Author Dr. Elaine H. Berkowitz, will be presenting at our April meeting.
Copies of her book " Live Life...Love Country " will be available for $25.

Julie Fagan has over 30 years of nursing experience, having graduated in the first ASN class of the University of Pittsburgh at Bradford (UPB) , and then again in the first BSN class of UPB in 1993. Her nursing career began in MedSurg, but then began a 20 year journey in Long Term Care. There she held the positions of RN supervisor, Charge Nurse, and then went on to become the Staff Development Coordinator, Assistant Director of Nursing, the Regional Director of Infection Prevention , and Director of Nursing. She moved to Pittsburgh in 2010, and began working at Children’s Hospital in Enterostomal Therapy, and earned a certification in WOCN (Wound, Ostomy, Continence Nurse). Because of the many years spent in LTC as an ADON, which combined the worlds of wound care and infection prevention, she has worked on many quality improvement projects to improve the care of patients in both skilled nursing facilities and in the hospital setting. She is currently the Manager of Infection Prevention at 2 UPMC hospitals. She has been a member of the AALNC and the Pittsburgh Chapter for over 3 years, and is currently a Director-at-Large. Julie is excited to be a part of this passionate group of professionals and is looking forward to an opportunity to contribute to the continued success of our local AALNC chapter.

Beverly is a Diploma Graduate from St. Margaret Memorial Hospital with 41 years experience in various areas of nursing, which includes Operating Room Management, Quality Improvement, Hemodialysis, Medical-Surgical, Orthopedics, Neurology, Dermatology, Home Health and Radiology. Since 2001, Beverly has worked as an Independent Legal Nurse Consultant. She had been an active member of the South Florida Chapter AALNC serving as the President of the Chapter 2007-2008 and Membership Chair for 7 years. She relocated back to Pittsburgh, Pa in 2009, became an active member of the Pittsburgh Chapter AALNC and has served on the Board of Directors for the past 9 years in the capacity of Director-at-Large, Treasurer and Secretary.

Sue Blackhurst

Sue Blackhurst, B.S.N., R.N., LNCC, is a Registered Nurse with nearly 14 years of clinical experience in the areas of adult medical and surgical critical care, cardiac care and stepdown, operating room, and post-anesthesia recovery. She has been a Legal Nurse Consultant for 21 years, currently with the law firm of Davies, McFarland and Carroll, LLC, Pittsburgh, PA, since 2006. In her capacity as a Legal Nurse Consultant, Sue works with attorneys in the defense of insurance companies and their insureds in the areas of medical malpractice and personal injury. Prior to her present position, she worked for Steptoe & Johnson, PLLC, a large defense law firm in West Virginia, from 1996 to 2006.

Sue graduated from West Virginia University School of Nursing in 1981. In 2005 Sue achieved the status of Legal Nurse Consultant Certified (LNCC), after successfully meeting the requirements through examination and other means that validate qualifications, knowledge and practice in the field of legal nurse consulting. LNCC is the only legal nurse consulting credential recognized by American Association of Legal Nurse Consultants (AALNC) and accredited by the American Board of Nursing Specialties (ABNS).
Sue was a founding member of the WV Upper Ohio Valley Chapter AALNC from 2000 to 2017, and served in all Board positions at one time or another, including President. Sue is also a founding member of the WV Bar Association LNC Section. Since 2017, she has been a member of the Pittsburgh Chapter AALNC.

Kelly Campbell

Kelly Campbell RN BSN CP CLNC CLCP serves as CEO for Cardinal LifeCare Consulting. She is also member Board of Directors for Visiting Nurses of Western PA and Senior Lutheran Life. She served as Editor and Co-Editor Journal Nurse Life Care Planning. Kelly has multiple publications in Journal of Nurse Life Care Planning, Journal of Life Care Planning and Perfusion Journal. Kelly is a chapter author and peer reviewer for AALNC Principle and Practice textbook. She was an associate editor for the first drafts for six chapters in this text. Kelly is also the author of upcoming edition of Core Curriculum Nurse Life Care Planning Text. She is the Co-Host for Legal Nurse Business Podcast with Pat Iyer.

Kelly has serves as a clinical mentor for Duquesne Graduate School of Forensic Nursing. She is an accomplished speaker who has presented at national conferences in several fields of medicine, including Texas Heart 25th anniversary honoring pioneer heart surgeon Dr Denton Cooley. She has the honor of being the clinical specialist for assisting Dr. OZ with the first robotic heart surgery in the United States. She then participated in the first robotic heart surgery in Texas, first in VA, first in WI, first in CA, OH, etc. Her career also included working with corporations to assist in bringing medical devices to market.

She lives in Canonsburg, PA and is married to Jeff Blackhurst, a CRNA. They have a son, Jonathan, and a daughter, Hilary.


Audrey Lalli

I graduated from WVU School of Nursing with a BSN and began my nursing career in May of 1978 working in Med-Surg. Enjoying the experiences nursing can expose one to, I then switched to working Cardiac Care/Step Down, Orthopedics, Substitute School Nursing, Home Care and finally Rehabilitation Nursing. I have remained in Rehabilitation 28 years, obtaining my CRRN. I presently am the Nurse Manager of a unit specializing in Spinal Cord Injury but taking patients with all other diagnoses as well. I have had other management roles during my years at HealthSouth Harmarville such as being Interim Chief Nursing Officer for several months and being an active participant in helping to establish policies and procedures based on best practices. My consulting career began in 2011. I review both plaintiff and defense cases and have been deposed approximately 6 times and to trial once. I find this very interesting and rewarding and this actually makes my primary job more tolerable at times! I served on the Board of Directors of the Pittsburgh Chapter from 2014 to 2017, being a past president in 2016. I was honored to be nominated for the board then and I will be honored to serve again.

