How to Write Descriptive LNC reports

LNC.tips/October2020virtual
Join us at the October 23, 24 and 25, 2020 legal nurse consulting virtual conference in which Pat Iyer shares tips on how to write persuasive reports.
Legal nurse consultants excel in helping the attorney tell a story. Every trial begins with an opening statement that lays out the attorney's version of the plaintiff's story. Both the plaintiff and a defense attorney use their opening statements to capture the attention and persuade the jury.
How do you make your reports interesting and compelling? I'm Pat Iyer. I ran a successful LNC business for 28 years and used the details In medical records to tell stories.
Suppose you're writing a factual piece. You have lists, both numbered and bulleted. You have details galore. And you’re sure that the story is going to sink like a lead weight-because it’s boring. You can hardly get through it. How can you expect the reader to read beyond the first few paragraphs?
Obviously, factual stories demand facts, and sometimes a writer can’t find ways to buffer them.
One of the best methods is to include stories and be descriptive.
Be descriptive
Compare these 2 descriptions:
Version 1
The patient was a 52-year-old man with a past medical history of hypertension and diabetes. He was involved in a rear end collision on September 18, 2018.
Version 2
Jose Gonzales was 52-year old man on September 18, 2018. He worked as an accountant, was married and lived in a single story home. He enjoyed playing baseball with his daughter and worked out in the gym every other day. He took Bumex for his hypertension and Metformin for his diabetes.
According to the police report, at 8:30 AM, Mr. Jose was stopped at a traffic light when his car was rear ended by a car driven by Grace Gurner.
The second version provides many more details and begins to tell the story of Mr. Gonzales' car crash. People love stories. A good story can bring facts and theories to life in a way that lists, statistics, and other forms of information sharing can’t achieve.
Stories activate our powers of imagination and emotion. When we read about the experiences of others, we get involved. We feel empathy, whether the story is sad or happy.
Your analysis of the medical records reveals the plaintiff's story. You may find vivid details that influence the case. For example, in a product liability case that involved analyzing hundreds of medical records, one set of medical records stood out. The liability issue involved loose hardware and migrating spinal screws. One of the plaintiffs with loose hardware was driving when the rods in his back broke through his shoulders. I shared this horrifying description with the defense attorney (our client) to warn him about the graphic nature of this man's damages.
This Is a story you won't forget. That Is how descriptive details make us pay attention.
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