Thanks to all the CLNC® consultants who attended the 2010 National Alliance of Certified Legal Nurse Consultants Conference in Nashville. I so loved hearing how much you learned from our speakers and keynote speaker, Genevieve Bos, editor of Pink magazine and seeing all you gained networking with your CLNC® peers. It was a blast partying with you and Captain “Tom” Sparrow on the river dinner cruise. But my favorite part was getting to talk with so many of you. I love hearing your CLNC® Success Stories and am so energized by them.

Vickie and Genevieve Bos

Enjoy the NACLNC^® Conference photo gallery and the memories it will bring as you Take the Stage for Legendary CLNC^® Success.

Thanks for helping to make the NACLNC^® Conference the amazing event that it was. I’ll see you next year at the 2011 NACLNC^® Conference. Can’t wait to cruise the Eastern Caribbean with you.

Success Is Inside!

My heartfelt gratitude and appreciation to all the Certified Legal Nurse Consultants who attended our successful 2010 NACLNC^® Conference in Nashville. Our sell-out gathering was a spectacular event, and I hope you all had as much fun as I did. It was great to see and talk with all of you again.

I’m sure you’ve already started to “Take the Stage” for more legendary success in your CLNC^® business. Here are just a few tips to get you started as you execute the new unconventional strategies that only CLNC^® legends know.

1. Based on what you learned at the 2010 NACLNC^® Conference, decide on one new CLNC^® service you will provide to every attorney-client. Offer to provide that new CLNC^® service the first time for a discounted rate to get them hooked.
2. Reconnect with your attorney-clients by sending a note to let them know you’ve attended the NACLNC^® Conference for additional education and to renew your CLNC^® Certification. Remind them that this is your way to better serve them and their clients.
3. Send a news release to your community newspaper announcing your completion of this advanced Certified Legal Nurse Consultant training and renewal of your CLNC^® Certification.
4. Commit now to review your 2010 NACLNC^® Conference textbook and all the meaningful notes you took. Listen to the audio recordings of the conference once a week, once a month and once a year after the conference. Repetition helps you integrate and implement the principles and strategies successfully. With each review, you will hear the information in a new way because you’ll be more experienced. Each time you listen, you’ll generate even better ideas. After each review, create three new action steps to propel your CLNC^® business to the next level.
5. Continue your success: mark your calendar and sign up now for the 2011 NACLNC^® Conference where you’ll Pirate Your Way to CLNC^® Success as a CLNC^® Consultant of the Caribbean.

Success Is Inside!

Welcome all Certified Legal Nurse Consultants who are taking the stage for legendary CLNC^® success in Nashville for the 2010 NACLNC^® Conference. I hope you’re as thrilled as I am about this year’s show-stopping performances by the CLNC^® Pros, keynote speaker, Genevieve Bos and Tom’s comedy.

Since our Conference theme is Take the Stage for Legendary CLNC^® Success, here are some tips that will help you discover the award-winning secrets to achieve legendary CLNC^® stardom.

1. Stay connected with me and your CLNC^® peers on Facebook throughout the NACLNC^® Conference. Share the sessions you’re loving, the restaurant you just discovered, a new idea for your CLNC^® business, etc.
2. Kick off Day 1 with my Opening Session, Take the Stage for Legendary CLNC^® Success followed by the NACLNC^® Top 10 with Tom Ziemba.
3. Turn off your cell phone, pager, chiming watch and any other stress-producer you’ve brought with you. This is not only a courtesy to your fellow CLNC^® peers, but also a courtesy to yourself, honoring all you’ve invested to be here. (No texting either.)
4. Limit checking your email, voicemail, text messages or calling home to just once a day. But, do visit me on Facebook throughout the day to network with your CLNC^® conference peers.
5. Be open to all the new recommendations so you can achieve legendary CLNC^® success with your legal nurse consulting business.
6. Meet and get to know two new CLNC^® consultants at each break and reception. Eat lunch and dinner each day with three CLNC^® consultants you don’t know. Sell your expertise to each other. You are each other’s best resources for future CLNC^® subcontractors and experts.
7. Practice positive masterminding. Connect with two other CLNC^® consultants and mastermind together at the end of the day. Each of you will process and apply information differently. Focus only on positive ideas for your CLNC^® business. By coming together, you’ll take home new strategies you wouldn’t think of alone.
8. Don’t miss a session. Go in positively knowing that a single idea can increase your profitability 1%, 5%, even 10% and more.
9. At each session, write down at least one action step you will take to grow your CLNC^® business.
10. Commit to learn one thing from each speaker. While every presentation is packed with useful information for you, the key is being in the right mindset to grab the ideas when they come your way. I once attended a seminar where only 5% of the information was interesting and fresh. But the ideas I got from that 5% added to the growth of my company by as much as 10%. Because I was committed to learning, my mind was ready when the “good stuff” was presented.
11. Take the information presented and create your own new ideas. My goal when I sit in on a session is to come up with ideas that are even better than any I get from the speaker. This mindset will help you achieve a unique CLNC^® business – not a look-alike imitation of someone else’s.
12. Take it easy. If you allow yourself to get frustrated about anything – an airport delay or the person sitting next to you – you’re the only one who will suffer. Stay loose. If you aren’t happy with the person sitting next to you, sit next to someone else in the next session or get up and move. Stay upbeat and attract positive energy.
13. Exercise daily – even for only 20 minutes. Take a brisk walk through the hotel (the Gaylord is like a small city) and renew yourself. Visualize your CLNC^® experience as you indulge in a massage or relax in a hot tub.
14. Treat yourself to the NACLNC^® river dinner cruise, Monday March 15 on the General Jackson to network in a new way.
15. Remember to put on your comfortable CLNC^®Wear so everyone in Nashville will know you are a Certified Legal Nurse Consultant.

