Kathleen Colfer, MSN RN BC, Thomas Jefferson University Hospital
I have been a nurse for 22 years. My undergraduate nursing degree is from DeSales University and my Masters degree in nursing is from the University of Pennsylvania. I have worked at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital for 22 years. My specialty areas have been medical/oncology, medical-respiratory intensive care and presently acute pain management. I have held a critical care certification in the past and presently am certified in pain management. I am the Clinical Nurse Coordinator/Clinical Specialist for the Acute Pain Management Service at TJUH. I have been an independent legal nurse consultant for six years with the majority of my work being in the field of expert witness. I am also a Director at Large for the Philadelphia Chapter of the AALNC. I speak frequently about acute pain management and the acute pain management service at nursing educational conferences at my place of employment and other facilities in our healthcare network. I also speak about our pain management program to small groups of business, marketing and healthcare professionals that visit my place of employment for purposes of learning how to implement similar programs.
"Elisabeth Ridgely has been a critical care nurse for the last 14 years with clinical focus in emergency room and intensive care nursing. She has been a legal nurse consultant since 2000, obtaining LNCC certification in 2004. Ms. Ridgely works as an expert witness for both Plaintiff and Defense in medical malpractice cases. She serves on the Philadelphia Chapter Board of Directors and has been an active member of the Philadelphia Chapter since 2001. She continues to remain clinically active and maintains all clinically relevant certifications. Ms. Ridgely lives at home in Telford, PA with her husband and 7 year old son. Her non clinical interests include travel, hiking and the martial arts.
"
Description
Learning Objectives:
1. Identify opposing nurse expert witness opinions in a medical malpractice case.
2. Recognize interpersonal issues that may arise when colleagues or friends are opposing nurse experts on the same case.
This session will be given by opposing expert witnesses on a medical malpractice case. There will be a brief description of the facts of the case and then each expert will discuss the development of her opinions. After reporting the outcome of the case the experts will discuss issues that may arise when colleagues and friends are on opposing sides of the same case.