Ope...Looks Like You Found Your People! If you're a Legal Nurse Consultant looking for education, networking, professional growth, and a few good conversations along the way, you've come to the right place. We're bringing together Legal Nurse Consultants from across the region for education, networking, mentorship, leadership, and a little Midwest camaraderie. Whether you're reviewing records between hockey games, joining meetings from the lake, or squeezing in continuing education before football season kicks off, you'll find a community of professionals who understand the balance between hard work and enjoying the seasons we wait all winter for. So grab a seat around the campfire, pull up a chair at the tailgate, or join us at our next event. We'd love to welcome you to the chapter. |
Meet Your Board Members
Your President Rebecca Kessler, BSN, RN, LNCC serves as President and Founding Member of the Greater Midwest Chapter of AALNC. After relocating back to the Kansas City area, Rebecca sought to join a local AALNC chapter and was surprised to discover that the nearest chapter was more than 800 miles away. Recognizing the need for a regional professional community, she set out to build one from the ground up. What began as a vision for a Missouri/Kansas chapter grew into the Greater Midwest Chapter of AALNC. Establishing the chapter has been a true labor of love, and Rebecca is excited to work alongside some of the most accomplished and highly credentialed legal nurse consultants and healthcare professionals in the region. A critical care nurse turned legal nurse consultant, Rebecca brings more than 16 years of bedside experience in adult and neonatal intensive care, along with over six years of experience supporting plaintiff medical malpractice litigation. She is the owner of Triage to Trial Legal Nurse Consulting, where she partners with attorneys on case screening, medical record analysis, discovery support, expert vetting, deposition preparation, and trial strategy. Rebecca recently earned the LNCC® (Legal Nurse Consultant Certified) credential, the only board certification available to legal nurse consultants, reflecting her commitment to excellence and professional advancement. She has also completed General Civil Mediation Training through the University of Missouri, further enhancing her ability to analyze complex disputes and facilitate resolution. Passionate about education, mentorship, and professional development, Rebecca is dedicated to advancing the legal nurse consulting profession and fostering a strong community of legal nurse consultants throughout the Midwest. She believes in mentorship that is freely given, generously shared, and focused on helping others succeed. Rebecca and her husband, Jeff, are raising their five children in the Kansas City area. Outside of her professional work, she can often be found cheering from the stands at high school and college basketball games, coaching her oldest daughter's volleyball team, tending to her gardens, or baking sourdough bread for family and friends. |
Your President - Elect Rachel Toland, MSN, RN, NE-BC, RNC-OB, CCM is the founder and CEO of Moonstruck Legal Nurse Consulting, a boutique team practice based in Omaha, Nebraska. With a clinical background spanning nursing leadership, obstetrics, and case management, Rachel brings a multidisciplinary lens to complex legal matters involving personal injury, workers' compensation, and medical malpractice. Moonstruck serves both plaintiff and defense attorneys across the country, partnering with legal teams to develop custom case strategy and deliverables tailored to each matter. |
Your Co-Director of Education Suzanne Mitchell PhD, FNP-BC, APRN, CWS is originally from Northern Virginia, and began her nursing career in 1985 after earning her BSN from George Mason University—back when home computers were considered luxury items. After a decade in critical care, Suzanne completed her MSN as a Family Nurse Practitioner at Georgetown University and promptly followed her family to Florida, where it took approximately 60 seconds to become a fan of sunshine and palm trees. Suzanne's career has taken her through cardiology, emergency medicine, occupational health, and wound care. Since 2007, she's been with the University of Kansas Medical Center's Burn and Wound Clinic in Plastic Surgery, where she cares for patients with complex wounds and burns, teach healthcare professionals, and participate in research. Somewhere along the way, she also earned a PhD in Nursing and became a board-certified wound specialist. As retirement slowly appears on the horizon (estimating another 10 years, give or take a walker), she launched Mitchell Nurse Consulting, where she combine her clinical expertise with legal nurse consulting, focusing on burn and wound cases and helping healthcare organizations reduce litigation risk. Outside of work, she is the proud mother of three amazing adult children and the personal staff of four demanding pets: Rigby the husky mix, Coco the miniature Aussie, Nome the cat (who firmly believes she is human), and Yogi the German Shepherd. Though they are not supposed to have favorites, Yogi and Suzanne have agreed to keep that rule flexible. |
Your Director of Membership Dana Beyers- Geriatric Nurse Practitioner, retired on December 31,2025 Dana has been a LNC since 2018, her business is Senex Consulting which means “old age” in Latin. Dana mostly does expert witness work for plaintiff and defense. Dana and her husband Dan have been married 40 years! They have 3 grown children (Kristen, Brittney , Kyle) , one great son in law Brandon, two grandsons ( Emerson and Jackson ) and a very nervous German shepherd Nala. Last year they traveled to Alaska, and visited Dana's parents in Florida, along with her sister Kim. They are going on a road trip to Tennessee and Kentucky in the fall with some great friends and then off to to Italy in October! They are planning for a 2027 trip to Ireland! Dana is looking forward to working with everyone. |