Check back on March 17, 2010, when you can read my tips in How to Top the Charts After the 2010 NACLNC^® Conference.

Success Is Inside!

Here at Vickie Milazzo Institute we are counting the days until the 2010 National Alliance of Certified Legal Nurse Consultants (NACLNC^®) Conference in Nashville! I am so excited about the hotel (Gaylord Opryland Hotel) this year. Staying at the Gaylord is like being in your own city – 40-acres of fun galore, so you will not even have to leave the hotel. But in case you do, here are 20 legendary ways to experience Nashville.

1. Take a ride down the Honky Tonk Highway if you like country music and longnecks (and if you’ve never had a longneck, you should try one). Clubs like Tootsie’s Orchid Lounge (Patsy Cline, Willie Nelson and Kris Kristofferson all sang here), Legends Corner and Second Fiddle still host drop-in celebrity musicians and are great places to heat up a Spring evening.
2. Have a grand time at the Grand Ole Opry. There’s more to Opryland than just Hee-Haw. For more than 80 years, live radio shows have been broadcast every Friday and Saturday night from this grand home of country music. If you’re in town early for the Conference or choose to stay afterwards, this is a must-do. By the way – this isn’t the original home of the Opry – but more on that later!
3. Visit the “Home of 1,000 Hits.” Ever heard a song by Elvis, Roy Orbison or Dolly Parton? If so, there’s a good chance it was recorded at RCA Studio B on Music Row. Take some time to make a pilgrimage to a truly historic location.
4. Pay homage to the “Man in Black.” Stop by Johnny Cash’s grave and pay tribute to one of the greatest country music personalities and singers ever. Before you go, rent the movie Walk the Line and get a feel for the life and times of the legendary “Man in Black.” When you create your own CLNC^® legacy you’ll know what detours to avoid. His grave is really in Henderson but shoot, you’re this close already so why not go by?
5. Count the Elvis statues in downtown Nashville. I’m sure I didn’t see them all.
6. Do something truly off-beat and take a “Nash-Trash Tour” lead by the famous (or infamous) “Jugg Sisters.” You’ll take a large pink bus to where some of the most famous country singers have performed (including the Nashville jail), hear celebrity gossip, fun stories and generally laugh your way through the city.
7. Realize that you do know Jack – Daniels that is. Just 20 minutes outside Nashville is the Jack Daniel’s Distillery. It’s an extremely interesting, free tour and the grounds are just beautiful. But don’t expect any free samples because for some odd reason they built the distillery in a dry town (Lynchburg).
8. Stick around after Conference for St. Patrick’s Day and celebrate the 17th with a green beer after a trip to St. Patrick’s Catholic Church in east Nashville. The church dates from the late 1800s and is one of two “second empire”-style buildings in Nashville. If you don’t like old architecture – skip the church and go straight for a Guiness^® at Findley’s Irish Pub in the Opryland Hotel or any of the Irish pubs in Nashville.
9. Speaking of church, make time to visit Ryman Auditorium, also known as “The Mother Church of Country Music.” Built in 1881, this is the original home of the Grand Old Opry (1943-1974) and is filled with more memories than your great-grandmom’s attic. Check out the bronze statue of Minnie Pearl and look for the price tag on her hat.
10. Make some new friends. Nashville residents love visitors and are some of the most welcoming people I’ve ever met. Just remember when you order ice tea that swait tea means sweet tea and I do mean sweet, honey.
11. Take a drive to visit the Belle Meade Plantation. Dating from 1853, this is a Greek revival (What is it with Nashville and Greece?) mansion that was part of a 5,400-acre thoroughbred farm. The so-called “Queen of Tennessee Plantations” is a wonderful visit and the tour includes the Dunham’s station log cabin, plantation mansion itself, slave quarters, dairy and horse stables. The outside of the house still shows evidence of bullet holes from the Civil War.
