Thoughts for Success: The Smartest People Know What They Don’t Know

I mentor a lot of RNs interested in legal nurse consulting who fret about whether they practice in the right specialties or have enough nursing experience to be successful.

My third case was a brain-injured baby case and my specialty was ICU. My only obstetrical (OB) experience was in nursing school. In fact, OB was my least favorite subject. All I remembered about labor and delivery (L&D) was that it involved women in pain. Have I mentioned that my OB instructor’s name was Mrs. Pain (truly)?

So what did I do on that third case? Did I sign up to work L&D? Did I study an OB textbook? Did I go back to Mrs. Pain and apologize for not paying more attention? No, but I was smart enough to know what I didn’t know and requested help from an experienced OB nurse I respected. She became my first subcontractor.

While I didn’t initially plan to build a legal nurse consulting business beyond me and my expertise, this first subcontracting experience opened my eyes to how leveraging the time, energy and talents of other RNs could change my business overnight. I could take on a variety of cases from my attorney-clients and build a business that was bigger than me. And what a relief to know that I didn’t have to know everything and could still be successful.

I started my legal nurse consulting business with six years’ experience in one specialty. Even today, 37 years later, I’m not always the smartest person in the room. But, I do always know what I don’t know and I know when to call, email, Facebook or text for help.

What about you? How smart are you feeling today?

Success Is Yours,

P.S. Comment here and share if you’re smart enough to know what you don’t know.