🧑⚕️Snapple Fact #1650: Surgeons that regularly play video games make 37% fewer errors. 🎮
🏥For more practical advice and evidence-based practices like this to keep healthcare safe… see your friendly, local certified legal nurse consultant! 🧑⚖️
⚖️Legal nurse consultants (LNCs) are registered nurses with specialized training in legal issues. They play an important role in preventing healthcare errors and lawsuits by providing preventative work and education to healthcare organizations and their staff.🧑🏫
Preventative work
LNCs can help healthcare organizations to prevent healthcare errors by:
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Conducting risk assessments to identify areas where errors are likely to occur.
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Developing and implementing policies and procedures to mitigate risk.
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Training staff on patient safety and risk management.
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Providing feedback on medical records and documentation.
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Assisting with root cause analysis investigations to identify and address the underlying causes of errors.
Education
LNCs can also help to educate healthcare organizations and their staff on how to prevent healthcare errors by:
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Providing training on specific topics such as documentation integrity, medication safety, infection control, and falls prevention.
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Giving presentations on patient safety and risk management.
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Developing and distributing educational materials.
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Mentoring staff and helping them to develop their skills in patient safety.
How LNCs can help to prevent lawsuits
In addition to preventing healthcare errors, LNCs can also help to prevent lawsuits by:
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Advising healthcare organizations on how to respond to complaints and allegations of malpractice.
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Preparing legal documents such as affidavits and expert witness reports.
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Providing expert testimony in court.
LNCs can play a valuable role in helping healthcare organizations to create a culture of safety and reduce the risk of healthcare errors and lawsuits. By providing preventative work and education, LNCs can help to ensure that patients receive the highest quality of care and that healthcare organizations are protected from liability.
With Special thanks to: Snapple, The Mario Brothers, and Disney Jr.’s Doc McStuffins.