Marlene Garvis enjoyed nursing. Her 15-year career included stints in pediatric acute care, public health and nursing education. Then while serving as co-president of a childbirth education association, she became intrigued by the legal questions surrounding home birth. Eventually, she decided to return to school and become a lawyer.

Useful Background

"Nursing experience is helpful in many areas of legal practice," says Garvis, now a litigation partner at Jardine Logan & O'Brien (www.jlolaw.com). Her practice focuses on professional liability defense, healthcare consultation and employment and products liability law. She also represents healthcare professionals on licensing and disciplinary matters.

Such cases can involve a review of medical records. "The combination of nursing and legal experience allows the attorney to do this more quickly and in more depth," Garvis says. A nursing background is also helpful for attorneys who meet with and help prepare expert or lay witnesses for depositions or trial testimony.

"Nurses bring a slightly different mind set to the mix," Garvis says. "That's because in nursing, the focus is more on process, rather than achieving goals alone. This adds to our effectiveness in representing and working with clients."

Varied Settings

In Garvis' view, there are a variety of options open to nurse attorneys. In addition to practicing in law firms, nurse attorneys may work in-house at insurance companies or corporations. Opportunities also exist in hospitals, health systems and long-term care companies where nurse attorneys find jobs as risk managers and compliance officers.

Some nurse attorneys work in local, state and federal government where they implement or administer health programs or help shape health policy. Others are employed as lobbyists for nursing or medical associations. Still others work for pharmaceutical or medical device companies.

Nurse attorneys with an academic bent may teach in universities or work as authors, editors or contributors to nursing and legal books and journals.

Learn More

The American Association of Nurse Attorneys, www.taana.org.

Nancy Giguere is a freelance writer from St. Paul who has written about healthcare since 1995.