How To Become A Legal Nurse Consultant: What It Is and Career Path

What is a legal nurse consultant and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

3 min read

Quoted expert

Kara Sump MSN, CNE

There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a legal nurse consultant. For example, did you know that they make an average of $34.42 an hour? That's $71,592 a year! Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 6% and produce 195,400 job opportunities across the U.S.

What general advice would you give to a legal nurse consultant?

Kara Sump MSN, CNE

Assistant Professor of Nursing, George Fox University

Some of this is driven already by practice location, specialty, and unions (if entering a unionized position). I would do your research about what to expect and come with an expectation that you should be able to negotiate a pay rate if you have some background such as previous practice as a CNA, Medication aide, LPN, or another medically related field that is translatable to the nursing practice role. You might consider what relevant job shadows or volunteer work you could do should you not have any of the above. Or perhaps, what previous experience do you have that speaks to teamwork, delegation, managing others, communications, or other essential functions of nursing and being able to articulate how this should afford you a higher wage. Other helpful things- being flexible with shift- nights/weekends, speaking another language and being able to get certified as an interpreter.

ScoreLegal Nurse ConsultantUS Average

Salary

5.6

Avg. Salary $71,592

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

10.0

Growth rate 6%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

6.3

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.44%

Asian 8.88%

Black or African American 12.03%

Hispanic or Latino 8.98%

Unknown 4.26%

White 65.41%

Gender

female 92.84%

male 7.16%

Age - 43

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 43

Stress level

10.0

Stress level is very high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

9.1

Complexity level is advanced

7 - challenging

Work life balance

7.8

Work life balance is good

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a legal nurse consultant

Explore legal nurse consultant education requirements

Most common legal nurse consultant degrees

Bachelor's

47.2 %

Associate

27.9 %

Master's

13.0 %

Start to develop specific legal nurse consultant skills

Skills	Percentages
Litigation	12.73%
Medical Malpractice Claims	9.19%
Trial Preparation	7.76%
Chart Review	5.93%
Law Firm	5.87%

Complete relevant legal nurse consultant training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 3-6 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New legal nurse consultants learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a legal nurse consultant based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real legal nurse consultant resumes.

Gain additional legal nurse consultant certifications

Legal nurse consultant certifications can show employers you have a baseline of knowledge expected for the position. Certifications can also make you a more competitive candidate. Even if employers don't require a specific legal nurse consultant certification, having one may help you stand out relative to other applicants.

The most common certifications for legal nurse consultants include Legal Nurse Consultant Certified (LNCC) and Certified Case Manager (ACM).

More About Certifications

Research legal nurse consultant duties and responsibilities

Manage all immunization and vaccination programs and ensure compliance to establish program guidelines.
Maintain a professional working relationship with hospital staff, physicians, manage care organizations, Medicare and Medicaid providers.
Perform pulmonary function, EKG and audiology testing.
Examine cases involving fraud and abuse of government-fund agencies, including Medicare and Medicaid.

Prepare your legal nurse consultant resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your legal nurse consultant resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a legal nurse consultant resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

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