patients who LIE about their symptoms!

[HappyNurse2005]

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.

[banditrn]

Well, I've had a few of them fib to get to stay.

Yep, sounds like denial to me - I've also had one's brought in 'under protest' by a family member or someone after they've had symptoms for a long time, and didn't want to come in.

[begalli]

But what is the point of this thread if not snarky to begin with, right?

[leslie :-D]

it sounds like she was a candidate for an aicd anyway, regardless of whether she lied or not.

i'm not seeing the relevance.

happynurse, is this the first time a pt has lied to you?

i thought it was known that pts who lie, usually do so out of fear.

i'd probably try and do the same thing.

leslie

[TZRNER]

And what about the people who come in c/o feeling weak for a week with stable vital signs, so they wait out in Triage for 4 hours and come back and tell the nurse they had open heart surgery last week and didn't tell the triage nurse because they thought they should have known they were here last week.

[P_RN, ADN, RN]

that patient decided to lie? i seriously doubt that. more likely she was scared stiff. to the layman funny feelings in her chest was the call of the grim reaper. more likely she'd had it before and it went away. would we rather have her sent out the door and die in front of her kids? i don't get this post. to me it's a terrified patient who was in total denial anything was wrong.

and someone mentioned

well, i've had a few of them fib to get to stay

i hope you didn't mean they could put themselves into fibrillation?

let's be nicer in our posts.

[Spidey's mom, ADN, BSN, RN]

Ok I'm just gonna ask it . . . .

What is "AICD"?

:sofahider steph

[Little Panda RN, ASN, RN]

Ok I'm just gonna ask it . . . .

What is "AICD"?

:sofahider steph

Automatic Implantable Cardiodefibrillator

[Little Panda RN, ASN, RN]

Automatic Implantable Cardiodefibrillator

I think I spelled it correctly?

[jetscreamer101]

automatic internal cardiac defibrillators

[Little Panda RN, ASN, RN]

automatic internal cardiac defibrillators

Thank you, I knew it was something like that, leave it to me to botch how it is said, just ask my husband!:chuckle

[MuddaMia]

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!

:yeahthat:

[HappyNurse2005, RN]

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?

It is on their face sheet, and I find out to see if the pt needs a social services consult. She was a self pay. It is also where we see if the pt has a primary care doc or not (some docs utilize hospitalists so they don't have to see the pt in the hospital, but sometimes a pt on the hospitalists service doesn't have a PCP and will need assistance to find one)

Self pay pt's can get 3 days worth of their meds for free from the pharmacy upon discharge-gives them a stop gap until they can find a free clinic. So if I see a pt that is self pay, I put in a social work consult.

What if said self pay pt gets a cardiac cath, and needs Plavix, which is quite expensive? I can make sure the case manager knows and helps them get enrolled with the drug company to get the plavix at a reduced price.

Self pay pt's can also be referred to have eligibiilty assistance come help them apply for assistance with their hospital bills, get med samples from doc's office, etc.

As a proactive nurse, who cares for the whole pt and not just their medical condition, yes, i make sure my pt has resources to pay for their medications. How effective is it to fix their medical condition if we throw them out to the wolves with no way to maintain?