Learn AboutNightingale Nurse Consultants
Meet the Founder
Lael King, MSN-PH, RN founded Nightingale Nurse Consultants with a deep love for the health community.
She holds a master's degree in nursing with an emphasis in public health, is a board certified patient advocate, certified somatic practitioner, and has diverse clinical experience, including roles in the ICU, cardiac unit, and labor and delivery. Lael’s commitment to improving healthcare access and outcomes lies at the heart of her work.
For the past nine years, Lael has specialized in utilization management and provider disputes, leveraging her extensive clinical background to enhance healthcare efficiency and patient care.
With over 21 years of experience in the field, she is uniquely qualified to support the providers, facilities, and patients in this space.
My Why Story…
There was a time when I felt trapped in a life that wasn’t my own.
For 12 years, I lived in a marriage filled with manipulation, coercion, and abuse—until my body began speaking louder than my mind ever could. The weight of trauma settled into my bones, my breath, my very way of being. I sought help the way I was taught to—through talk therapy, through logic—but no matter how many sessions I attended, the relief never came. My nervous system remained frozen, my pain persistent, my emotions unmanageable.
Then, three years ago, I found somatic nervous system practices, and everything changed. Almost instantly, the shift began. My body softened. My sleep deepened. My pain lessened. I found my voice, my strength, my hope. For the first time, healing felt real. It felt possible.
I do this work because I know what it is to suffer. I know what it is to feel unheard, unseen, and untethered in a world that demands resilience without teaching how to cultivate it. But I also know what it is to emerge—to step into a life that feels safe, free, and expansive.
I am here as a sacred steward of this path, gifted with the ability to see the way forward even in the chaos. I hold space for healing with deep presence, neutrality, and intuition, offering guidance to those who have been left behind by a system that sees symptoms but not souls.
The world is burning people out. Nervous systems are frayed. So many are stuck in cycles of fight, flight, freeze, and fawn—disconnected from their own wisdom, exhausted by the weight of simply surviving. But it doesn’t have to be this way.
I want people to know that healing is not just possible—it’s within reach. That their bodies are not broken, only waiting to be heard. That within them exists the capacity for deep regulation, rest, and resilience.
This work is my calling because I know, deep in my bones, that everyone deserves to feel safe in their own body. To seek care without fear. To live with peace instead of panic. Healthcare is a right, not a privilege, and healing is our birthright.
I do this work because I must. Because the world needs more spaces of safety, more guides who understand the journey, and more people who believe in the possibility of healing.
I am here to remind you: Wholeness is not lost. It is waiting. And I will walk with you until you find it.
Opportunities for Growth
Lael has long witnessed the pitfalls and inequities in the healthcare system during her time as a bedside nurse and her career in utilization management and healthcare administration.
As the gaps in the system became more apparent, she started putting together patches for the broken system that would help to mend the patient, provider, and facility gaps. Each facet has unique problems and requires creative solutions that will evolve with them as the needs change.
The underlying sentiment of "see a need, fill a need" is how each tenet of Nightingale Nurse Consultants was founded. Each face of the system needs innovative solutions so we can fulfill our mission of providing quality care for our patients.
Nightingale Nurse Consultants was born from the idea of “see a need, fill a need”. Each part of the system needs innovative solutions if we are to provide superb care for each patient.
Professional Background
Lael’s career began in the pharmacy industry. As a senior pharmacy technician, she was responsible for the quality and accuracy of dispensing medications to patients.
She continued to follow her passion for caring for others as a nursing assistant while she pursued her academic studies in nursing. She first became a Licensed Vocational Nurse. Shortly after, she received her Bachelor’s degree in Nursing.
Her clinical work as a nurse in the intensive care unit (ICU), cardiac unit, and labor and delivery has given her valuable insights into caregiving and the patient experience.
Lael has also worked in healthcare administration completing audits of healthcare records for quality, accuracy, and adherence to evidence-based practice along with regulatory and accrediting guidelines.
Her work in administration has led to valuable insights into how third-party payers and Medicare establish standards and quality controls.
For the past 9 years, Lael has gained experience in utilization management working with healthcare insurers, managed care organizations (MCO’s), and Medicare to review medical records for quality and payment purposes.
Personal Health Challenges
Lael recognizes the specific challenges patients and their families face when dealing with a complex and daunting healthcare system and levels of insurance coverage and rules.
Lael, herself, has an auto-immune disease and multiple chronic conditions to manage. She also acted as her grandfather’s caregiver before his passing in 2006.
These things have made her passionate about helping others navigate the healthcare system and ensuring that providers and facilities have the resources, information, and support they need to provide the best care possible.
Lael currently lives in Maryland with her husband, daughters, and a whole host of animals on their farmette.
She enjoys stewarding their property in a responsible way through gardening and encouragement of pollinators and the natural wildlife.
She believes that being a healer is an innate calling and enjoys aiding others in their pursuit of health and happiness while championing equitable, quality care.
