Do legal nurses testify in court against doctors?

Jolie, BSN · Apr 1, 2007

A nurse expert witness testifies as to the standards of nursing care in a particular case. A nurse is not an expert in medical care and can not testify regarding standards of medical care.

In 2004, the IL State Supreme Court ruled that physicians are likewise not qualified to testify as to nursing standards of care, since they are not nurses.

Columnist · Apr 1, 2007

A legal nurse consultant can testify in court as an expert witness, but generally, in malpractice litigation, this is limited to testimony in regard to standards of care for nursing practice and whether or not those standards were breached. This is to prove or disprove negligence on the part of the nurse in question. The nurse does not have the same training, education, and experiences as a physician and could not render an opinion against the physician standard of diagnosis and treatment. In this case, a medical expert would have to testify. There may be an exception to this in the case of an advanced nurse practitioner. They can testify as expert witnesses against physicians when the services provided by the physician were the same as those that could legally be provided by an advanced practice nurse. In courts the breach in the standard of care is proven through the expert witness testimony, and generally nurses are held to standards applicable to their specialty practice area and level of qualifications.

One of the roles of the LNC is to assist the attorney by screening and investigating potential cases for merit. The LNC briefly reviews the records and then gives a report to or communicates with the attorney as to his/her findings and opinions.

Agnus · Apr 12, 2007

It does not take a legal nurse consultant to be an expert witness. Anyone who qualifies as an expert within thier field may be called to testify.

If you are marketing yourself as an expert you may want to rethink your marketing. Generallly it is unwise and hurts your side to market yourself in this way. If you are a LNC who also testifys you should not market yourself as an expert.

Legal Nurse Consultants generally work benhind the scenes and do not usually testify. As long as they do not testify their work is not discoverable. However everything becomes discoverable if they testify. Also to testify as an expert you should be currently be working in the nursing speciality to which you are testifying.

LNC and testifying expert are not the same thing. Though one may do both occasionally.

Editorial Team / Admin · Jul 29, 2007

does a legal nurse's work extend to the courtroom for expert testimony against a doctor? or can they only testify against other nurses?
when the case first comes in, does the legal nurse give it a quick read to screen for possible malpractice and then pass it on to a doctor to verify or does the nurse tell the lawyer directly that there was malpractice and that the case should go forward?

wanted to address this.

point #1:

an rn is the only professional nurse who can testify as to sop/soc regarding other nurses. this is out of the physician sop.

the american association of legal nurse consultants (aalnc) has published an official statement regarding expert testimony in medical malpractice cases entitled, "position statement: providing expert nursing testimony". registered nurses possess specialized knowledge that physicians and other allied health care practitioners do not have in regards to nursing issues. therefore, licensed registered nurses are the only experts who should provide nursing-related testimony in medical malpractice cases. please read the statement in its entirety here.

point #2:

an lnc can review any case for merit and identify causation then render an expert opinion. but, only a physician can establish causation, therefore, the attorney must have an expert physician to testify as to causation during legal proceedings.