Most ridiculous ED c/c

Specialties Emergency

Published

Specializes in Emergency RN, Trauma RN.

I have a couple.

1) Dry Lips. We had a 19yom present to the EMERGENCY department because he had dry lips. Needless to say we did not give him "that free chapstick" and he refused to pay for his $100.00 copay because pt states "I ain't got time for that"

2) Bed Bugs. Patient took ambulance to the ED because of bed bugs.

3) Pregnancy Test. This is a fairly common ED c/c, but this time she had taken 10 pregnancy tests at home that were ALL NEGATIVE. Got in line at the EMERGENCY department to be sure. Patient was pretty upset when we told her that her pregnancy test was negative.

4) Constipation. "When was your last bowel movement?"...."Earlier today"

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Specializes in OR, Nursing Professional Development.

There's an epic thread about this to peruse while waiting for more recent experiences. I've never worked in the ER, but there are a few trauma and stuff in places it doesn't belong stories I could tell. The most memorable foreign body story is the guy who flat out admitted he stuck a bicycle tire pump where the sun doesn't shine to see what it felt like. Quite the change from the unbelievable story everyone else had told when presenting with foreign objects.

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Specializes in Cardiac, Home Health, Primary Care.

Thanks Rose Queen! I couldn't remember the title of that thread but I have loved it when it pops back up to the top of the forum. I haven't worked ER so can only imagine....working primary care has been bad enough.

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Bed bugs......are you joking?!? They don't even spread any diseases! Now maybe I might have called the squad if I ever get another roach infestation, but that's only because I always fear being kicked out by my landlord for poor cleaning. Gonna try to do some now that my psych symptoms have lessened. Maybe just that bag of apples my neighbor gave to me that I never ate and have been sitting out for the past 3-4 months. But alas, I digress.

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Not my style. There is a lot of abuse or misuse of EDs obviously, but also a lot of people just having a rough life that leads to some of the more ridiculous things we see. The ED is an excellent lesson in societal problems, and yeah it's hard to deal with some days, but these topics kind of feel like just straight up mocking people. I know no one's forcing me to participate...but in light of the fact that there's a similar ("grossest things") thread going on the main forum that I've been avoiding for days, I figured I'd have my say and be done with it. ;)

Carry on!

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Specializes in ED.

My favorite one at this time of year is sunburn. Like regular, 1st degree sunburn. Typically discharged with instructions to take cool baths and use aloe Vera gel. I like to use these patients to spread my wisdom on proper sunscreen useage.

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Specializes in Emergency, Tele, Med Surg, DOU, ICU.

Lower lip swelling coz boyfriend "kind of bit my lips when we were kissing ". Nevertheless she was disappointed because she wanted to be admitted.

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Specializes in ER.

I had a teenager have a freaking nervous breakdown in triage because of a sunburn. All fixed with soft words and lotion. His mother came with him, and she could have done that at home.

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