Bending the truth: professionals narratives about lying and deception in nursing practice

The article describes the nurses' intention, role, the nature of relationships and context and how institutional culture impacts on disclosure to clients and how nurses' distinguish lying from other deceptive practices.

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to capture an insight into the phenomenon of lying as part of the deception employed by a group of practising nurses from a variety of clinical settings. The importance of this research is that it adds to the limited knowledge of the range of situations in which nurses use deception. A case study research approach was utilised. The findings presented in this article emphasise the complexity of the subject within a dynamic social context. The article describes the nurses' intention, role, the nature of relationships and context and how institutional culture impacts on disclosure to clients. Additionally, it describes how nurses' distinguish lying from other deceptive practices. These findings have relevance for clinical practice and continuing applied ethics research.