...to call whatever facility administered the shot, right during the visit, and I’m fine with verbal confirmation.

I’ve never had a record called in to court, and i hope to keep it that way until my anticipated retirement in 2021 (by then, I will have been a pediatric nurse practitioner for 45 years - time to hang it up).

I know that when a record is part of a law suit, the plaintiff’s attorneys go over every letter of the chart with the proverbial fine-tooth comb. It wouldn’t surprise me if that were to include verifying immunization dates, and if one were to be found, aren’t we setting ourselves up for increased suspicion that other entries in the chart are untruthful?

Document everything accurately. "Parent reports little Sally got her flu shot last month" seems like a great way to go.

Went for annual physical and the pharmacy sent the record to my doctor. Doc said “great, I see you got your flu shot at the pharmacy”.

If someone tells the office that they got a flu shot elsewhere, I'm sure the doc or staff asked when. My new doc asked the samem for colonoscopy and some other stuff. If the patient doesn't know the exact date, what is the alternative? I guess one could say "apparently some time in October 2018." But the EMR might actually require a date.

I think the doc likely knows what they are doing, and whether it's October 3, October 15, or whenever they got it, doesn't make a lot of difference unless there is a recall or something. Point is, I don't really think you are making something up that will affect patient care if the parent can be trusted. Now, if the doc tells you to make up a date for a Pneumococcal vaccine (that was not administered) and bill it to insurance as if your employer administered the vaccine, that's an issue.