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

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 ?

Specializes in Cardiac/Telemetry, Hospice, Home Health.
The answer is "NO".

I think you handled it poorly. Laughing at a young girl who may be subjected to bestiality is hardly what I would call a professional intervention.

Getting more information and facts would be better than snickering.

I am with you on this one scampi - I hope I never become so jaded that I would snicker at this. I don't care how many people tell me to "get over myself" or that it is how nurses deal with stress. It is tragic and this girl needs help if not a compassionate direct answer at the least.

Signed student, ...with rose colored glasses?

"I'm hungry"

One of our frequent flyers who is a homeless asthmatic would (we suspect) purposely not take his meds in order to get seen. During each visit he would ask multiple times for a meal and frequently would get denied. One day, he came in and thought that if he complained about his "nutritional deficiency" he would get treatment. Unfortunately that didn't work...he got a couple of neb treatments and was instructed to go to the local shelter.

We get a lot of patients with "emotional upset"........generally hyperventilating, and legless.....immediately need a wheelchair or they end up flopping on the floor. Two spectacular cases come to mind....

Precipitating factor for the first - His team lost the soccer match........

Precipitating factor for the second - Lost his wallet........

:rolleyes:

We had a lady(approx 45 yrs old) come in with this complaint: " I have a bump down there".... we figured she had an abcess or cyst. NOPE.. the NP examined her and couldn't find the "bump" so asked the lady to show her where it was, we it was the "bump" she was born with!!! Everyone got a good laugh off of that one. The NP said She doesn't know what she's been missing all these years!!! We all said she would be back the next week for an irritated bump!!!:lol2: :lol2: It's bad when people don't even know their own bodies

:lol2: :rotfl: :rotfl: :D :roll HILARIOUS!!!

The best one I've had recently was a guy (approx 35 yrs) who when asked what the problem was informed me that "he had been looking in the mirror and noticed the black part of his eye getting large then small, more so when he moved his face backwards and forwards and now he had a headache".

At which point I had to excuse myself, so I could walk away and not laugh in his face!!:rotfl:

Now THAT's funny.

Specializes in ED-CEN/PACU/Flight.
Shoes and earrings? Huh?

Yes - I stood there for a moment with my mouth hanging open. So somehow I managed to respond with, "Sorry, fresh out..."

She got mad, stomped out the door, and left.

Specializes in ER.

Had a NH patient yeterday come by paramedic ambulance. The nurse said he had some green drainage from his nose and the end of his nose was red, she was very concerned about a infection going to his brain!!!! Diagnosis??? COLD!!! She seemed very annoyed that he was returning to the NH only after being gone for 30 min.

Where do I start.

I broke my glasses

I slipped in the shower and my 3 y.o grabbed the shower rod and the end is stuck in my rectum. ( yeah that's how it happened, that's the ticket)

I was scratching my "roids" with a cresent wrench and slipped on the bathroom rug.. ("I now have a colostomy )

I'm having guppies. ( and a psych consult)

I have a sunburn ( not even that bad)

There are so many to mention, I'm just to tired to sit here for hours.

Specializes in Trauma, Teaching.

As far as EMS refusing transport, all the studies I've seen have too high of rates of missing a critical diagnosis. The consensus is that EMS are very well trained to deal with acute and urgent situations, but not trained enough in differential diagnosis (and the subtleties involved). (The UNM study).

England had a large study done on nurses and EMS (at different times) doing a telephone triage to see if dispatching an ambulance was really needed, but it took as long to the history as it would for the rig to get there most of the time. And again, too many undertriages.

Seems like a hangnail complaint would be a no brainer though! [bANANA]its a crazy world out there![/bANANA]

I am an ob nurse so I had a patient come to the ob triage with a complaint of her water broke. Her husband was with her and he asked me if the swelling in her ankles could be because her water was leaking and was running down into her ankles !!!!!!!:lol2: :uhoh3:

Specializes in CCU/ER.

At 3:30am the other night, I triaged a beautiful, smiling, chunky baby girl. Parents complaint? The baby got upset about something. She cried really really hard--until her face got bright red, and her eyelids even got red. So they rushed her right to the ER!

:lol2:

Specializes in Med-Surg, Tele, Psych.
I am an ob nurse so I had a patient come to the ob triage with a complaint of her water broke. Her husband was with her and he asked me if the swelling in her ankles could be because her water was leaking and was running down into her ankles !!!!!!!:lol2: :uhoh3:

:uhoh3: HUH???? I can't even laugh at that one.... in fact, I'm speechless.

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