Legal Nurses be forewarned- here in Spokane (not the highest paid region of the country), an temp agency called "Provisional Staffing", just had an ad in Sunday's paper for a law firm, who was looking for an RN/LPN to read review medical records, be able to sort our issues with medical history for clients, etc. When I inquired about the job on Monday morning (9:30 AM), I was told that the job was already filled. I asked what the pay was, and I was told that the pay was $14- 16 an hour!!
Now, Legal Nurses, do you see a problem in the future if this agency decides to expand its Legal Nurse work force, and markets more to lawyers? Why would a law firm pay an independant contractor $100 + an hour to review medical records, research, if they can hire this agency to get nurses to work for $14- 16 an hour?
My educated guess, is that the person who got the job was not an experienced legal nurse, but a wannabe, who just wanted to use his/her nursing knowledge at an easier job than bedside nursing (this was a part-time in house position). This has cast a huge chill in my perception of continuing as an independant legal nurse, and the future of the profession.
Lawyers in Spokane are as cheap as the hospitals, and want experienced legal nurses with alot of clinical experience, but cringe at the thought of paying a professional wage for it. They think nothing of paying doctors to review cases for $300 and hour, but do not think that they should pay nurses a salary commensurate with the years of experience, expertise, and education, etc., that bring as much to their practice as doctors do.
Obviously, I will have to sit and watch, how this pans out. But I am not hopeful for the future of Legal Nursing. We are becoming a dime a dozen, and it is getting harder to get a decent amount of work. I am open to suggestion. I will be happy to send the ad to anyone who is interested in looking at it.
Lindarn, RN, BSN, CCRN
Spokane, Washington