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 ?

that's certainly not a valid reason to call ems or for an er visit, but about 10 years ago, a great big spider bit me on my left armpit and it didn't itch. it itched! i couldn't use any deodorant for about two weeks, which was...uh...um...the pits(?) and used cornstarch instead.

while i realize just how wrong her transportation and visit were, it can still sympathize in some small way.

i think the point was, this was during katrina!

Specializes in Emergency/Trauma/Critical Care Nursing.

I had someone call 911 to bring them in because "they had a nightmare and wanted to get checked out" :confused: Gotta love detroit... lol

First, with the 5 year-old, that was in 1939, so I would question the accuracy of her age. I've had many people from rural Latin America who have no idea when their birthdays are or how old they are, so I would say it's entirely possible that she could be 8 or 9 or older. Especially in places like Guatemala, the women are teeny. I had a 30 year-old lady who came up just past my waist (I'm only 5'4"). She had 3 children and my co-workers were wondering where her mom was because she looked like she was 12. Granted the child in the pic is still way too young to be bearing children of her own, but it could be common in rural parts of Central America in the early 20th century.

My best nursing home patient...she was sent in at 7:30 PM to have her PICC line replaced after it was pulled out by accident at 10 AM! I called them and told the NH that the PICC department was open from 8-4 and they needed to call back during regular business hours to make an appt. I also asked how they managed to give the 2 PM dose of IV antibiotic (which was signed off on the MAR they sent) when she had no IV access. There was dead silence then the nurse told me "Well, I don't know. That happened on the previous shift". I also wanted to know why no one thought to address this problem earlier in the day, such as shortly after it happened! Still, no good answer. I placed a teeny tiny 22 in her hand and sent her back so they could give her meds. Duh!

She might have had an IV at the time but it somehow was not there when you met her.

Specializes in Medsurg/ICU, Mental Health, Home Health.
I had someone call 911 to bring them in because "they had a nightmare and wanted to get checked out" :confused: Gotta love detroit... lol

We get that in Delaware, too!

I read this whole thread! Took a few days but well worth it... thank you for the laughs!!

Specializes in ER.

Pt with a hx of sleep apnea presented to ED complaining of periods of no breathing during sleep previous night. States she thinks it might be getting worse. Already has CPAP.

She was summarily discharged without a single intervention and with instructions on her previously diagnosed condition.

infected paper cut per ambulance:yeah:

Would LOVE to be able to direct pts to Walgreens/CVS. Most days at least 1/4 of our waiting room could be taken care of with OTC meds.

A few of my favorite:

-Constipation x 2 days. Yep, called 911 for that one, arrived by ambulance

-Yeast infection

-"Raging fever" . . . 99.2

-Elevated BP, pt states, "I don't take those blood pressure pills. If it gets too high I just come in here and y'all fix it for me" [brilliant]

-"Both sides of my nose are stopped up and I don't like breathing through my mouth" (arrived at 0200)

-"vomiting for the past 19 years"

-wanting to be tested for swine flu even though pt has no symptoms because "I work with some Mexicans"

ahhhh, job security

Specializes in LTC, CPR instructor, First aid instructor..

Ain't that the truth!

Specializes in ED only.

We had a 63 year old male come to our ER a couple of days ago, complaining that his eyebrows hurt. After extensive testing because we didn't want to miss anything due to his age, he left with a diagnosis of myofacial pain and instructed to take tylenol!!!!!!!

And what normal rational person would decide that because his eyebrows hurt it demanded a trip to the ER? the ER takes care of crazy people ALL DAY LONG.

Specializes in Emergency Nursing.

1. an old lady was sent to the ED by her hairdresser, who found a "dangerous swelling" on her head, while he was cutting her hair. The little old lady had actually fallen a couple of weeks before, suffering from a mild head trauma.

The hairdresser wrote a paper for the ED, explaining that he was sending the lady because he was seriously worried about the risk that "an intracranial hemorrage was possibly trying to get out" of the little old lady's head.

I suppose the hairdresser was a Ridley Scott's "Aliens" movie fan...

2. a patient called an EMS ambulance at 4 in the morning and arrived at the ED because of his hemorrhoids...

and that guy had been suffering from hemorrhoids for at least 6 years. When I asked him why has he called an ambulance in the middle of the night for a problem he had since 2004, he answered that an ambulance was much more cheaper than a taxi (in Italy, EMS is for free, as well as hospital care)

3. a young, foreign girl who complained of "headache for the last seven years, never visited by her general pratictioner, no painkillers taken"

(by the way, that was the winner of my ED "funny triage of the year award", 2009 edition)

4. a patient who had been constipated "since a couple of hours"...

Just my 2 €cent ;)

Greetings from an Italian colleague

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