Yolanda: You’re welcome.

Vickie: Yolanda, what got you motivated to get into legal nurse consulting?

Yolanda: I worked with a woman at one of my jobs. She had gone to your class and she told me about it. She said, “You’d probably be good with this class. You’re detailed oriented. You should look into this.” So I looked up the LegalNurse.com website, looked into the information and checked on some classes to see what I could afford and do, as I had three kids at the time. I registered for a Las Vegas class in 2008.

Vickie: Hard to believe it’s that long ago. If you could go back to 2008, did you have any fears about getting started and if yes, how did you overcome those fears?

Yolanda: There’s always worry and fears of starting something new and starting your own business and doing your own thing. But I was able to get my business license. My husband had his own business so he knew how to get a business license. He set up my website and we had a friend who did business cards and brochures so he helped with that. With three kids, it was hard to manage my time, but I had to organize a little bit and figure out step-by-step what things I needed to do and what I could do. I sent out brochures, after we got those back.

Vickie: It’s always the busiest people that get the most done. Right?

Yolanda: Sometimes, yes.

Vickie: What I heard you saying, is that one of the ways you overcame that fear of getting started was being resourceful and tapping into people that could help you with your business. That’s a great strategy and, of course, just getting things done and doing things. The biggest way to overcome a fear is to just do something because when you start getting into it and you’re having fun with it, it’s like “Oh, this isn’t as bad as I thought it would be.” How did you get that first client, that first attorney?

Yolanda: After I had taken the Las Vegas class we were told that it might be a few weeks to get results. I don’t know if it’s sooner now, but it would take up to a few weeks to get those results back.

Vickie: Definitely sooner now because now they take it online.

Yolanda: So I had waited those weeks and I still hadn’t had a chance to look up to see if I passed the test and I got a call from an attorney in the town where I live. She asked me to review a case. After we got off the phone I was trying to think how did she get my info? It was through the NACLNC® Directory. So I thought I must have passed the test. I actually called and said, “Did I pass the test?” because I’m not a good test taker, but I had passed the test so that’s how she got my information, through the Directory.

Vickie: That’s great. For everybody listening, once you’re certified through LegalNurse.com, you’ll automatically be a member of the National Alliance of Certified Legal Nurse Consultants and one of the benefits, as Yolanda’s suggesting, is being listed in the Directory. It’s fun that that’s how you got your first attorney-client. What kind of cases do you handle?

Yolanda: I handle emergency room cases because I’ve been an emergency room nurse for more than 35 years. I do anything from missed myocardial infections, stroke, trauma, septic babies, psych and I did an insipidus delivery case. Anything that has to do with the ER is what I’m doing. It’s mostly plaintiff because that’s the calls I get. I do probably 20% defense and a rare IME (Independent medical examination).

Vickie: It’s not that you want to do more plaintiff than defense, it’s just where the opportunities are presenting.

Yolanda: Correct.

Vickie: I understand, as you said, that you’re doing primarily emergency cases. Do you ever do cases outside of the emergency department?

Yolanda:  I’ve done some car accidents. I’ve done a couple of police cases. I have a case coming up that is related to a man getting arrested and they (the police) broke his arm while they were putting him in cuffs, so it’s like what kind of care should he have had in jail? They didn’t necessarily want a corrections nurse, which I would have given them a referral for that, but they said I could do it. And another was a guy who was arrested, but he had crashed his car and they wanted me to decide if this guy had a head injury and if he should have gone to the ER or not. So some remote and strange things.

Vickie: Again for people listening, I think this is really good to see that you can work on medical malpractice cases involving your specialty, and depending on your expertise, you might get involved in criminal cases. You might get involved in personal injury types of cases, such as an auto accident. For example, if you deal with trauma victims, auto accidents are probably cases you’re quite comfortable with. It’s important to know that medical malpractice is not the only area that RNs are involved in. Do you have any favorite ways of obtaining attorney-clients?

Yolanda: My favorite way is going to attorney conventions. Because being a write-off, and being a mini-vacation, I try to schedule an extra day before or after just to have the downtime because you’re there for long hours for those conventions or conferences. I send out brochures and then I also advertise in expert witness directories.

Vickie: Do you exhibit at the legal conferences or do you attend and go to sessions?

Yolanda: I exhibit. I have my own table and swag.

