My lie to patient's mom

madwife2002, BSN, RN · Mar 24, 2011

A friend of mine (a neuro PA) was putting a halo onto a spinal fracture patient for the first time. The patient's father introduced himself as the head of neurosurgery for a major teaching hospital. He then asks my friend how many times he has done this. He answered "I can't even tell you how many times". He then had to put it on while this guy watched.

OMG that is too funny:lol2: what a great answer!

hiddencatRN, BSN, RN · Mar 24, 2011

I like the "I cant tell you how many times" answer.

Yeah, I was a little annoyed with the mom- she started talking about the needle before I really thought it was necessary (way to give your kid MORE time to freak out about it) and then starts grilling me about my IV skills.

This was only my 5th successful stick.

JulieCVICURN, BSN, RN · Mar 24, 2011

It's your duty to lie. Seriously. I want to believe that the person sticking an IV in me or my kids is an expert. I don't care if you lie to me, as long as it gets done right.

j621d · Mar 24, 2011

At least she didn't ask how proficient you were in IV starts. I agree with the others: you are an expert in your field. You weren't asked anything more specific. Just take the pat on the back for a great IV start on the first try! Way to go!!

Skwidward · Mar 24, 2011

I'm a new grad working in an emergency department. I've been starting to learn how to do IVs. My patient today started to get anxious about putting in an IV. I reassured her that I was just going to look at her veins first and find a really good one. The mom turns to me and says "you're an IV expert right?"
And I said "Yep."
Luckily I got it without trouble on the first stick.
On a scale of 1-10, how bad of a lie was that?

That was a 10. 10 being the GOOD end of the scale.

I would've taken that question as the pt's mother trying to reassure her daughter. Nice one. :)

CoffeeRTC, BSN, RN · Mar 24, 2011

"um...errr...I'm really not that good, but I need to get my stick in and I need to learn sometime, but don't worry, I will only try a few times."

Yeah...try saying that and see how fast I would run with my kid.

You did good!

noahsmama · Mar 24, 2011

"um...errr...I'm really not that good, but I need to get my stick in and I need to learn sometime, but don't worry, I will only try a few times."
Yeah...try saying that and see how fast I would run with my kid.
You did good!

One of my fellow nursing students was going to place a Foley, but made the mistake of announcing that this would be his first one. Needless to say, it didn't end up being his first one -- the pt refused and he had to wait for another opportunity. I'm sure the next time he kept his mouth shut!

LouisVRN, RN · Mar 24, 2011

Part of our job is to reassure the patient while we take care of them as best as possible. In that aspect sometimes we need to "lie" in order to prevent the situation from getting worse. For example, a patient complaining of chest pain post-op. Pt franticly asks you if this is normal. How do you reply "Well...you could be having a heart attack" or "A lot of times it can be gas pains from the air they inserted during you laparoscopic procedure, but I'm going to get an EKG just to any cardiac complications out". Working post-op this is something I say almost nightly. Usually the patients are greatly relieved and the chest pain is relieved by the time EKG is done. However, one time I did get a pt that came back with ST elevation and he was sent to the cath lab, so you never know.

Kateoh82 · Mar 24, 2011

Fake it til you make it... Good for you though on your first try.

Caffeine_IV · Mar 24, 2011

Sounds fine to me!

I always hate to hear people say "Ok, I'm going to try and put an IV in you"

Have a little confidence in yourself and you did!