The current health care industry is occasionally burdened with legal disputes, malpractice claims, pharmaceutical scandals, and unethical behavior. But many lawyers, while well versed in the inner workings of the law, are not always in tune with the ins and outs of the established medical community. As such, they often rely on those with nurse paralegal training to help them navigate through the jargon and voluminous records associated with this expansive industry. Your training will be twofold. First, you'll familiarize yourself with medical terminology, professional ethics, treatments, data processing, medical transcription, and biological sciences. Second, your studies will focus on the legal system and how it melds with the larger health care industry. In joining these two disparate fields, you will become an invaluable asset to both the medical community and the legal world when occasional disputes and scandals arise.

In most cases, you will work within the hospital administration, helping attorneys, auditors, families, insurance companies, and investigators assemble and analyze data. But given the scope of your training, you'll also be qualified to work as a normal registered nurse if you ever decide to leave the world of forensics and legal investigations. In addition, your training will also prepare you to work as a paralegal in most legal settings. Think of nurse paralegal training as a double major that certifies you to work in the health care industry, the legal industry, or both.