I am writing a "paper" on the dumbest reasons/stories that people show up/come to ER. Would appreciate ANY input ANY of the ER staff out there has for me.........................IF you'd like a copy of the FINAL draft, please let me know and I'll forward it.
Thanks much!
PS. My winning entry so far is a Mom who brought 1 month old infant in at 2:30 AM because "it wouldn't look her in the eye. It doesn't recognize me!"
I also knew a physician who was sitting on her bed with one foot under her. She hopped off, not realizing her foot had gone to sleep, and when she landed her foot went over on its side- pop.
Ive done a similar thing-My nursing school used to be across the road from my hospital and i was sat on my foot during a lecture, the bell went and i stood up and went to leave and i felt something go 'ping' in my foot. I fell over and banged my head on the desks in front of me. My tutor found it hilarious.I was on crutches for a week and my foot went a lovely black colour and now my tutor uses my story as a reminder for other students as to why you shouldnt sit on your feet.I wanted to die and all the a+e staff found it hilariously funny
Had two funny ones, First, a lady came in b/c her fake fingernail fell off and wanted the doc's to put it back on and second, a guy came in for a small, very small, bruise after getting blood drawn. (his wife made him he said)
A lady came in with c/o that the hospital pharmacy gave her white percocet tablets instead of the blue ones she was used to getting. She thought they were tylenol.
ya know when you explain to some people that the dosages are different depending on what is ordered... duuuuuuuuuhhhhhhhhh - or they show you a pill and say what's this? (a white pill)... I don't know a white pill, go fish!
I am writing a "paper" on the dumbest reasons/stories that people show up/come to ER. Would appreciate ANY input ANY of the ER staff out there has for me.........................IF you'd like a copy of the FINAL draft, please let me know and I'll forward it.
Thanks much!
PS. My winning entry so far is a Mom who brought 1 month old infant in at 2:30 AM because "it wouldn't look her in the eye. It doesn't recognize me!"
Not making this up
I took care of a guy who rode his bicycle about 20 miles to the ER. He said his low pelvic region was hurting. He also said he and his girlfriend (who was not there, he was alone) had a wild night. When he didn't elaborate further, I didn't either at that point. He didn't have pain with urination, though said he hadn't had a bowel movement .....
Upon xray, noted bottle high in his rectum - the surgeon came into remove... ah the glories of the job (not). The surgeon was going on and on during the extraction of the object about how it was turning and had a lot of suction, using baby references. The guy was sedated - he would look back at my face and I tried not to be grossed out... when it finally was birthed... aghhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! He stuck to his original story about a girl putting that in there and he wanted me to belive him, all I could muster was... I'm amazed you rode 20 miles on a bike with that in there. Ouch.
My best "wrong orifice" stoy was when I worked in the ER. One gentleman put a a live mouse "up there" because he heard that if he snorted coke while it was in place, the sensation would be wonderful.
Needless to say, the next mornng, the smell wasn't too wonderful and he was pretty embarassed coming to the ER to have it removed. The xray was interesting though.
Thanks for the laughs. Some of the things you see are very interesting, others joyful, others downright heartbreaking.
Something that works for me when trying not to judge/laugh/whatever, is to remember I have NO idea what their background is. I have no way of knowing what events in their life brought them to where they are now. I remember the first time I had to go grocery shopping after my son died, how weird it was that everything looked the same, and yet I felt so incredibly different. Since then, I tend to look at people differently. Nobody could tell by looking at me that my son had recently died, so now I try to look at people with more compassion. For all I know, they may have lost a loved one recently, lost a job, found out they have cancer, etc. I hope that will help me in those situations like this, where I'd be tempted to laugh. :)
I remember hearing about a woman who went into the ER because she had 3 light bulbs stuck - 2 in front and one in back. All I can say is I really hope they didn't break!
Tiffany
I'm so sorry for your loss, Tiffany. When bad things occur it is like moving through a dream, and strange that the rest of the world appears to be operating like nothing has just happened.... a parallel world, sometimes. I agree we have no idea about others' circumstances - though sometime they are entertaining, they can always provide a learning opportunity.
hello friend this is the first topic i participate in and let me tell you that this is great topic as i found it
and in my point of view if we kept talking about this topic we won't finish coz it is really funny and intreasting :welcome:
my story is a bet wear a couples show up to er the wife was crying and moaning and we were trying to calm her down and ask her what happened when she finally discided to say that her husband slapped her at the face which is the first time he doese that :trout:
when you put it like that you do have a point there. i just thought that the police would handle the situation better than at the er. no, i don't think that it is silly reason for going to the er. i just thought that it didn't make sense. what can a person at the er suggest about situations like those???[/quote]
first off, the doctor and nurse can report it to law enforcement, as that is their duty. secondly, they can protect the patient and get the resources needed for this victim. you don't work in an er, i'm guessing...
:)
Chixie
220 Posts
Ive done a similar thing-My nursing school used to be across the road from my hospital and i was sat on my foot during a lecture, the bell went and i stood up and went to leave and i felt something go 'ping' in my foot. I fell over and banged my head on the desks in front of me. My tutor found it hilarious.I was on crutches for a week and my foot went a lovely black colour and now my tutor uses my story as a reminder for other students as to why you shouldnt sit on your feet.I wanted to die and all the a+e staff found it hilariously funny