Kristen Howe
Kristen Howe, RN, BSN, LNC, is the Founder and CEO of Howe Legal Nurse Consulting, LLC, bringing over 20 years of diverse experience in the medical field to her role. As a Registered Nurse for more than 16 years, Kristen has served in hospitals, emergency rooms, trauma centers, and a wide range of community settings, developing a comprehensive understanding of healthcare delivery across various environments.
My Journey in Nursing
I came into the healthcare field because I wanted to make a difference and help people. In my first year of college, I spent a lot of time at Baystate Medical Center—a premier trauma center in New England—supporting a friend who was in the end stages of ovarian cancer. Each day I attended classes at school, went to work, and then from work to the hospital where I stayed with her overnight most nights. I had an uncomfortable, pink hospital recliner with my name on it.
During that time, I witnessed nurses working first-hand and saw in them a lot of qualities I hold in high regard. These men and women were compassionate, worked well together, and were very much trusted and knowledgeable patient advocates. I saw devotion and dedication to improving lives around them, no matter how poor the situation was or how long they had been on the clock. I realized then that I wanted to make an impact. I saw nursing as a means to do this.
Education and Early Career
While completing my bachelor’s degree in science and nursing, I worked as a nurse’s assistant in the hospital on the oncology floor. Cancer patients were and always will be near and dear to my heart! After graduating, I worked in the hospital’s ICU, post-surgical, trauma, and telemetry settings for the next nine years.
Transition to Community Settings
In 2015, I decided to pursue work in community settings to have a broader impact. I was hired as an RN Case manager in the field with a wide range of diverse patients who were often particularly vulnerable. This gave me a chance to provide individual advocacy and to identify community-based remedies, while partnering with other medical professionals to improve systems of care. I was reminded why I wanted to become a nurse in the first place.
Expanding into Legal Nursing
When COVID hit in 2020, I continued to work as a nurse and also got my master’s degree in legal studies, with a concentration in healthcare law. I had been doing some work on the side as a legal nurse consultant for a few years and wanted to expand my education. What started out as collaborating on a few death investigations turned into owning my own company and working nationally to evaluate overall health care delivery systems and continuing to work on individual cases. I have teamed up with Protection and Advocacy systems and other organizations that support people with disabilities and have seen the direct impact our work has had.
Howe Legal Nurse Consulting Today
Today Howe Legal Nurse Consulting is comprised of a core group of medical professionals who share the same values and have a drive to create meaningful and equitable change in the world of healthcare.
Biography
Kristen Howe, RN, BSN, LNC, is the Founder and CEO of Howe Legal Nurse Consulting, LLC, bringing over 20 years of diverse experience in the medical field to her role. As a Registered Nurse for more than 16 years, Kristen has served in hospitals, emergency rooms, trauma centers, and a wide range of community settings, developing a comprehensive understanding of healthcare delivery across various environments.
Kristen’s clinical expertise spans post-surgical and cardiac care, as well as chronic disease management for patients with heart failure, diabetes, COPD, and other life-altering diagnoses. Her innovative approach to healthcare is exemplified by her work as an RN Case Manager, where she piloted a program addressing heart failure in collaboration with a local home care agency and its referring hospital, redesigning the model of care for high-risk cardiac patients receiving services at home.
As a legal nurse consultant, Kristen has expanded her impact beyond direct patient care. She provides expert evaluation of nursing services quality and broader reviews of healthcare facilities and human services. Her work includes providing expert reports and consultation for impact litigation and systems reform cases in the disability field. Kristen has collaborated with Protection and Advocacy Systems for people with disabilities and has been part of interdisciplinary teams evaluating Medicaid-funded services, making recommendations to prevent avoidable deaths.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Kristen worked directly with infected individuals and on interdisciplinary teams to reduce patient hospitalization rates. She focused on improving care coordination between hospitals, home care nurses, rehab staff, outpatient physicians, patients, and family members. Concurrently, Kristen completed her Master’s Degree in Health Care Law, enhancing her ability to address unequal access to quality healthcare on local and national levels.
Kristen’s commitment to improving healthcare systems extends beyond her consulting work. She is an active member of the International Initiative for Disability Leadership, TASH, and the American Association of Legal Nurse Consultants. Her dedication to community welfare is evident in her volunteer work supporting a local organic farm that addresses food insecurity and equity issues in her home community.
With Howe Legal Nurse Consulting, Kristen continues to bridge the gap between healthcare and legal systems, focusing on equal access to care, protecting healthcare workers, reforming systems, and ensuring accountability. Her unique blend of clinical expertise, legal knowledge, and passion for advocacy makes her a valuable asset in creating meaningful and equitable change in healthcare.
