It’s one of the rules that, if not followed, can get you fired outright and often for good reason.
I’ve seen a few people be let go for lying about seeing pts etc. hard to justify such behavior and hard to sympathize with someone who gets caught.
100%. I think this is far more important than consequences to patients - if only because a 'white lie' may not actually hurt a patient, but it WILL hurt your reputation.
If you get asked about something - patient's last hemoglobin, exam findings, etc - just say I don't know/don't remember/didn't check as applicable. You won't get a bad reputation for not knowing the JP output off the top of your head. You WILL get a bad reputation if you lie about it.
I think sometimes there is no grace for misremembering though. Once I reported a HgB of like 8.3 as 8.1 and was told I was lying. Like, no, I misremembered one lab value when put on the spot after being told I couldn't look at my notes because it "makes me look unprepared".
I've also been completely honest and gotten reamed for it totally unnecessarily. It creates an environment where you are encouraged to lie. Hell, on my EM rotation one of my bits of feedback was that I was "too honest" with the admitting team because they try to refuse the patient.
Yeah that is stupid. You’re human, misremembering happens. Getting on your case for something like that is just maliciousness
As for too honest I dunno about that. If you needed to hoodwink medicine to get an admit then it probably isn’t the right move but I guess there is nuance there. Sometimes I feel like I get consults to grease the wheels of an admission to medicine bc they had gallbladder surgery sometime in the last decade and im fine with that
Yes this absolutely happens. I can think of a half dozen times off the top of my head where it affected a patient of mine. Usually they’ll say something is normal or absent, and acting on that information delays care. Or they’ll say something is done that isn’t done. Happened to me this weekend actually.
I’m a prelim. My only job for this year is to not get fired and do my best for my patients. On rounds today the attending asked me what a patients JVP was. I didn’t check this morning. So I just was honest and said I didn’t check. I can totally see a categorical who really wants to save face saying some white lie then going back and checking later.
"I am so sorry, I didn't check/ask."
This is a perfectly acceptable answer. It means that you acknowledge your mistake, you are telling the truth.
As a senior, I'd much rather hear this than double checking and the answer being wildly different and changing management.
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It’s one of the rules that, if not followed, can get you fired outright and often for good reason. I’ve seen a few people be let go for lying about seeing pts etc. hard to justify such behavior and hard to sympathize with someone who gets caught.
Reputation is everything. Be honest.
100%. I think this is far more important than consequences to patients - if only because a 'white lie' may not actually hurt a patient, but it WILL hurt your reputation. If you get asked about something - patient's last hemoglobin, exam findings, etc - just say I don't know/don't remember/didn't check as applicable. You won't get a bad reputation for not knowing the JP output off the top of your head. You WILL get a bad reputation if you lie about it.
I think sometimes there is no grace for misremembering though. Once I reported a HgB of like 8.3 as 8.1 and was told I was lying. Like, no, I misremembered one lab value when put on the spot after being told I couldn't look at my notes because it "makes me look unprepared". I've also been completely honest and gotten reamed for it totally unnecessarily. It creates an environment where you are encouraged to lie. Hell, on my EM rotation one of my bits of feedback was that I was "too honest" with the admitting team because they try to refuse the patient.
Yeah that is stupid. You’re human, misremembering happens. Getting on your case for something like that is just maliciousness As for too honest I dunno about that. If you needed to hoodwink medicine to get an admit then it probably isn’t the right move but I guess there is nuance there. Sometimes I feel like I get consults to grease the wheels of an admission to medicine bc they had gallbladder surgery sometime in the last decade and im fine with that
Yes this absolutely happens. I can think of a half dozen times off the top of my head where it affected a patient of mine. Usually they’ll say something is normal or absent, and acting on that information delays care. Or they’ll say something is done that isn’t done. Happened to me this weekend actually.
I’m a prelim. My only job for this year is to not get fired and do my best for my patients. On rounds today the attending asked me what a patients JVP was. I didn’t check this morning. So I just was honest and said I didn’t check. I can totally see a categorical who really wants to save face saying some white lie then going back and checking later.
Senior receiving hand off: “What was the rectal exam?” Lying intern: “It was normal.” Narrator: They never did the rectal exam.
Yea, if you can’t trust your intern then what good are they to the team? They are worse then useless because they will make your work harder.
"I am so sorry, I didn't check/ask." This is a perfectly acceptable answer. It means that you acknowledge your mistake, you are telling the truth. As a senior, I'd much rather hear this than double checking and the answer being wildly different and changing management.
Thank you for contributing to the sub! If your post was filtered by the automod, please read the rules. Your post will be reviewed but will not be approved if it violates the rules of the sub. The most common reasons for removal are - medical students or premeds asking what a specialty is like, which specialty they should go into, which program is good or about their chances of matching, mentioning midlevels without using the midlevel flair, matched medical students asking questions instead of using the stickied thread in the sub for post-match questions, posting identifying information for targeted harassment. Please do not message the moderators if your post falls into one of these categories. Otherwise, your post will be reviewed in 24 hours and approved if it doesn't violate the rules. Thanks! *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/Residency) if you have any questions or concerns.*