AALNC- American Association of Legal Nurse Consultants 2018 Annual Forum Clearwater, Florida Stephanie Kress, BSN, RN, CMSRN
With sun, sand and a warm dry breeze at temperatures in the mid 80’s on the Gulf Coast, our national organization could not have chosen a better location for the 2018 Annual Forum. Held at the Hilton in Clearwater, Florida, the amenities boasted a warm, elegant, convenient and relaxing environment enjoyed by all who attended this year.
The AALNC kicked off the agenda with activities that allowed for learning, networking and an opportunity to meet with associated vendors tailored to legal nurse consultants and life care planners at all levels of skill level and expertise. Both days featured a choice of multiple sessions related to the implications of clinical issues in the legal field, the business aspect of legal nurse consulting and LNC roles, services and functions.
Clinical-focused presentations included the impact of standard of care in the diagnoses of anorectal anomalies, missed diagnoses in the pediatric population, the pitfalls and successes of telehealth, the prevalence of osteoarthritis and osteoporosis in association with patient falls and associated morbidity and mortality and the interpretation of terminology in spinal imaging. Mental health topics were also covered by renowned practitioners and legal analysts in relation to the litigation of post-traumatic stress disorder and the liability of health care professionals in patient suicide.
The roles of the LNC in the legal process were explored through talks pertaining to the detection of fraudulent charting in nursing home cases, diversifying your practice by providing summaries and bill reviews, LNC opportunities in acute care, tips and tactics of evaluating electronic medical records and survival and risk mitigation of Zone Program Integrity Contractor auditing. Court-focused discussions were also given concerning the exoneration of a nurse by an LNC in a civil and criminal action and the use of 3-D illustration videos for simplifying jury interpretation.

LNC business topics encompassed gaining skills for using Adobe, advice for steady growth of your business using marketing methods and social media and how to plan for and implement retirement strategies for your LNC practice.
If you have never been to an Annual Forum, I personally recommend attending to enhance your personal growth as a both a practitioner and legal nurse consultant, make connections with business partners and to learn about invaluable resources available to you for your expansion of knowledge in the field. It is also a wonderful time to escape the routine of your daily life and focus on the advancement of your career and business.

"Wonderful conference this year. The speakers were excellent and incredibly knowledgeable about their topics"

"Great venue and food. Impressive vendors and amazing speakers. Networking was encouraged and done."

" GREAT!!!"

(From a nursing student) "This was a very insightful conference. Valuable information was presented in which I believe is beneficial to know before entering the field. Many things said that are not taught in a lecture hall."

"Audience loved the room and meals. This was a great opportunity to network."

"This was wonderful! I found it to be very informative!"

"This conference was very good. The venue was very nice and all the speakers were engaging. The mock trial was superb."

These are just a few of the many positive comments received from the AALNC Pittsburgh Chapter Conference. The conference, titled "Cover Your Assets: Protection for the Healthcare and Legal Professional", was held on November 4th, 2017 at Duquesne University.

Over 50 attendees were present. Attendees included new LNC's, seasoned LNC's, people curious about LNC, independent LNC's, in-house LNC's, case managers, Life Care Planners, students and representation from risk management and legal departments. Five people traveled over 2 1/2 hours to attend and someone came from Seattle Washington!

A major highlight included an introduction from our National AALNC president, Debbie Pritts. Debbie commended the AALNC Pittsburgh Chapter for it's strength as a chapter and it's dedicated members and board. She inspired attendees with her story of working as an LNC and becoming the national AALNC president. Attendees were thrilled to meet Debbie in person.

Nearly every attendee rated the speakers "5/5" on their post conference survey. Diane Mead, 2017 AALNC Pittsburgh Chapter President and Bethany Hospice CEO started the day off with a welcome that blew attendees away. She brought her guitar, grabbed a couple of brave audience volunteers and a got the crowd going with a hilarious song about hospice. Stephanie Kress, 2018 Pittsburgh Chapter AALNC President and conference chair warmly welcomed all the attendees. She sincerely thanked those who helped with conference, including the sponsors, board of directors and volunteers. The speaker line up included "Facility and Hospice Partnerships, Avoiding Undue Litigation" by Diane Mead, "Pennsylvania's Approach to Impaired Nurses" by Kathie Simpson, "Seven Deadly Sins of Nursing Practice" by Lori Klingman and "The Importance of Legal Nurse Consulting in a Defense Law Firm" by John Conti.

The conference was made possible in large part to the strong support from our sponsors. Sponsors were featured in the conference booklet and will be on our AALNC Pittsburgh Chapter website for one year. Table vendors were available for networking during breaks and provided baskets for a Chinese auction. Conference attendees received lots of goodies in their drawstring bag and a full color booklet with presentation PowerPoint slides and sponsor ads.

THANK YOU to the conference volunteers who spent countless hours making the conference successful in so many ways!

Check out the excellent interview with our AALNC National President, Debbie Pritts.

Click here for the interview!