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Nurse Overcame “Professional Bradycardia” as a Certified Legal Nurse Consultant

April 28, 2010 in Attorney Relations, CLNC Consultant, Entrepreneurship, Legal Nurse Consultant, Legal Nurse Consulting, Marketing, Negotiation Strategies, Subcontracting, Success, Vickie Milazzo by Guest_Blogger | 8 comments

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

P.S. Comment if you would like to congratulate Larry on his CLNC® success and thank him for sharing how he overcame professional bradycardia.

Certified Legal Nurse Consultants Share How They Overcame Their Deepest Fears to Launch Their CLNC® Businesses – Part 1

January 13, 2010 in CLNC Consultant, Entrepreneurship, Legal Nurse Consultant, Legal Nurse Consulting, Marketing, Motivational, Success, Vickie Milazzo by Vickie | 3 comments

Read Part 2.

The CLNC® Pros share how they overcame their deepest fears about becoming Certified Legal Nurse Consultants. While each CLNC® consultant’s story is different, the overwhelming message from all is that it’s okay to feel the fear but success only comes by fully embracing it. I personally love what Eleanor Roosevelt said, “Do the thing you cannot. You must.”
 
▶ I wasn’t fearful of becoming a Certified Legal Nurse Consultant, rather I was excited about a career that challenged my intellect and pushed me beyond the traditional nursing boundaries. I enjoyed working with attorneys and found that I could really work my passion for educating those who didn’t understand the “world of long term care.” The fears came after I started to succeed.
 
After working part time as a CLNC® consultant for over two years, I was really feeling stretched. Each week, I was receiving 40 hours of work as a CLNC® consultant and still managing to hold down my full-time position as director of nursing (DON). In retrospect, I guess it must have shown, because my attorney-client called a meeting where he told me, “Suzanne, you have to make a decision…DON or CLNC® consultant!” Wow, this was the impetus I needed. Now, my fear was that I’d lose my attorney-client if I didn’t leave my full-time job. Needless to say, a few short months later, I hired a CLNC® subcontractor and became a full-time CLNC® consultant. It was interesting, because now, my fear became the loss of the “employer security blanket.” Now I was the employer and the employee!
 
The advice I give to RNs who want to become CLNC® consultants and to new CLNC® consultants, is to “embrace your fear.” Think about the fears you faced during nursing school. I think every RN can recall the first patient bedside they approached. That recollection brings a smile or a story to mind. All RNs conquered the fear of caring for their first patient.

Fast forward to the present; the prospect of facing something new, something challenging. When you acknowledge your fear, own it. It is only then that you can begin to change it, break it or turn it into power. That power will be the force that will allow you to face the challenges as you create your CLNC® success.
 
I thank the Lord and count my blessings each and every day for my family and life partner. It was my father who first encouraged me to become a Certified Legal Nurse Consultant and that encouragement, affirmation and reaffirmation has remained a steadfast force throughout my CLNC® career. My life partner has also stood by and worked alongside me each day. His stamina and spirit are another source of strength for me to lean on during the challenging times. Vickie’s mentoring, guidance and support has made a huge difference in my ability to manage my CLNC® business. I appreciate all of you!
 

Suzanne E. Arragg, RN, BSN, CDONA/LTC, CLNC
▶ I had a number of fears about becoming a Certified Legal Nurse Consultant. First, I was afraid that I would not get any business and not be able to support myself. Even after I started getting cases, it took me a while before I was willing to let go of my security blanket and stop doing the home care visits which guaranteed me a certain amount of income. I was also afraid of “being wrong.” I was hesitant at first to definitively give my opinion to my attorney-clients, for fear of “making a mistake.” I began to realize I needed to be more confident (or at least appear so!) by not being afraid to state my opinion and then stand by it without wavering.
 
After working at my CLNC® business for a year, I went to my second NACLNC® Conference. At that time, Vickie asked the group to step up to the plate and take the risks involved in being a full-time CLNC® consultant. I went to the microphone and stated in front of everyone that I was going to take that leap of faith. I went home from the NACLNC® Conference and stopped doing home care visits. I was scared, but just bit the bullet and went for it! I have never regretted that decision.
 
