Legal nurse consulting principles is a two-volume textbook meant for students who are studying legal aspects of nursing and want to go on to become consultants. As a text book, its biggest advantage is that it restricts itself to the basics of the topic and the advanced knowledge has been incorporated in the sister publication (we can call it vol 2, but the publishers refrain from saying so) “Legal Nurse Consulting - Practices”. That way, it does not get too heavy in content and for a student who is just beginning his career in the field, it gives the right amount of information. In addition to the content, the appendix contains a rich glossary, essentially a compilation of the legal terms that a student should know. Another advantage is that it gives at a single place, the description of all the terms that a person is going to encounter in his nursing practice.

Each chapter starts with a subheading “objectives”, that explains the objectives of the chapter. From a student’s perspective, it is a useful addition at the beginning of the chapter as it gives the student an idea what he is going to encounter in the chapter. Even before he has gone through the chapter, he knows that the topics that are being dealt with in the particular chapter. If the beginning is with objectives, the end of each chapter is with appendices and test questions. These appendices, at the end of each chapter, provide information which is relevant for that particular chapter. That way one does not have to go to the end of the book for these information and then search from a vast sea, which is the normal practice in most books. Here we would like to add that while the test questions are an important aspect of the book in testing how much the student has grabbed, the number of questions are too less to be of much significance. Barely 4-5 questions per chapter is not the right amount. We expected to see at least 15-20 questions per chapter for this part to be of significant use to the student. Maybe in the next edition, this deficiency will be corrected.

...The book covers practically every aspect of legal nurse consulting that a student must know. Starting from the Law (chapter 1) and going on to the history (chapter 2), the standards of practice (chapter 3) to the various medical and legal aspects of the legal nurse consulting (rest of the chapters)...

The book covers practically every aspect of legal nurse consulting that a student must know. Starting from the Law (chapter 1) and going on to the history (chapter 2), the standards of practice (chapter 3) to the various medical and legal aspects of the legal nurse consulting (rest of the chapters). Throughout the book, there are instances where the concept of legal nurse consulting and its strengths and limitations have been described pretty effectively. For example, on page 88, table 3.1, it compares the standards of Nursing Practice and LNC Practice, an important aspect of any practice since it tells how a legal nurse is different from a conventional nurse. Similarly in chapter 4, pages 118 – 121, multiple case studies that have been described along with analysis, which explain how the litigation arose and what the LNC must take care in such a situation. There are innumerable such instances throughout the book of explanation of the concepts using proper examples, which make this book an excellent piece of work.

...Another important aspect of the book is the length and order of the chapters. Instead of having few large chapters, the editors have kept many small chapters, which means that the person reading the chapter does not feel a lot of burden in going through them...

Another important aspect of the book is the length and order of the chapters. Instead of having few large chapters, the editors have kept many small chapters, which means that the person reading the chapter does not feel a lot of burden in going through them. One does not have to give long sittings to complete one chapter in one go so that the continuity is maintained. Secondly, the order of the chapters is such that once a person has gone through the whole book, one gets a basic idea regarding the procedure that is followed in the litigations process. Starting with triage, it goes on to discuss the medical records, the role of consent and treatment of patient, communication with the client, searching the medical records and finally to the legal processes that are involved. This organisation reproduces the steps that are followed while the case is filed and followed in the courts.

In the end, we would say that Legal Nurse Consulting Principles is a must have book (it is also marketed as a textbook) for all LNC students who want to pursue a career in LNC. This is the basic book that should act as the bare minimum for all LNC.