Professionalism, Standards of Practice, and Standards of Professional Performance

doi:10.4324/9781439882580-10

ABSTRACT

Contents Objectives ................................................................................................................................. 84 Introduction .............................................................................................................................. 84 Deﬁ nition of a Professional ........................................................................................................85 Legal Nurse Consulting as a Specialty Practice of Nursing ......................................................... 86 Standards of Practice for LNCs ................................................................................................. 87

Th e Nursing Process as it Applies to Legal Nurse Consulting ............................................ 87 Summary ................................................................................................................................... 89 References ................................................................................................................................. 89 Test Questions ........................................................................................................................... 90

Objectives Identify the key elements that deﬁ ne a profession relative to nursing practice ◾ Discuss the relationship between the specialty practice of legal nurse consulting and the ◾ profession of nursing Deﬁ ne the nursing process as it applies to legal nurse consulting ◾ Deﬁ ne the Standards of Professional Performance as they apply to legal nurse consulting ◾ Explain by example how the legal nurse consultant (LNC) can apply the Standards of ◾ Practice to a typical case Explain by example how the LNC can apply the Standards of Professional Performance to ◾ consulting in the legal arena

Introduction How we deﬁ ne ourselves as a specialized area of nursing practice is the heart of what distinguishes LNCs from other nursing professionals. In order for attorneys, judges and juries, risk managers, insurance adjusters, health care providers, and the public to understand who we are and what we do, we must clearly deﬁ ne our practice and clarify our similarities and diﬀ erences with other nursing specialties. We are also obligated as professionals to deﬁ ne and ensure our ethics and quality of practice. In practice, our actions must meet criteria that can be measured. Standards provide that basis for practice accountability. Th e Scope and Standards of Practice were written by the American Association of Legal Nurse Consultants (AALNC) and published by the American Nurses Association (ANA) to meet these professional goals.