Nurse consultants are registered nurses who have moved into consulting roles. In doing so, they offer their esteemed nursing experience and leadership skills in clinical, legal, industrial, and commercial organizations.
The roles of nurse consultants are varied as they can apply their expertise to enable the improvement of facilities in healthcare environments, take care of operations in organizations, research and analyze medical records, provide legal assistance in various environments, and generally make a difference in the operation of many types of organization. By assisting in multiple areas across an organization, the finances of such can be streamlined.
What Types of Roles Can a Nurse Consultant Perform?
With the medical fraternity facing huge challenges – staff shortages, aging populations, and an increase in chronic conditions – the need for top-end nursing staff has escalated, creating opportunities for nurses to specialize their careers and move into leadership roles. Qualifications for all sorts of specializations are available through online university courses. These types of courses enable nurses to study while working, and to reach heights in their careers that were often as available in the past. Very often, however, there is an overlap in the duties pertaining to the different roles, and defining the duties and skills of the individual nursing occupations can become quite confusing.
Nurse consultation, as it crosses so many types of expertise, cannot be easily defined, but it can be broken down into different aspects of the role: clinical knowledge, autonomy, leadership, and role development.
Nurse consultant disciplines are generally multi-dimensional and diverse by nature. However, there are many consistencies when comparing roles across countries and continents. In terms of differentiating the role from other types of nurses, consulting nurses are more likely to apply their expertise to the education and development of staff, leading, practice enhancement, and research compared to nurse practitioners, whose focus is more on patient care and wellbeing.
As discussed above, nursing consultation can take on various forms, but the main focuses are usually clinical, operational, or pertaining to legal or regulatory compliance.
1) Clinical Nurse Consultants
In healthcare settings, nurse consultants can be found in leadership roles, analyzing processes of the healthcare team, and introducing solutions and change to benefit the organization as a whole. They are called upon to evaluate the standards of practice and are instrumental in improving the quality of patient care. Nurse consultants can be found working in a variety of healthcare facilities, and they are often involved in the orientation and training of staff.
2) Operations Nurse Consultants
Responsible for running the operational aspects of healthcare institutions, these types of nurse consultants work closely with senior leaders of organizations, streamlining the financial and administrative functions. They will also oversee the human resources department in the organization.
3) Legal Nurse Consultants
Nurse consultants may act as mediators between healthcare organizations and lawyers. In legal matters that concern medical care, nurse consultants can offer their advice and expertise to help inform the discussions.
4) Regulatory and Compliance Nurse Consultants
A key aspect of the nurse consultant’s role can be assisting their organizations to avoid costly penalties, which can be brought about by non-compliance with various agencies such as governmental, regulatory bodies, or licensing bodies. Some of these penalties can also relate to the quality of care, patient safety, risk management, and quality of the organization’s processes. The nurse consultant may also provide training to other members of the organization, as well as sometimes conducting mock surveys and audits to improve the compliance of their organizations.
It is imperative to be aware of the regulations in place that are necessary to follow. Some of the knowledge of these things can come from advanced study. If you have a passion for nursing and a thirst for knowledge, you may be wondering how to become a nurse consultant. An online Masters of Science in Nursing (MSN) at Carson-Newman University will equip you with the skillset and qualifications that are necessary to move into this exciting and innovative area of nursing practice.
Key Types of Working Environments
One of the attractions of becoming a nurse consultant must surely be the numerous interesting options available to them in terms of working environments. Most nursing professionals have worked in a hospital or clinic at some stage in their careers, and there is still room for a practicing nurse consultant in this space. However, if a change of scenery is what the qualified consultant is seeking, there are many other interesting and challenging options.
Large legal firms, for example, usually have enough work to employ a full-time or part-time nurse consultant that will help to assist with their medical cases. This type of work can include
reviewing medical records, identifying and interviewing witnesses and medical personnel, consulting with medical experts, and preparing investigative material for trial. The impact of a nurse consultant is unprecedented; they can lend their expertise, save time, and even save money, benefitting the organization financially.
Medical insurance institutions employ nurse consultants to assist them with their risk-prevention strategies, conduct investigations, and consult with patients in order to evaluate their claims.
Large manufacturing companies employ nurse consultants to advise and educate claims staff on how to manage accident claims for injured workers under the Labor and Industries’ Industrial Insurance program. The nurse consultant recommends follow-up treatment for injured staff members and submits reports.
Occupational nurse consultants also work for the government in the Labor and Industries’ Industrial Insurance sector, formulating policies for patient treatment and compensation, and in evaluating methods of treatment. They assess and classify patients’ healthcare needs and recommend follow-up treatments as well as educate the staff in other areas of claims administration.
Nurse consultants can also be called on by universities and colleges to serve in an educational capacity. Particularly useful in this environment is their ability to develop education programs that will advance collaboration between interdisciplinary teams. Furthermore, they can offer counseling to medical and nursing students who are not sure where their skills lie or what the different healthcare specialties involve.
Community work is always a much-needed resource, and nursing consultants get involved in this side of the practice as well, whether it be on a part-time, charitable basis, or as a paid consultant. Advising community members on their options for medical care, giving financial advice, and assessing their medical needs go a long way toward helping communities in under-served areas or those who are in financial need.
Consultation with Legal Firms and Medical Insurance Companies
In a medical insurance environment, nurse consultants assist with the assessment of complicated insurance claims, maintaining legal compliance, and help to review medical laws and policies that are relevant to the client’s organization.
The nurse consultant’s role in legal and medical insurance companies includes the provision of risk methodologies that are well-suited to the client’s environment. They are also called upon to provide training and guidance to paralegals, attorneys, and claims assessors on medical jurisprudence and ethics, referring them to evidence-based recommendations where necessary.
