Get to Know Legal Nurse Consultant: Teressa Crawford
Meet Teressa Crawford, one of the experienced legal nurse consultants at Med Law. Teressa has practiced as a registered nurse for almost 30 years. In her nearly 25 years of long-term care experience, she has served as director of nursing services and liability risk manager. Teressa is a valued member of our team, get to know her in this spotlight:
Name, title, city you are based in:
Hot Springs, Arkansas
What is your role at Med Law Advisory Partners?
Nurse Consultant
What did you do before working for Med Law Advisory Partners?
Immediately prior, I was doing travel nursing as a DON in long term care mostly on the east coast; prior to that I served as DON of long term care facilities are the correct answers
Why do you do this type of work?
I enjoy the challenges it presents, especially the challenge of pulling everything together into a report that others who aren’t in the medical field can understand and use it in the litigation process.
Do you have a specific area of expertise that you are the most fond of?
Long term care and hospice
In your opinion, what is the most rewarding aspect of your job?
The most rewarding aspect of my job working as a nurse consultant is the “finding the needle in the haystack” moment. I feel like a CSI investigator going through the records, searching for all of the puzzle pieces to support or refute allegations.
Tell us about a time you had to overcome a challenge or obstacle within being a legal nurse consultant – how did you overcome this/what did you learn?
Finally understanding “the process” of the review, how to compartmentalize the different areas of the review while keeping the whole thing intact within the puzzle frame. Then after finding and adding all of the puzzle pieces, we have the whole picture within the frame and can present the complete picture to the client. I overcame this by doing like Dori from “Nemo” said, I just kept swimming. From that, I learned to try and try again because there is strength through the struggle and success will eventually come.
What is something in the healthcare industry that comes to mind that you would like to see improved or changed?
Always better/consistent care in long-term care facilities. There are some great facilities out there but sadly we only ever hear of the ones that aren’t.
What are you most likely up to when you are off-the-clock?
Family. Fishing or hunting.
What is some advice you would give to nurses looking to pursue a career in legal nurse consulting?
Take what you know, listen to the advice of those who have “been there and done that” and use it to build on then add your own polish to it.
Interesting fact about yourself:
I’m a “PK” and for those who don’t know what that is, I’m a preacher’s kid. I wouldn’t trade that heritage for anything. So much good was not only taught but lived in front of me. My hope in life is that I will somehow pass those treasures to my children and grandchildren.