I would tell any RN considering legal nurse consulting that I have never regretted it and never looked back. There are some old clichés that come to mind. One is “feel the fear and do it anyway,” and the other is “no pain, no gain.” The fear and pain were equivalent. I wasn’t so scared of starting something new as I was of being on my own without a “lifeline.” Now, of course I view my CLNC® business as my lifeline. I advise any Certified Legal Nurse Consultant starting this business to push through the fear and the scary feelings, and really start working the business. I advise new CLNC® consultants not to let the details bog them down or allow them to become an excuse for not really working the business.
 
The people in my life were always supportive of my new CLNC® business. I was divorced at the time, but my adult daughters and my friends were supportive and encouraging. Many friends introduced me to attorneys or gave me names to call. I felt like everyone around me was cheering for me and wanted me to be successful. They listened to my frustrations, and encouraged me to continue. It helped tremendously to have that support system.
 

Dale Barnes, RN, MSN, PHN, CLNC
▶ My deepest fear about becoming a Certified Legal Nurse Consultant was whether or not I could sell myself to attorney-prospects and actually ask for the money I was worth.

Nurses are not used to being treated like professionals and getting out there and selling ourselves. We apply for a job in a hospital that is desperate to hire nurses and we stay at our 7-7 job day in and day out.

How can I go into an attorney’s office and tell him he cannot live without me? I found out that I can do it. I confronted my fears and found that the attorneys treat me like the professional I deserve to be treated as. They welcome me and they make me feel like my CLNC® services and I make a difference. We do!
 
I overcame my fears by talking to my colleagues. I spoke with a CLNC® Mentor who helped me realize that I had nothing to be afraid of and I could do anything I wanted to do. She even used Vickie’s encouragement I now live by; “I am a nurse and I can do anything.” My friends and family all told me I could do it. I had the personality to get the work and to be successful. And, I am!
 
The advice I have for my RN colleagues is, “Go for it! Don’t be afraid. We are worth every penny we charge and we can be as successful as we want to be.” Remember as Vickie says, “We Are Nurses and We Can Do Anything®!”
 

Nikki J. Chuml, RNC, FMC, PRN, CLNC
▶ I had no fear of becoming a Certified Legal Nurse Consultant prior to attending the Institute’s CLNC® 6-Day Certification Seminar eight years ago in Philadelphia. Before attending Vickie Milazzo Institute’s seminar, I found myself suffering from what I now term “professional bradycardia.” What I needed back then was a good old-fashioned high-voltage shock of professional excitement in order to throw me back into RSR (regular success rhythm). I received such a jolt during those six days. I had no fear after completing Vickie’s seminar.

No fear for me until I returned home from the Vickie Milazzo Institute seminar. But then as a brand-new CLNC® consultant, I became petrified just thinking about getting my first case. I thought to myself:

  • Can I do this?
  • Will I make a huge mistake that will cost someone millions of dollars?
  • Will I make a fool of myself?
  • Will I overlook something in the medical record that will turn out to be devastating to the client or to myself?
  • Will this new legal jargon that I just learned ever become second nature to me like medical jargon did a quarter century ago?

The more questions like these that I kept throwing at myself; the more I convinced myself that I was not cut out to be a Certified Legal Nurse Consultant and that I should have stayed in my secure little nursing cocoon as a night nursing supervisor.
Then a year and a half after becoming a Certified Legal Nurse Consultant, I finally sent out seven marketing packets and prayed to God that no attorney would call me. Instead several attorneys called me and I obtained my first case, then another and another. This all happened just two weeks after sending out my first seven marketing packets.

