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 ?

Now really. Do you expect anything else from Nursing Home nurses. Granted there are a few that really love their work and really love the elderly.

All the rest Ive met are losers who cant cut it working anything else.

Your remark was really out of line.

Why the silence???? You were bold enough to post such an insult, why won't you answer any of the responses??

I sure have a negative opinion of you, now. Whenever I see anything else you post in the future I will always remember how you insulted NH nurses.

Remarks like that put you in the loser category, in my opinion.

{And I'm NOT sorry, teeituptom.}

Specializes in home & public health, med-surg, hospice.
One time when my nephew was 2 years old, he was crying uncontrolably.My sister being a new mom freaked out , she assumed the worst and called the ambulance. I tried to consule her the best i could but it was no use. After he was examined he was dx with a temper tandrum.

LOL, nursemelly! As extreme as that story sounds, I wonder how many new moms have considered it??? I know there were times if I'd had about an ounce less patience, I probably would have!!! :)

I had this rocket scientist call and tell me he bit his tongue and what should he do? After assuring him that salt water and mouth wash guargle would be good he called an hour later and still was worried. I told him to come in, wondering if anything might be wrong. He showed up with a small abrashion on his tongue. The doc took one look and told him he is fine. :p

1. pt who came in with a potato growing in her lady parts, had previously been in for a tennis ball insertion. Her reasons were that the lady partsl weights prescribed were to expensive.

2. pt with an earring stuck up his rectum that caused a rectal bleed (think a silver sun and moon shoved way up there). I had to place 5 iv sites in him because he kept pulling them out. Turns out he came from a drug rehab and was thinking that the earring could get him a prescription of percocet. He pulled the iv's out because he didnt want the small dose of morphine that was ordered

3. This was years ago and told to me by my nursing supervisor...he once treated a woman with a concussion and broken teeth, while her husband was rushed into surgery for reattachment of his member. Supposedly she had a seizure condition and during an intimate moment her teeth locked up. He hit her in the face with the lamp.

Okay, I'm going to be the devil's advocate here. No, I don't think nurses who work with the nursing home/extended care population are stupid or uncaring. However, this is an ER thread...

At least once a weekend I have a patient come to the ER from the nursing home with altered level of consciousness and fever. UTI every time. I've cared for hypoglycemic patients who were given their insulin in the morning then no one came around to feed them. I've taken care of a patient with a small skin tear sent by ambulance who was as hot as a fire cracker - fever 104 rectally, but no one at the nursing home had noticed (or it they did, they didn't bother to tell me - and no, it didn't just happen, our nursing home is one block from the hospital).

So, like I said before, I don't think the nursing home nurses are dumb or lazy. Well. maybe one or two, just like there are in hospitals and every place else nurses work. But mostly I think they're overworked, understaffed and, most likely, underpaid.

I had a teenage girl come by ambulance (when the medics called they said she had abdominal pain). Medics wheel her into the ED, and she is screaming and writhing.

Her CC: Menstrual cramps.

angel337 said:
a hang nail with no c/o pain. he could have at least said it hurt ?

I have a few funny ones, but will only mention one.

We had a patient come in at 0300 to the emergency room because he lost his tonsils and could not see them in the mirror, and of course he needed a medical screening and he was given benadryl for sleep

Specializes in NICU/Neonatal transport.

fab: Don't be so quick to say that's ridiculous. As someone who suffers from endometriosis, before I was dx'd, it was really scary when I would get cramps from it. I would pass out eventually, but I would also be in about a 9 of 10 to 10 of 10 amount of pain until that time. My parents had to keep the pain relievers from me because I would get delirious and they were afraid I would accidentally OD, trying to get some pain relief.

jyoung1950 said:
As a matter of fact, in the wee hours of Monday morning, I woke up with severe pain on my left side front and back and radiating down my groin. I also had alot of pressure to urinate but when I tried could only void a very small amount. Also had vomiting and nausea.

Well, the pain would not subside. Any Tylenol I tried to take for it was vomited up.

Finally after 3 hours of this, I dragged my aching body to the car and drove down to the ER at 4:30 in the morning. I could not understand what could be causing the pain and was, understandably, afraid.

There was blood in my urine and they did a catscan, but the nurses had already figured out I had a kidney stone ("doing the kidney stone dance").

They put an IV in me for fluid and pain medicine and when I was awake enough let me go home with vicodin and suppositories for nausea and vomiting. Doc instructed me to see a urologist in the next couple days.

I hope the ER staff didn't think me coming down with a KS was silly. I live alone and just have myself to depend on. They sure did help me out - the pain was unbearable.

Just a little anecdotal story.

I think that is a very GOOD reason to go the the ER!

JUSTYSMOM said:
and do 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 ?

Right foot was a little numb for two months- just decided to have it checked out that night. Same patient comes in twice a week every week for a plethora of aches and pains.

This is not an ER visit but it made me laugh and I thought that I would share.

I was out at the smoke shack (no I do not smoke but I was chatting with a friend over lunch) any way there was an phone operator there and she starts telling me the following story.

A lady calls the hospital distressed because her cat is having kittens. When the operator says that we only deliver babies she says, "I am using my only quarter, could you just give me some advice." Well apparently none of the other phone operators had any cats soo... (you guessed it) they transferred her to L&D.

I laughed until I cried when I heard this, I can just picture those OB nurses answering the phone :Labor and delivery this is >>>>>> how can I help you :chuckle :chuckle :chuckle

fab4fan said:
I had a teenage girl come by ambulance (when the medics called they said she had abdominal pain). Medics wheel her into the ED, and she is screaming and writhing.

Her CC: Menstrual cramps. :stone

Ohhhh, I'd be careful with this one Fab4. I started having problems when I was 12, dx with possible endometriosis at age 15 (first surgery). I have an extremely high pain tolerance, probably because of those experiences so young. I used to take every OTC pain med you could, with absolutely no relief. When I finally got prescription pain meds, getting rid of the pain meant I couldn't even function, just sleep. It SUCKED. When I finally had my daughter (which incidentally ended my painful periods but not my problems), one of the first things out of my mouth was that birth had NOTHING on my cramps. I had a natural delivery, no epidural, no meds. Labor didn't even touch what I went through on a monthly basis.

My uterus went to it's resting place at the age of 35. After multiple bouts of anemia, numerous surgeries for polyps, a fibroid the size of a baseball, I had a vag hyst. I had a uterus 14cm big (my doctor, who is incredible, said, "My that's a BIG one!), still did it lady partslly. Post op pain wasn't as bad as the cramps of my youth.

Just food for thought.

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