What was the MOST ridiculous thing a patient came to the ER for?

Specialties Emergency Nursing Q/A

And did you have to treat them?

I am just curious. Your stories always seem to either crack me up or shake my head in amazement.

Thanks for sharing ?

Last Sunday, a 400 lb woman who lives one hour away from the city I work in called an ambulance to take her to the ED. Her complaint? Needed a prescription refill. The doctor I worked with wasn't too happy, and neither were the EMTs that transported her. In her discharge instructions, he asked me to type in "Do NOT come to the Emergency Department for prescription refills". How she got back home, I don't know, and I'm not sure I care.

I've responded to " RX refill " calls a few times and when asked what hospital they wanted to go to i got med com on the radio, put thru to the ER physician at that hospital, explained what i had and let the patient hear for themselves that they would be seen if they had a cc but no refills would be given and that the wait in the ER was over 8 hours. Most of the time they would sign a pt refusal. It kept our unit available for a true emergency ( or another refill call lol ) and it saved the ER time and a bed.

The ED I work in has no such policy. All ambulances, no matter the complaint, are seen right away. Even if there are 50+ patients in the waiting room. It helps when the ambulance brings in an MI or trauma, but it's flipping ridiculous for the minor complaints.

BTW, that has been the only time the doctor asked me to write "Do not come to the ED for prescription refills". There have been so many times I've been tempted to ask the doctor if I should write that in the discharge instructions, but I just keep my mouth shut. After all, I don't want Press Gainey scores to go south.

Specializes in Emergency.

We had a good one just last week. A 55yo F called the ambulance about 2300. When she got to the ED this is what she told anyone who would listen "I had a big fight with my neighbor today and I figured if I was taken away in an ambulance he would feel very bad. I want him to feel very bad. Now I'm sure he does."

We had a good one just last week. A 55yo F called the ambulance about 2300. When she got to the ED this is what she told anyone who would listen "I had a big fight with my neighbor today and I figured if I was taken away in an ambulance he would feel very bad. I want him to feel very bad. Now I'm sure he does."

A good ole 603 aka 51/50 sounds appropriate for this lady :) I bet she would think twice about doing it again ! Sounds as if she meets the criteria for it LOL

Specializes in med-surg.

Pardon my ignorance, but is there ever a time when the triage nurse/doc can just inform the patients that their situation is not an emergency, and to get their butts to their PCP or clinic?

Also can't there be some kind of public service announcements on TV/radio/newspapers to educate the public about what a true emergency is and when a visit to the ER actually warranted?

What is the solution? :confused:

Pardon my ignorance, but is there ever a time when the triage nurse/doc can just inform the patients that their situation is not an emergency, and to get their butts to their PCP or clinic?

Also can't there be some kind of public service announcements on TV/radio/newspapers to educate the public about what a true emergency is and when a visit to the ER actually warranted?

What is the solution? :confused:

nurses, no; docs yes...

the second part: they dont care.

Specializes in ED.

I had a patient who came in because he vomited 2 days ago, No N/V since, it was resolved and wanted to know why??????????????

Pardon my ignorance, but is there ever a time when the triage nurse/doc can just inform the patients that their situation is not an emergency, and to get their butts to their PCP or clinic?

Also can't there be some kind of public service announcements on TV/radio/newspapers to educate the public about what a true emergency is and when a visit to the ER actually warranted?

What is the solution? :confused:

I mentioned earlier in this thread that taking your kids to the ER because your ex-spouse has to pay their medical bills and you want to soak him/her is not an emergency either. I have a relative who did this until her kids made it very clear that they did not want to spend their time going to doctors when they weren't sick. :mad:

Specializes in Trauma/ED, SANE/FNE, LNC.
Pardon my ignorance, but is there ever a time when the triage nurse/doc can just inform the patients that their situation is not an emergency, and to get their butts to their PCP or clinic?

Also can't there be some kind of public service announcements on TV/radio/newspapers to educate the public about what a true emergency is and when a visit to the ER actually warranted?

What is the solution? :confused:

not since 1998 when EMTALA was put into law. My solution for the healthcare crisis..... abolish EMTALA

Specializes in ER, NICU.

Had a patient yesterday who came in non verbal, suspected stroke. Turns out she had a fight with the hubby and decided to fake a stroke. She was suddenly and miraculously healed when the Doc told her the side effects of tp-A were brain bleed and death. :banghead:

Specializes in Family medicine, cardiology, hematology.
4. Shortly after Hurricane Katrina we saw multiple patients from same family who came to ER for " Hurricane flashbacks" and told us their doc from back home said only Oxycontin would help alleviate the flashbacks and it would be easier to give them 60 day supply until they could get back. So i asked which city in LA they were from and they couldn't remember, they were that traumatized. I made up a city, yep thats where they were from, i made up a street name.. would you believe they lived on that same street !

For all the BS that came into the ER, some of them were miraculously healed after a nice 8 and 12 hour theraputic wait :)

I was working in a hematology/oncology office in Central La. during Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. It was horrible trying to help people who were receiving chemo and not having access to their records.

One memorable pt. came in stating he had "bone cancer" and needed his extensive list of meds refilled but didn't really want to get "treatment". The MD scheduled him for a PET (i think) to see how bad his "cancer" was and start his treatment. She gave him enough pain meds to make it through the test and come back for f/u.

The dude never showed up for testing. We rescheduled; he no-showed again. Then he wanted r/f on pain meds. MD wouldn't refill meds until he had test and f/u visit. We never heard from him again. It's amazing how people run scams during disasters :madface:

Specializes in Cardiac, Derm, OB.
Do not feel bad! I was ER nurse and my son - also 7 or 8 - had extreme abdominal pain, nausea and vomiting. He cried when anyone touched his belly so off to the ER we went (it was the Er where I worked). the Doc thought appendicitis and sent us to a surgeon. After another round of tests and before sending us to be admitted the surgeon ordered a strep test. Guess what he had strep. I felt like an idiot!!! Turns out that for some, abdominal pain is an indicator of a significant case of strep.

I thought we were the only ones that did this. Glad to know there are at least two.

When I worked Pedi, we saw several cases of strep throat that were abdominal pain, N&V. My own son when he gets strep usually has nausea and abdominal pain even when there is no sore throat?? go figure.

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