patients who LIE about their symptoms!

[HappyNurse2005, RN]

Had a pt w/ cardiomyopathy, EF 40%, CHF, htn, etc. In for exacerbation of CHF. Pt of internal med residents and cardiology. Pt was having short runs of vtach, 5 to 8 beats. Asymptomatic. well, at first!

TUrns out she was feeling weak and having "funny feelings" in her chest during these runs, but lied about it b/c she wanted to go home.

She's getting an AICD

Edited to add/clarify:

I now realize that it really doesn't matter who pays for it, so i deleted that sentence. That's not the point of this thread, nor was it to be snarky. It was simply complete surprise that said pt would lie. This is a woman who is already sick. Quite the cardiac history, plus copd/asthma/smoker. (point of all this being-she's sick)

I can see people who've never been sick before denying it, b/c they don't understand. This is someone who is already quite chronically ill, I would think that someone already with cardiac disease would value the importance of getting not lying about heart problems.

THe point of this is being surprised/not understanding. Not to be snarky.

[gonzo1, ASN, RN]

Seems to happen alot. Or they tell triage one thing, the nurse another and the doctor yet something else. In cases like this it is important to do a good assessment and watch vital signs carefully.

[justjenny]

She ended up staying and the taxpayers will be buying her an AICD.

Pretty harsh statement, there. Maybe she lied and she wanted to go home because

- she was scared

- she couldn't afford what she knew she needed

-who knows...??

Jenny

[Altra, BSN, RN]

Happens ... oh, about every 1/2 hour or so ...

[Bala Shark]

I sometimes disagree about how some people dislike about taxpayers paying for medical expenses..There are a lot of people in this world who are uninsured and cannot pay for costly medical costs..Without taxpayes help, these people would wind up dead and be left untreated..Well you can say I am a liberal in my way of thinking..

In Canada, there is universal health care where taxpayers pay the amount..

[begalli]

She ended up staying and the taxpayers will be buying her an AICD.

What would you rather have happened with this lady?

You can choose to look at it as a "lie." Or more appropriately you can look at it as DENIAL which is common almost 100% of the time.

I'd rather pay for this lady's AICD than a $4,000 white house toilet or a $500 screwdriver used to install that toilet!

[sirI, MSN, APRN, NP]

It is rather harsh to label these patients liars. Denial, as the above member stated, is normally a typical response in the face of possible admission. Denial of ANY cardiac s/s is typical...period. We all know that many have denied themselves right into the grave.

[puggymae]

Alot of times patients lie because the truth scares them so much.

And you can't blame them - we are pretty scary!

[EDValerieRN, ASN, RN]

And she must have eventually told someone, or else you guys would have never known.

I had a patient last night with RUQ pain, worsening after eating for 6 hours. When the doctor came in, it was chest wall pain after lifting a heavy object. The doc was reading my assessment thinking I was talking about a different patient. Pt had no explanation... I guess he thought we never speak to each other.

[begalli]

Unless there is a case manager involved I never have any idea what kind of insurance or lack of insurance a patient has. I really don't care and it's not something that I seek to find out.

So I'm just wondering, do other regular ole bedside nurses strive to find out insurance information? Does it really concern us or is it necessary to the nursing care given a patient?

My answer is no.

[maolin]

I'm confused - Would that the pt hadn't "lied" about her s/sx - would it have made a difference in the eventual outcome of receiving a "taxpayer" funded AICD? Or is it that if the pt not said anything about having symptoms w/ the VT, would have been discharged home, arrested and died, thereby saving the taxpayers the cost of the AICD?

[VivaLasViejas, ASN, RN]

Why on earth does it matter who pays for the AICD the patient needed?

I hate to say it, but this thread is yet another that's headed for the scrap heap if this keeps up. We have had far too many threads get ugly lately because of unnecessarily harsh or judgmental comments. I will ask everybody to PLEASE think before you post, so that members who wish to continue to participate in a discussion may do so, instead of having an otherwise useful and interesting thread shut down because other posters can't seem to control the urge to post something snarky. That's not fair.

Thank you.