12. Go celebrity spotting at the Loveless Cafe. This is sort of a pilgrimage because there’s a fairly good chance you might even see Elvis chowing down on their world famous biscuits and southern fried chicken. Leave your cholesterol outside, this is food to die for (or from). Buy yourself one of their “Praise the Lard and pass the biscuits” T-shirts. I promise you’ll have fun – clot my heart and hope to die.
13. Take a trip back in time and I mean waaaaay back. The centerpiece of Centennial Park is a recreation of the Greek Parthenon. Originally built for the 1897 Centennial Exposition, its features direct castings from the real Parthenon. There’s no Greek food but there is a great art collection (it’s Nashville’s art museum) and a 42-ft. tall statue of Athena, Greek goddess of wisdom. If you’re traveling with a culture snob, drop them here and then go have some honky tonk fun.
14. Eat at a Waffle House. It’s a Southern thang. They serve more than waffles but that’s the sole reason to go there. Elbow your way to the counter and sit between the sheriff and the deputys (Isn’t that Boss Hogg?). Don’t worry about your cholesterol and make sure you add a big scoop of whupped butter before you cover your waffles in syrup. If you don’t come home sticky, you didn’t fully immerse yourself in the experience.
15. Send your husband off for the day to see the statue of Sgt. Alvin York outside of the Tennessee State Capitol building. The World War I hero, Congressional Medal of Honor winner and Quaker hailed from Tennessee and may be its most famous resident. He lead an attack knocking out 32 machine guns, killing 28 German soldiers and capturing 132 more. As a side note, Gary Cooper won an Academy Award for Best Actor for his portrayal of Alvin York. See if your hubby can spot the statue’s anomaly.
16. Scream, yell and pound on the glass at a Nashville Predators ice hockey game. If you’ve never been to see ice hockey, it’s a whole lot of fun. My favorite seats are in the first row just to the right of either goal. The pucks come at you at over 100 mph and you can even count the teeth on the center when he gets slammed up against the glass! The original Broad Street Bullies, the Philadelphia Flyers are in Nashville on Tuesday the 16th and it’s sure to be a good game.
17. Visit the Country Music Hall of Fame. Walk through the history of country music. See some of the really cool memorabilia and marvel at all the things you’re sure to have never seen before (especially Elvis’ gold Cadillac). You can even burn your own CDs from the music choices and just have a whole lotta fun.
18. Set yourself on fire and see just how hot it can get in March, with fried chicken that is. Venture down to Prince’s Hot Chicken Shack at 123 Ewing Drive and try the mild, medium, hot or extra hot versions of their fried chicken. This is not for the faint of heart but if you like it spicy, this is THE place to go.
19. Join the line-dance at the Wildhorse Saloon. If you ever watched “The Wildhorse Saloon Dance Show” on the Nashville Network here’s your chance to do the Watermelon Crawl and pretend you’re on TV. Kick up your CLNC^® boots with some good country music and free dance lessons starting at 5:00pm most nights.
20. Take a walk around the Gaylord Opryland Hotel. You could spend a full day wandering around and still not see everything. Best of all, it’s all indoors. You can even cool your feet off in one of the many waterfalls (just don’t let me see you). There’s so much to do here you’ll have to set a reminder so that you don’t miss any one of our exciting NACLNC^® sessions!

As you set the stage for your Nashville excursions, remember to come prepared to keep up with the tempo for the 2010 NACLNC^® Conference.

• Come relaxed and ready to discover new ideas. The NACLNC^® Conference is much more fun when you’re rested, and you’ll learn so much more if you leave your stress behind.

• Pack energy bars, raw nuts and other healthy snacks to maintain your energy. That Jack Daniels buzz will wear off quickly.

• Bring plenty of business cards to exchange with the many new CLNC^® friends you’ll meet.

• Go online and print the NACLNC^® Conference textbook sessions you plan on attending after you receive the link in my March 10 email.

Have a great trip and be sure to read my blog on March 11, 2010 when I share how to Master Your Strategies for the 2010 NACLNC^® Conference.

Success Is Inside!