Some of healthcare’s most powerful lessons come from the moments we wish we could undo. Chris Rokosh has spent decades studying those moments; what happened, why it happened, and what might have made a difference. Today, she brings those lessons to healthcare and law, helping professionals learn from the past to make a difference in the future.

Chris’s nursing career has taken her from emergency flight nursing and home care to the delivery room, where, as a certified perinatal nurse, she participated in the births of nearly 10,000 babies. She has experienced healthcare at its very best—and seen what can happen when things go wrong. In 2001, Chris became a pioneer in Legal Nurse Consulting and went on to found Connect Medical Legal Experts, which grew into one of Canada’s largest medical-legal expert companies. Over her career, she has provided expert opinion on more than 300 medical malpractice cases, reviewed thousands of pages of medical records, testified multiple times in court and helped train and mentor medical-legal experts across the country.

Working as a Legal Nurse Consultant revealed what healthcare looked like from the other side. For the first time, Chris saw medical error through the eyes of patients and families, nurses and doctors, and the lawyers who represented them. Reviewing medical malpractice cases revealed something else: many of the same problems appeared again and again—communication failures, documentation issues, missed warning signs, medication errors, lack of knowledge about standards of care, and patients who simply didn't feel heard.

Chris believed both healthcare and law professionals could learn from those experiences. These lessons became the foundation of Connect Medical Legal Education.  She takes the medical-legal lessons learned when healthcare goes wrong and turns them into knowledge people can actually use. Her belief is simple: better-informed healthcare professionals provide better care, and lawyers who better understand healthcare are better equipped to advocate for the people they represent. And that’s good for everyone.

Chris is the author of Shift. Change. Empowering Nurses with Medical Legal Knowledge and creator of Legal Issues in Nursing and the flagship course Introduction to Legal Nurse Consulting. As host of the highly rated podcast Inside Medical Malpractice, she brings the stories of patients, healthcare professionals, lawyers and experts to light for candid conversations about what happens when medicine and law collide.

Known for her warmth, humor, and ability to make complicated subjects understandable, Chris speaks and writes for healthcare, legal and professional audiences across North America. Her published work has been featured in The Globe and Mail, The Calgary Herald, The National Post, Canadian Nurse, Chatelaine and Lawyer's Weekly, CARE magazine and many others.

 Career Highlights

• Named to PROFIT Magazine's Top 100 Female Entrepreneurs

• Recipient of an Award of Excellence in Nursing Education

• Nominee for the RBC Women of Influence Award

• Featured on the cover of Canadian Nurse

• Founding member of the Legal Nurse Consulting Association of Canada

• Course contributor and speaker for the American Association of Legal Nurse Consultants

• Member of a national multidisciplinary initiative focused on safer obstetrical care

• Invited participant in a national roundtable on patient safety

• Invited speaker at universities and healthcare and legal conferences across North America