Expert medical knowledge is invaluable when it comes to the investigation of and research into insurance claims, disability cases, and liability assessments in malpractice suits. Nurse consultants can interview potential witnesses and medical personnel, identify the particular medical practices that supplied services to the patient, and prepare letters requesting medical records. They organize medical records by analyzing and summarizing them in chronological order. They will then prepare the documents, tables, and graphs, in order for them to be presented to expert advisory panels, legal consultants, and courts of law.
The nurse consultant will liaise with medical experts where additional expertise is required and can also be called upon to testify in a court of law.
Consultation with Medical Organizations and Practices
When working in medical environments, nurse consultants make a valuable contribution in terms of the research and analysis of patient records. They liaise with medical insurance companies and assist with the assessment of liability of patient claims. They will then potentially assist patients with their medical claims and offer advice on medical insurance choices, further treatment options, and medications.
Medical doctors in private practices are often not able to cope with their huge workloads and call upon the nursing expertise provided by nurse practitioners and nurse consultants. In addition to medical assistance, nurse consultants can streamline their business practices by organizing records and ensuring that practice compliance is up to date.
In certain organizations, nurse consultants are often given the responsibility of employing staff and providing ongoing staff training.
In a healthcare environment, nurse consultants also use their medical knowledge to assist with the marketing of the organization. Public relations, customer care, and the reputation of the institution all benefit from the expert knowledge provided by a medical consultant. These aspects will each boost patient volumes, bump up potential profits and investment, and ultimately improve the financials of the facility.
Consultation Services for Corporations
Nurse consultants offer support to corporations and smaller businesses in the form of medical insurance advice, as well as health and wellness options. This advice may help to inform the company’s choice of employee benefits package.
Nurse consultants can team up with other disciplines and offer an Employee Assistance Program (EAP). This program is designed to help employees with issues such as substance abuse, financial and legal issues, domestic abuse, relationship issues, among others.
Aside from the legal aspects of medical claims and assistance with medical insurance options, nurse consultants can assist company employees with healthy eating plans and give advice regarding exercise regimes, particularly regarding occupational health issues.
Healthy and happy employees means that less time is taken off for sick leave, thereby increasing workplace productivity and morale, and often decreasing company-wide stress.
Ultimately, the benefits are reflected in improved employee retention statistics and in the continuity of knowledge and skills within the company. It is more financially beneficial to have happier employees, and high levels of retention, therefore meaning that the impact of a nurse consultant can amount to huge savings across a business or organization.
The Financial Impact of Employing Nurse Consultants
We have established that nurse consultants are many things to many people. They use their expertise on a clinical level, in leadership roles, in the creation of and adherence to policies, and in the improvement of healthcare facilities. In all of these roles, nurse consultants have a huge effect on the organization as a whole, streamlining the processes, benefiting customers (and patients), and improving the financial outlook of said organization. By being more equipped and efficient, an organization can save money in many areas of its operations, and therefore have more room in the budget for possible expansion.
Nurse consultants assess and manage the needs of medical facilities in terms of equipment procurement, staff contingent, medical consumables, staff and patient meals, and much more, ensuring the best possible effect on costs with as little waste as possible.
They analyze and evaluate medical records to determine the relevance of medical claims against clinical establishments or individuals, thus having an impact on the amounts claimed and, in some circumstances, the success of legal cases.
In a clinical environment, nurse consultants collaborate with medical insurance consultants to confirm that the medical costs incurred by the patient were relevant and reflective of the treatment provided.
Regulatory nurse consultants manage their organizations’ compliance with government and state regulations at all times, thus avoiding expensive penalties and, in some circumstances, the cancellation of licenses. Compliance with regulations also ensures the safety of staff, patients, and contractors.
Nurse consultants work with governmental institutions, such as Medicare, and in medical insurance, assessing claims and determining whether costs incurred were relevant to the treatment received by the patient. They may also consult with patients to determine their best option for treatment, saving costs while advocating for the best care available.
Nurse consultants can also be found working in homes for the elderly, giving advice on life-care plans, and administering the daily running of the home. They assess the needs of the establishment by evaluating the equipment and consumables in use and managing the costs and procurement thereof.
They provide medical consultation and research services to lawyers, physicians, insurance and accreditation organizations, private investigators, healthcare organizations, injured patients, and third parties, in order to ascertain the presence of fault or malpractice.
Skill Requirements
What makes a successful nurse consultant? They should have good listening skills and will be able to perform sharp critical analysis in multiple intersecting fields. Strong written and verbal communication skills are essential as nurses are in frequent contact with people on all levels, and the nature of their work requires the conveyance of facts in a concise, clear manner. Familiarity with electronic medical records, computer literacy, and the ability to document findings are crucial skills, particularly if the nurse consultant is to work in a legal environment. Business requirements including knowledge of accounting, efficient organization, and leadership skills are also essential to anyone in the role.
Finally, working with people requires emotional intelligence and, especially in a healthcare environment, compassion and empathy.
Conclusion
Nurse consultants can create a niche for themselves in any specialization that they choose and can provide solutions to healthcare organizations, legal firms, or large corporations. In doing so, they can ultimately affect the financial outlook of those organizations. Nurse consultants ensure the continued use of evidence-based practices, as well as maintaining the adherence to protocols within their organization. They will identify problem areas and suggest solutions, influencing both patient outcomes and staff satisfaction.
The outlook for a career as a nurse consultant is extremely positive. Healthcare facilities and other types of companies are becoming increasingly aware of the value that a nurse consultant can add to their organization.