Looking back, I asked myself why I waited a year and a half. The answer was clear. It was fear; the fear of getting my first case. As I worked on those first three cases, it became crystal clear to me that Vickie had taught me well because after I completed those three cases the attorney said to me, “Larry, you should be charging more for work products like these.” It seemed to me, after hearing that type of comment from an attorney-client who I hardly knew, that Vickie not only trained me well but the training I received from Vickie stuck like glue in the recesses of my gray matter. It stuck because I found Vickie to be the best instructor ever in my entire nursing career – bar none. I learned a valuable lesson during that year and a half of petrification and the lesson I learned was, when you are trained by the best just Go Do It!
 
Now of course nothing in life is simple and when you inject dream squashers into the equation of doing something new it can be downright frustrating. You know what a dream squasher is; it’s a person or persons (they usually come in herds) who try to convince you that your new idea or goal to become something new (in my case to become a CLNC® consultant) will never amount to anything except disappointment. These squashers can be family, friends, peers and yes, even spouses believe it or not. But don’t let the dream squashers win. They are easily handled. You simply thank them for their point-of-view and concern, and then turn a deaf ear to the rest of the garbage they spew your way. Now that doesn’t mean you stop caring for them or associating with them or stop loving them, you simply turn them off when it comes to them trying to sap the energy and enthusiasm you feel for your new CLNC® endeavor. I think they do it because they see you as getting ahead and they don’t want to be left behind, thus the phrase, misery loves company. Thank goodness I didn’t let the dream squashers get to me. If only those dream squashers could meet the eight wonderful CLNC® subcontractors I have engaged to assist me in my business endeavors. If only those dream squashers could see us now.
 
Align yourself with the dream makers like Vickie and her fine organization, Vickie Milazzo Institute. It’s also amazing how fellow Certified Legal Nurse Consultants can become dream makers for you as well, if you take the time to get to know them and to see the huge wealth of nursing knowledge each one possesses. When you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change. Being a CLNC® consultant changes the way that you look at yourself, and when that happens the things you look at really begin to change. That’s how it worked for this old night tour nursing supervisor.
 
In closing, for you nurses out there who are suffering from “professional bradycardia” and are considering becoming a Certified Legal Nurse Consultant, I say, “Do It and Go for It!” I went for it eight years ago and it literally changed my professional life and my personal life forever and ever. I now enjoy life so much more and there is not a dream squasher in sight. Thank you Vickie for making all my dreams come true. Thank you Vickie for being you!
 

Lawrence H. Frace, RN, CLNC
▶ Job security was my deepest fear about changing careers to become a Certified Legal Nurse Consultant. How could I leave a job where I was guaranteed 36 hours a week (and a paycheck) to work for myself with no guarantee of any work or hours?
 
I had jury duty where I served on a trial for two days and I loved the legal process. I decided to see what was out there for jobs where I could use my nursing and work in some area of law. When I researched Vickie Milazzo Institute, I was hooked. I quickly realized that I wanted to learn from the pioneer of legal nurse consulting so I called and requested information about the program. The risk-free guarantee made me decide to “go for it” because if it wasn’t for me, I knew I had a full 6-month 100% guarantee to get my money back. From the beginning, I knew the CLNC® Certification Program was the right choice. Having support from my family meant a lot to me also. My husband told me that if this was something that I really wanted to do then I should go for it.
 
My advice is to listen to yourself and if this is something that you really want, then “go for it!” My husband and family were very supportive from the moment I started doing my research.
 

Dorene Goldstein, RNC, CLNC
 
Success Is Inside!
 
P.S. Comment and share how you overcame your deepest fears or congratulate these Certified Legal Nurse Consultants for going for their dreams.

How to Beat Exhaustion Syndrome

March 18, 2009 in Entrepreneurship, Inside Every Woman, Legal Nurse Consulting, Motivational, Self-Help, Vickie Milazzo by Vickie | 6 comments

When it’s your first time, everything is exciting. Sure you’re nervous, but that’s a good thing, like the way you feel waiting in line for a roller coaster. Your knees are knocking and you’re thinking “I don’t know if I really want to do this.” Then you go on the ride and squeal, “Wheee! That was fun! Let’s do it again.” When you first start a new business, a new quilt, a new marriage, even the little things are exciting (“Gosh that’s a great thimble, honey! Can I try it on?”). But how do you sustain such excitement for 3 years or 30 in your legal nurse consulting business, not to mention in your relationships with your attorney-clients and subcontractors?

