May 2009 - LegalNurse.com

28May2009

Attention Certified Legal Nurse Consultants: the National Quality Forum Rejects CT Scan for Stroke Patients

Every Certified Legal Nurse Consultant knows that after a patient has a stroke, the care they receive in the first 3-4 hours is the most crucial. The type of stroke influences the treatment so proper recognition and diagnosis are essential. Despite this knowledge, the National Quality Forum (NQF) recently rejected a proposed guideline that would have called for a CT scan within 45 minutes of a patient presenting to the ED. Why is this important? The NQF sets the medical guidelines that are used by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to evaluate (and reimburse) hospitals. So, with no reimbursement, the likelihood of a patient getting a CT scan drops pretty dramatically.

27May2009

Something’s Rotten in China and in the U.S. – It’s Chinese Drywall

Homes across the U.S. are smelling like rotten eggs. There’s actually a deeper reason than a teenage boy’s socks. Depending upon the age and location of the home it may contain defective drywall. We’re all aware of the environmental problems and issues associated with China and its pollution, chemical spills and lead paint in children’s toys. But there are other ways that defective products can get into a home. One of which includes building or repairing the home with defective products (and the watchdog in this case is not the FDA)!

26May2009

Tom’s Tuesday Tech Tip: Microsoft® Automatic Updates – Take ’em or Leave ’em for Your Legal Nurse Business?

Any legal nurse consultant who owns a computer running the wonderful Windows operating system (OS), has, at some point been faced with the little pop-up that tells you something to the effect that “high-priority updates are available for your computer, would you like to download and install them now?” My answer is a whole-heartedly qualified “Yes! I sure would in certain situations.”

21May2009

Immediate Success for New Legal Nurse Consultant

I just got back from the Chicago CLNC 6-Day Certification Seminar and had to share the immediate success of one of my CLNC students. Watch this video from a brand new Certified Legal Nurse Consultant.

20May2009

Free Marketing and an Attitude of Gratitude Will Boost Your CLNC® Business

Every day at our Chicago CLNC® Certification Seminar, the housekeeper left a handwritten thank-you note on my pillow. With that little note, she received a pay raise. The money I was leaving for a tip doubled after that second note. Her simple act of gratitude for a small gratuity led to a larger gratuity.

19May2009

Tom’s Tuesday Tech Tip: Internet Explorer 8 – Must Have or Must Have-Not for Legal Nurse Consultants?

From the beginning – let me disclose a conflict of interest, I’m a Firefox user. I’ve flirted with Apple’s Safari but find it is too slow to render its pages, and it’s got the worst search function ever designed for looking for text on a web page (although it does tell you how many matches there are on a page). I’ve customized my Firefox browser to include my favorite blogs, news and RSS feeds and, even though it’s a little slow to open the first time you fire it up each day, I love the fact that I’m tuned in to the world every time I jump on the Net. It’s great the way I can do tabbed browsing, with a simple right-click opening pages from my Yahoo! searches in a new tab so I’m not clicking forward and back to get to my search results after a page pans out. It’s also cool to be able to look up forgotten passwords for websites that deleted my “cookies.”

18May2009

Saying Nothing Can Get You Everything as a Legal Nurse Consultant!

Sometimes silence really is golden. Any negotiating coach will tell you that in a situation where one party to a negotiation makes an offer or statement and a period of silence sets in, the first party to talk or break that silence loses the point. Silence can be uncomfortable when you are talking to attorneys about your legal nurse consulting services, so how do you pull that off?

13May2009

Black Box for Botox® – A Warning or Potential Legal Defense?

Last year, Botox, a medication containing Botulinum Toxin A, was routinely injected into over 2.5 million Americans and generated $1.3 billion in sales. All this despite reports that Botox could cause symptoms similar to botulism, loss of bladder control, blurred vision, trouble breathing, swallowing and talking (not because of the size of those lips). Certified Legal Nurse Consultants working for plaintiff and defense firms should be aware that on April 30, 2009, the FDA issued a statement that all botulinum toxin products (including Botox and Botox Cosmetic) carry a black box label warning as well as a risk evaluation and mitigation strategy (REMS).

12May2009

Tom’s Tuesday Tech Tip: Is the Internet Down or Is It Just Me?

Friday I came home from work, docked my computer, fired it up and went to check the movie times at the dollar theatre for my big date with Vickie. Firefox browser fired up – nothing. Opened up IE8 – nothing. Tried Safari – still nothing. Looked at the DSL modem and router – all seem fine (all das blinkenlights vas blinklen und flashen). My first reaction was that my end is working, it must be the Internet that is down.

11May2009

What Doesn’t Kill Us Makes Us Lucky to Be Certified Legal Nurse Consultants!

I recently mentored a CLNC^® consultant on how to help her attorney-client learn whether a plaintiff had been given Zimmer Duron Cup hip replacements (sales suspended due to high rates of failures) and I started looking at the sheer number of products that have placed us all at risk.

It’s just incredible. The diversity of recalls is amazing. Foods, products, supplements and, of course, implants – everything is out to get us. Think about it, we’ve learned that the peanut butter we pack for our children’s lunches is potentially contaminated with salmonella. The pistachios we sneak into the movie theatre may also be out to get us (more salmonella). The tuna sushi we snack on at happy hour elevates our mercury levels (I can always tell Tom the current temperature) and the “heart-healthy” salmon we eat for dinner is contaminated with PCBs (if it’s not wild Alaskan). When we microwave butter-flavored popcorn to enjoy with our Netflix movies on Sundays, we risk poisoning our family’s lungs. Even the red wine we drink to forget our other problems may have more contaminants than tap water. Take note for the future, even Poligrip and Fixodent (I’m not there yet) have been linked to peripheral nerve damage (so that’s what’s wrong with grandma!).

Month: May 2009