RNs caught lying

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I'm an RN and was hospitalized for a few days recently. The hospital staff did not know I was an RN. Towards the end of my stay I asked one of the nurses to look at my chart. Being the curious George that I am, I looked at the nursing narrative and was shocked (alright, shocked is a little over the top, surprised?) at how many lied about assessing "this" or assessing "that" and/or the activities they perfomed. Some said they inspected my skin for bedsores, some said they assessed my wound, a couple said they provided me some education, some said they assessed my pedal pulses, one said they did catheter care (I didn't even have a Foley!). The amount of lying that went into the documentation was quite astounding. It wasn't just one particular nurse, it was most of the nurses. It was as if they were pulling things out of mid-air. This posting has no other purpose other than to share my experience. I always chart what I actually do... call me old fashioned. I didn't mention anything because I know how busy the job can be, and I'm not one to cause commotion if it can be avoided. I know that it is possible to mix up patient care, but it occured way too frequently to be a mix up.

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That is disturbing, Hmmm....

Anyway, I hope you are well now.

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Specializes in Assisted Living nursing, LTC/SNF nursing.

All I can say is, "oh my." :uhoh21::uhoh21::uhoh21:

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Was it a check list you were looking at? It is very easy to go down a check list and check things off you didn't do. Those things encourage lying and mistakes.

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Why are they lying about this stuff? Is there some reason / incentive to get a certain number of procedures / treatments in per client? Nurses are billed along with the room, so I can't see the point is all. Other than the overly simple, "Gee, I sure filled up the page full of work, didn't I?!"---I sure hope it isn't that....

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"one said they did catheter care (I didn't even have a Foley!). "

That is CRAZY!!!

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Specializes in MSP, Informatics.
Was it a check list you were looking at? It is very easy to go down a check list and check things off you didn't do. Those things encourage lying and mistakes.

that is what I was wondering also.... You see it time and again, a check list makes it so automatic when you chart. We get amputees that have great pulses bilaterally! and if the nurse before you checked a box...it makes it easier to mindlessly check the same box in your assessment column.

When I had my Appy at our hospital, only one nurse looked at my surgical site. But I bet they all charted that they did. (Not that I wanted them looking once I was out of anestesia!)

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What I'd do, if seeing the chart wasn't done by hospital policy, then request it from medical records officially. Then go through it and tell them what was and was not done. There may be things in there that weren't done and you and your insurance company will be billed for.

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Specializes in DOU.

As a student, I saw certain nurses embellish their charts. Also, it was amazing how ALL of my patients always had respiratory rates of 18 when the CNAs took the vital signs. I think there is a lot of poor work ethic out there.

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Specializes in Oncology.

We have checklist charting, and when reviewing my charting at the end of the day, I often catch myself having "mischecked" things, stating, for example, that I provided post-operative teaching, when I meant to document that I taught regarding their medications, but they're next to each other on the checklist.

I'll also document things that may not be deemed "formal" education, but if I'm giving a patient their medications and saying, "This is your coreg, it's for your heart" I count that as education.

I also may not "formally" check for bedsores, but if I'm looking at a patient's butt while toileting them, I'll document that I assessed for bedsores.

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Specializes in Nursing Professional Development.

For some items, I think blongy2061h is probably right. Nurses often accomplish a combination of tasks quickly. We all need to remember that before we assume the nurses in question were so grossly negligent and criminally dishonest.

However, I think this thread raises some really interesting questions that deserve further study. Does the use of checklists lead people to an increase in "over-documentation?" Something like that would make a great research project for someone.

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Specializes in MSP, Informatics.

However, I think this thread raises some really interesting questions that deserve further study. Does the use of checklists lead people to an increase in "over-documentation?" Something like that would make a great research project for someone.

that is a good point. I see over and over, nurses checking the lung sounds every 2 hours, when we usually assess lung sounds at the start of the shift on everyone, and then with every breathing TX for anyone that has a resp problem. And PRN for anyone else. So the CHF pt gets Lung sounds more often. someone in for something unrelated, with no resp HX gets the once a shift lung sound assessment. Yet, some nurses check the box for Lung sounds every 2 hrs. Or even write clear every 2 hrs. Same with Bowel sounds, and pulses. you would only be checking pulses q2h if they had a DVT, or some other circ problem. But if anyone looks at the chart, it looks like some nurses wake the pt up every 2 hrs to feel their feet!

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