My solution is a simple one. I am a voracious reader. My day is off if I don’t read something each morning and each night. 15 minutes of a nourishing book (not a newspaper or gossip rag) accompanied by a steaming cup of healthy green tea in a quiet environment renews me and energizes me for the day. At night, 15 minutes of any book accompanied by a glass of healthy red wine relaxes me and prepares me for a good night’s fooling around and sleep.

Managing my business and the 25 employees that go with it is challenging and potentially exhausting. There’s one of me and 25 of them – all with their sick children, flu season, bad hair days, bare midriffs (and that’s just the men). I know when you have problems you think they’re worse than anyone else’s, but when you’re the boss, they’re magnified 25 times and you get your own and your spouse’s too! I need renewal time to joyfully come back for more of this punishment day after day after day.

After those 15 morning minutes I can step into my office with a smile and the attitude of “Bring it on! I’m ready.” I’m a working CEO, so I have to get hauled out of bed (no, I don’t pop up like a piece of toast) at 4:00am to make time for my quiet time and exercise, and yes as strange as it sounds, it’s totally worth it. I choose to start my day for me, so that I can freely and happily give to everyone else what is demanded all day, every day. My day is never predictable. While I always start with a plan, the plan rarely plays out the way I designed it (nothing makes God laugh like plans). I once naively scheduled Pilates lessons at the end of the day. When I was paying for more no-show classes than classes I showed for, I faced the music and found an early morning yoga class instead. Now I rarely miss getting my om on.

You don’t expect the batteries in your kids’ toys to keep going forever without recharging. Don’t expect it of yourself. Revitalize your mind, body, emotions and spirit frequently, and you’ll find the energy abundantly available when you need it. Certified Legal Nurse Consultants who invest in renewal have the energy to enjoy the ride long after the carnival has left town. Believe me, your attorney-clients, your family, your friends and your spouse will see the difference a little renewal time can make. For more renewal ideas, read Inside Every Woman: Using the 10 Strengths You Didn’t Know You Had to Get the Career and Life You Want Now.

Whether you’re consulting part-time or full-time as a legal nurse consultant, you will love your legal nurse consulting business more if you start your day for you. Design it today to assure you’ll be here tomorrow.

Success Is Inside!

P.S. Comment and share how you renew yourself each day.

Master 14 New Unconventional CLNC® Strategies During the 2009 NACLNC® Conference in San Antonio

March 11, 2009 in CLNC Consultant, Entrepreneurship, Legal Nurse Consultant, Legal Nurse Consulting, NACLNC Association, Subcontracting, Vickie Milazzo by Vickie | 3 comments

Welcome all Certified Legal Nurse Consultants who have stormed San Antonio for the 2009 NACLNC® Conference. I hope you’re as excited as I am about our keynote speaker, Stedman Graham.

Since our Conference theme is Move Like a Maverick for Breakaway CLNC® Success here are some tips that will help you maneuver through the Conference like a maverick.

  1. Start Day 1 off with some fun. Don’t miss out on Texas-style mariachis at 7:00am on Thursday followed by my opening Move Like a Maverick for Breakaway CLNC® Success.
  2. 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.
  3. Limit checking your email and voicemail or calling home to just once a day.
  4. Be open to all the new recommendations so you can achieve bold CLNC® success with your legal nurse consulting business.
  5. 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.
  6. 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.
  7. Remember to sign up for your professional photo session while at the Conference to add to your legal nurse consulting website.
  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. Get outside the hotel and renew yourself. Take a brisk walk around the block. Visualize your CLNC® experience as you indulge in a massage or relax in a hot tub. Treat yourself to a fun memory – buy a Texas souvenir.
  14. Remember to put on your comfortable CLNC®Wear so everyone in San Antonio will know you are a Certified Legal Nurse Consultant.

