New to LNC

Specialties Legal

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My name is lkatsimpson and I live in Wilmington, North Carolina. I will be finishing my LNC course on Friday and cant wait to get started just need help in getting started in the right direction. I am not sure if I will need a DBA or just a business license. I have looked on the LNC locator at the AALNC site and tried to contact eight individuals near my area but got only 3 replies in 4 weeks. one person is no longer working as a LNC and the others responded once but not the second time. It has me pulling my hair out, I really want my new career adventure to succeed. I have worked on my business plan a great deal but I don't know how to build on my competition portion of the plan, especially if none of my "competition" will talk to me. When I found this group and how great they are in assisting others I was finally hopeful that I could get the info I needed. Some of the things I need to know are really specific to the people in my area, but since it appears most dont even use their LNC it might be an advantage to me. I have created by brochure, cover letter, resume/CV, and business cards (just don't have any of them printed yet but I will soon. I know that I will have to send out tons of mail and make tons of calls just to get my first case but I am prepared to work extremely hard to achieve my goals. I am a guest member on the AALNC site and once I am up and running I plan on becoming a full member. I have looked into a local chapter but I have not been able to find one. So many questions just running through my mind that at times it becomes overwhelming. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Also are there any apprenticeships that I could work with? I know that the CLNC course has them but I did not want to shell out that much money when I got a great education that was taught by a Lawyer on ed2go.com

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Specializes in Education, FP, LNC, Forensics, ED, OB.

Hello and welcome to the site. You will find a lot of information about how to promote your business/market here at allnurses.

In this forum, Legal Nursing, scroll to the bottom of the forum and you will see a couple of threads that contain information and answer many of your questions.

IMO? I see no reason for you to do an "apprenticeship". I highly suggest joining AALNC. Here is a link to FAQ from AALNC: FAQ's - American Association of Legal Nurse Consultants (AALNC) . I would purchase and use the AALNC textbook, Legal Nurse Consulting: Principles & Practice (latest edition) .

It could be there is not a local chapter anywhere near you and you could be the one who can get one started.

One question many RNs ask is about certification should one ever choose to become certified as a legal nurse. Be sure to check your state BON and what they recognize. Many, many BON only recognize the RN who has been certified with AALNC. Of course, right now, formal education and/or certification is not required to practice as a Legal Nurse Consultant in any state.

Sounds like you have a good start. If you have any specific questions/comments, please post again and we'll help you.

Good luck with your new career; we wish you well. And, hope to see you posting again here at allnurses.com.

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Completely agree with everything sirI said. Also, if you aren't on the AALNC online list, add that to your daily routine. Many good questions and answers being done there that we can't really do here. I think there's a link on the website, or email the president, Beth Zorn.

I've had most success meeting people and getting word of mouth, more than brochures and stuff that the secretaries just toss in the circular file. I drop by a few offices every couple of weeks, schmooze the secretaries/office managers, and have gotten cases and regular clients that way. I give them extras of my cards, and they pass them to others, and bingo! More cases.

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Specializes in Education, FP, LNC, Forensics, ED, OB.

Thank you, GrnTea.

I, too, agree with what she added, especially this part:

I've had most success meeting people and getting word of mouth

I also do luncheons or something similar for attorneys and their office personnel. This is a good way to just sit, talk, and get to know one another. Most of the time, we do not discuss work-related topics, just eat and gently interact. Of course, I leave brochures/advertising elements for my business. :)

The "word-of-mouth" and luncheons seem to work well for me in the past.

Again, look at the marketing thread at the bottom of the Legal Nursing forum here (and, AALNC) for some good advice.

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I am thinking about launching my career as a LNC. I went to the introductory for Vickie Milazzo and am looking at ego.com which is less expensive but doesn't seem to have the mentoring I think I need. I have been a nurse for 23plus years and almost 64yr of age. I want to work from home and in my current position I do reviews of providers and death review cases. So I think the LNC would be a great transition to further my career and knowledge. Please advise and/or give me your expert advice and experience within this field. I am not afraid of hard work! As you all know as nurses I do not believe any of us are afraid of hard work and being successful. Thank You for listening.

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Take the AALNC online webinars. Much more cost effective than VM or any of the other commercial vendors, and you can sit for the LNCC certification (the only one recognized by the ABNS). But as sirI says, there is no legal requirement to have any certification to hang out your shingle. Take the course work, read the heck out of the book, and then start shopping your expertise to attorneys-- that's the short form. Good luck! Stay in touch!

Oh, and you should immediately edit your post and your handle (and your avatar, if that's really your picture). You definitely need to be anonymous in this biz, and really, anywhere on AN.

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Specializes in Education, FP, LNC, Forensics, ED, OB.

Bronze, I agree you need to change your user id name if it is your real name and picture. Go to the help desk, submit 3 choices and the Administrators will priavately change your name. Here is the link to the help desk: https://allnurses.com/admin-help-desk/

Thank you, GrnTea.

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Hello! And welcome to the site!

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