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 ?

Where are you supposed to go? How about McDonalds? They are hiring and they provide insurance.

They may provide insurance now, but unless you were in management, until very recently that was not true.

And it might be so expensive, many people can't afford it.

:banghead:OK All, here are some of my favorites:

No one, in the history of ED or LE, has ever come across someone who has an astronomical BAL and had more than two Beers.

Some Dude, That Dude and That Bit*h cause most of the visits to the ED.

Two Black dudes, Two White dudes or Two Mexican dudes cause all of the GSWs and stabbings in the U.S.(we could solve crime in America if we can find these 6 Dudes)

Most Trauma/ED visits in Texas are prefaced with , "here, hold my Beer"!

For the rest of the country, Trauma/ ED visits are prefaced with, "hey, watch this, I saw it on TV!"

No one ever is doing anything before a Trauma/ED visit but "standing on the corner, minding my own business (SOCMOB)", or reading the Bible to my Grandmother on the porch.:banghead::nono::no:

Thanks again for letting me rant.

"And now, for something completely different!"

When "America's Funniest Home Videos" debuted, ERs got LOTS of business from people trying to get on that show. Ditto "Jackass" and now YouTube.

They may provide insurance now, but unless you were in management, until very recently that was not true.

And it might be so expensive, many people can't afford it.

Going to the ER for nonemergent issues is abuse of the system plain and simple. Most of the time over the counter stuff would help but....they don't want to pay for it. :banghead:

Specializes in Psychiatry.
Going to the ER for nonemergent issues is abuse of the system plain and simple. Most of the time over the counter stuff would help but....they don't want to pay for it. :banghead:

Or they go to the ER and leave with an RX for ASPIRIN because they don't want to pay for it.

I know this is true. I worked at a hospital outpt pharmacy and saw it happen several times.

They may provide insurance now, but unless you were in management, until very recently that was not true.

And it might be so expensive, many people can't afford it.

So a SMART person may take that as a hint to prioritize, plan, and THINK before they make lifestyle changes that put them in that position.

Some people do legitimately get disabled, run afoul of the court system unwittingly, or otherwise find themselves destitite, and I do not favor leaving them without some TEMPORARY help.

But look at the people in that position, many or most of them put themselves there. And having kids when YOU (not the taxpapers) can't feed, clothe, and shelter them (and provide them with medical care) is putting yourself there.

Specializes in ER - trauma/cardiac/burns. IV start spec.

A ambulance patient with a broken fingernail. She had the long tips and pulled nail loose from nail bed and called ambulance.::doh:doh:

Specializes in ER, PACU.

I got a good one. From the nursing home. Little old lady (in her 80's) who is totally A+O x 3, she knew what was going on more than I did. Hair and nails done, clean looking, ambulatory with a walker lady. What did the nursing home send her to the ER for? Suicidal Ideation. OK, so I ask the EMT's what happened and they tell me to let her the story and they can verify that she is telling the truth. (They say they know her very well, she is not a patient often but she is always sitting around the nurses station when they pick up other patients and she talks with them).

"Maam, what happened? Why did they send you to the hospital?"

"The Aide tried to force feed me, they were having lasagna that night and it tastes like crap so I refused to eat it. For a good hour they kept trying to force feed me and finally I told them if they don't stop trying to get me to eat this garbage they call food, I am going to jump out the window!"

So there you go. Right on ambulance/nursing home papers. Chief Complaint: Suicidal Ideation :chuckle

Of course seen by psych shortly after arrival, sent back to nursing home as she wanted it.

Any excuse from these nursing homes to empty out before the weekend so they don't have to do any work :nono:

Specializes in Hospitalist.

Ah, NHDD (Nursing Home Dump Day). There's nothing quite like it to make your already busy Friday even better.

Ah, NHDD (Nursing Home Dump Day). There's nothing quite like it to make your already busy Friday even better.

LOL Everyday is NHDD

Theyre really ridiculous, last night we had a 89 male come in because he was agitated. Know what he did the whole 5 hours he was there? Sleep.

He was discharged from a regular floor earlier that day to go back to NH

Comes into the ER at 0400 because the NH MD that saw him earlier thought he was agitated.

For crying out loud, what did they expect us to do?

Specializes in LTC, ER.

I love the people who come into the er, on midnight shift to say that they can't sleep. It makes me so angry. What do they expect me to do about it? And I really feel that 99% of the abd pain/vomiting people are ridiculous. I just want to teach a class to the community, some things that I would cover would be- vomiting one time is not an emergency, not only is coming to the hospital for a toothache inappropriate, but taking an ambulance for a toothache is even worse, everyone should have benadryl, tylenol, asa, and motrin at home, and try taking them before coming to the hospital for pain meds.

Imagine this... during a Level 3 ( level 3 is the most severe) snow storm/blizzard a patient with 3 small children drove to the ED at 3 am with a complaint of a rash on her buttocks that had been present for 3months. This patient c/o pain 10/10 and nausea with vomiting ( at no time was an emesis noted). This patient requested Dilaudid, Phenergan, (and stated that she usually gets 2mg of Dilaudid) and that Benadryl was also needed because she itches with Dilaudid. upon exam the patient was noted to have a small area from an ingrown hair. The doc gave her the dilaudid, phenergan and benadryl along with a prescription for percocet for, good measure I suppose. Finally, a week later my manager informed me that this nauseated patient was unhappy with her care because I didn't offer to feed her. I was asked to write a response.

Specializes in Psychiatry.
Imagine this... during a Level 3 ( level 3 is the most severe) snow storm/blizzard a patient with 3 small children drove to the ED at 3 am with a complaint of a rash on her buttocks that had been present for 3months. This patient c/o pain 10/10 and nausea with vomiting ( at no time was an emesis noted). This patient requested Dilaudid, Phenergan, (and stated that she usually gets 2mg of Dilaudid) and that Benadryl was also needed because she itches with Dilaudid. upon exam the patient was noted to have a small area from an ingrown hair. The doc gave her the dilaudid, phenergan and benadryl along with a prescription for percocet for, good measure I suppose. Finally, a week later my manager informed me that this nauseated patient was unhappy with her care because I didn't offer to feed her. I was asked to write a response.

Flightofpassion,

Dare I ask who paid for this?????

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