Check back on March 16, 2009, when you can read my tips in Plan Your Moves After the 2009 NACLNC® Conference.

Success Is Inside!

P.S. The quickest and easiest way to find me is at the Vickie Milazzo Institute exhibit.

P.P.S. Please comment and let me know how you’re enjoying our Conference.

“Certified Legal Nurse Consulting Is Recession Proof. I’m Busier Than Ever!” – An Interview with Dale Barnes – Part 1

January 14, 2009 in Entrepreneurship, Financial, Legal Nurse Consulting, NACLNC Association, Scope of Practice, Vickie Milazzo by Vickie | 1 comment

Read Part 2. Read Part 3.

For the first time in my memory nurses are getting laid off in significant numbers. The deteriorating health of our economy is affecting almost every U.S. job – this includes nursing. But as I am hearing from the registered nurses I’ve trained, a career as a Certified Legal Nurse Consultant is a recession-proof choice.

My sincere gratitude to Dale Barnes, RN, MSN, PHN, CLNC for taking the time to talk with me about how the economy has affected the health of her CLNC® business. Dale has been a CLNC® consultant since 1999 and specializes in medical malpractice, bad faith insurance and general personal injury.


How is today’s economic climate affecting your CLNC® business?

Dale: Vickie, I’m here to tell you working with attorneys is recession proof. I’m busier than ever. Everything a CLNC® consultant does is related to medical issues and healthcare, and those cases are still pouring in. During a tough economy, some people look at a lawsuit as another revenue stream. So attorneys are busy. Even when I tell my attorney-client, “There’s no merit here,” I still get paid, plus it keeps nonmeritorious cases out of the system.


Are new attorneys approaching you?

Dale: Just last week a new attorney called and hired me as a legal nurse consultant for his bad faith insurance case. When people are financially strapped, an insurance claim becomes an asset. The claimant expects the insurance company to cover everything so when a claimant feels undercompensated or cheated, they call an attorney.


What other kinds of medical-related cases are you seeing?

Dale: Everything. I just finished a large home care defense case. A man’s wife had multiple sclerosis, and he was her sole caregiver, refusing to have anyone else in their house. Over the years, as his wife’s health deteriorated, the home care nurses noted that he was noncompliant with instructions for his wife’s care. He wouldn’t turn her every two hours, as directed, and she got one decubitus ulcer after another. She had a Foley catheter for a time and got a urinary tract infection. When she finally turned septic and died, the husband filed a suit, claiming that the wound care supplies the nurses used had caused her infection. This was off base, but the case went on and on. He was obviously trying to make a buck. I helped the defense put together a strong case, and the husband struck out.


You must have felt like a CLNC® champion on that case.

Dale: Absolutely. I had another case recently that involved using restraints on a hospital patient. The nurses had orders to use restraints but decided not to. The woman fell out of bed, suffered a subdural hematoma and died. A terrible situation, in which fault and liability are not clear.

So the types of cases run the gamut. I’ve had a number of motor vehicle accident cases. I have one attorney-client who does nothing but dog bites, and he sends me several cases every week. They take a long time to come to fruition, because the cases usually involve children, but this attorney’s business isn’t down one bit, and I’m still getting all of it.


Do you handle more cases for defense or plaintiff attorneys?

Dale: About equal. Whichever side I’m on, if I see a weakness, I tell my attorney-clients up front. And, as you teach, Vickie, we are saving our court systems time and money by keeping nonmeritorious cases out of court – another plus in a down economy.


Do you use a network of CLNC® consultants as subcontractors to help you with your busy caseload?

Dale: Yes. I use CLNC® consultants for two reasons: 1) to leverage my time during those periods when my caseload is just too much for me to handle, and 2) when I get a case that is out of my area of expertise. Being part of the National Alliance of Certified Legal Nurse Consultants is the best place to look for my CLNC® subcontractors.

Success Is Inside!



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