Is there ever a good time for therapeutic lying?
The benefits of deceit might flow less to a patient than to the nurses. It can be tough to care for someone who holds no hope, and such lies can encourage an otherwise reluctant patient to participate in physical therapy.
But the short-term benefit of jollying a patient along with false hope does not offset the long-term peril of lying. Sooner or later, many patients figure out what’s what, and those who have been lied to may well resent it.
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