Vickie: Very good. It’s one of my all-time favorite marketing strategies. It’s a great way to get yourself in front of a large amount of attorneys very quickly. Anytime one of the new Certified Legal Nurse Consultants tells me they don’t know a lot of attorneys, that’s one of the areas where I think they can get up to speed quickly and get to meet people fast. You mentioned that you serve as an expert witness. Again, for RN’s listening you can choose to work with these attorneys strictly behind the scenes or as Yolanda’s doing, you can testify on cases. What are some of the personal traits that you believe are really important to your success as an expert witness? I know you mentioned before we started the video, that you have three cases that are going to be going to trial soon. Obviously to be retained by attorneys on three cases going to trial, they must think you’re pretty good at what you’re doing. So tell me what do you think it takes to be successful.

Yolanda: I hope they think I’m pretty good at what I’m doing. But I do know the ER, so knowing your information is always good. You have to be motivated. Sometimes you’re more motivated than other times, but it’s interesting work when you’re reviewing a case. It’s like putting pieces of a puzzle together, figuring out did they do what they’re supposed to do or not. It helps me see what some nurses might be doing wrong and it helps me to be a better nurse on my own. I’m also detail-oriented, so things I might find in a chart that are like, “Well, look at this” it’ll dawn on me so I can bring that up to the attorney. What makes it hard sometimes is the attorney might just send you random information when you least expect it. And then I’ve got to keep a list of what they sent and when they sent it. So you actually have to keep track of everything that they’re sending you and when. Because they might ask you about it in a deposition.

Vickie: We talk about this in the CLNC Certification Program. Especially as an expert witness, if you’ve already submitted a report, for example, or had a deposition, and then after that event you get more information, now you might have a different opinion on something. So tracking that is very important. What do you love about your CLNC business?

Yolanda: Of course people like to be their own boss. I do too. I also scream at myself if I miss something. Nobody else knows about it, but I can scream at myself and then I listen to myself. It’s just nice also knowing I’ve talked to other CLNC consultants who do something different. Knowing all the different offshoots that other CLNC consultants do is really interesting and it keeps the it keeps the book open a little bit so I can see what I might want to do next.

Vickie: That’s fantastic. Can you give an example of something that another CLNC consultant is doing that you find inspirational or interesting?

Yolanda: There’s always working for a specific company like Dorene who does the elevator work. She works a lot with them. Somebody mentioned that working for the state or the Board of Nursing is another thing. Working for a private attorney is something where you’re reviewing multiple different types of cases and doing lots of different types of work to get that case going. There’s so much out there I can’t even mention it all.

Vickie: It’s really inspiring. You were at the conference this year and, in fact, spoke about emergency cases, so thank you very much. That’s always inspiring to me to see how different CLNC consultants are using their certification. For example, one of the speakers spoke about healthcare fraud. That’s just one tiny aspect of what CLNC consultants are doing, but that area itself is a huge issue. I know you’re still working in the emergency department and you’re also consulting. What’s different about being inside the healthcare system versus working independently with these attorneys?

Yolanda: Disciplining your time is a big thing. You’re juggling, “When do I work?” I work at night. “When do I sleep? When do I take a nap?” It’s a hard thing, but you’ve got to figure out when you’re able to get things done and keep on your timeline with the attorney. You have to get yourself motivated and I find it hard to get motivated sometimes, just having a day off. But it’s like, “I’ve got to get this work done” and once you start looking into a case it’s like, “Well this is really interesting” and you don’t want to end it. Sometimes you just have to make yourself do what you don’t want to do, knowing that another attorney may call you and they have another case coming and I’ve got to get on that schedule as well. So I need to get the stuff done.

Vickie: It’s kind of like going to the gym. Some mornings I just don’t feel like going, but I always say just getting there, that’s success. Then, once I’m there it’s like, “Oh, this feels good.” I think getting into your case work is very similar. Some days it’s like, “I’m not really wanting to do it” but once you get going, you get into it and you’re really having a great time. Yolanda what’s your definition of success?

Yolanda: I have a few definitions of success. Just getting things done and completing a project. Doing good things. Helping somebody out who isn’t able to help themselves out. Doing the best thing that I can and feeling good about what I do. Helping an attorney solve their mystery or just getting a compliment from an attorney is nice to have. And just getting something productive done.

Vickie: Thank you. That’s a fantastic definition. I wish you more success in your future. Thank you so much for joining me today.

Yolanda: Thank you.

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