Your Secretary Nathan Webster, APRN, FNP-C, CNL serves as Secretary of the Greater Midwest Chapter of AALNC. A board-certified family nurse practitioner and Clinical Nurse Leader, Nate brings more than two decades of healthcare experience across direct clinical practice, advanced practice nursing, and pharmaceutical clinical education and medical affairs leadership. He is Founder and Principal Consultant of AEQUUS Advisory Group, a medico-legal consulting practice specializing in payer coverage-denial analysis and clinical pharmacology causation. Nate is committed to advancing the LNC profession and supporting members across the Greater Midwest region. He resides in Missouri with his wife, 3 college age children, and their 4 rescue dogs! |
Your Director of Technology Taylor Velazquez, MSN, BSN, RN, brings 20 years of healthcare experience spanning nursing leadership, nursing informatics, quality management, accreditation and regulatory compliance, HIPAA compliance and healthcare technology. Throughout her career, she has served in a variety of clinical and leadership roles, including surgical services, clinical education, healthcare software optimization, quality improvement, and organizational compliance. Outside of her professional work, Taylor fully embraces Midwest living. Whether she's spending time on the lake, boating, trail riding, gathering around campfires, or simply enjoying the outdoors, she values making the most of every season, especially summer before winter inevitably returns. Taylor is also the proud mother of three children who keep life both busy and entertaining. Rafael, a middle school student and talented swimmer, rarely misses an opportunity to be in any water available. Liz is currently in high school, navigating the adventures of being a teenage girl, including driver's education! Madison, the oldest, recently completed her first semester of community college, where she is pursuing studies in automotive technology and welding. They somehow ended up with a unique collection of pets. Rafael cares for an axolotl named Waffles, Liz is the owner of Tucker, a bearded dragon, and Madison, proudly caring for Toast, her pet snake. Taylor is excited to be part of the organization from the beginning and looks forward to helping implement a management software platform to support its growth. She hopes to continue contributing her experience, sharing ideas, building connections, and supporting all of the great work the organization has planned for the future. |
Your Treasurer Shelby Lodholz, BSN, RN, LNC is a proud Nebraska farm girl who has built a career rooted in integrity, hard work, and a commitment to thinking critically and getting it right. After earning her BSN from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Shelby headed west to begin her nursing career at Rose Medical in Denver, where she spent 12 years in critical care, the float pool, and a brief role as a clinical nurse liaison. When the pull of the Heartland called her home, she joined Nebraska Medicine, working in preop, PACU, and a procedural center before a new kind of adventure came knocking. Shelby entered legal nurse consulting through a mentorship program that gave her the clinical, business, and marketing foundation to launch her own practice. Today, she serves plaintiff and defense attorneys by translating complex medical records into clear, meaningful case analysis. She has also developed a proprietary system for finding and vetting expert witnesses, a specialty she describes as one of her greatest professional passions. With more than 21 years of clinical experience across critical care, surgery, and procedural settings, she brings a rare depth to every case she touches. Shelby is passionate about helping new legal nurse consultants and entrepreneurs find their footing, which made joining the founding team of the Greater Midwest Chapter of AALNC a natural fit. She looks forward to sharing the knowledge and experience she has built to help others grow in this field. What began as a single email with an idea became the Greater Midwest Chapter of AALNC in just two months, made possible by a group of intelligent, driven, and equally enthusiastic nurses. Shelby serves as Treasurer and Founding Member, proud to be part of something that will open doors for LNCs across the region. Outside of work, Shelby and her husband Matt are raising their two boys on a farm in the country outside of Omaha, where she tends to laying hens, bees, and her gardens. You can find her cheering on her boys at basketball, baseball, football, and track, teaching spin at her local Y, and soaking up time with friends and family in the great outdoors. |
Your Director At Large Annalise Castoreno, RN, BSN, LNC, founded AC Acute Care Medical Legal Consulting and brings nearly 20 years of nursing experience in critical care, emergency medicine, and trauma. For the past 18 years, she has provided direct patient care in emergency departments at Level I, II, and III trauma centers. She also founded the Medical Legal Insight Collective, a book club created to bring Legal Nurse Consultants together to exchange ideas, expand their knowledge, and strengthen their practices. Annalise especially enjoys hearing from other LNCs about their experiences and discovering new ways the community can learn from and support one another. Annalise serves as Director-at-Large for the Greater Midwest Chapter of the American Association of Legal Nurse Consultants. She is committed to strengthening the LNC community through connection, collaboration, education, and support. Her goal is to ensure that both experienced and emerging Legal Nurse Consultants feel welcomed, supported, and empowered to make a meaningful difference in the legal field. She is excited to serve the LNC community and looks forward to building lasting connections and advancing the profession together. Drawing on her extensive background in emergency medicine, trauma care, and sepsis management, Annalise helps attorneys understand complex medical issues and the real-world decisions healthcare professionals face. Her work includes behind-the-scenes medical record review, case analysis, and litigation support; IME/DMEs; however, she is especially passionate about serving as an expert witness and using her frontline clinical experience to provide clear, credible opinions. She holds certifications in ACLS, BLS, PALS, NIHSS, ENPC, and TNCC. Annalise lives in Allen Park, Michigan. She loves to travel and explore new places with her family. She is the proud mother of seven, grandmother of one, and shares her home with two Golden Retriever fur babies. |
