Ok here is another thread we can hopefully get going for nurse veterans and young nurses to see what's to come. What are some of the craziest chief complaints or diagnosis you have seen. I don't want to limit it to chief complaint because that tends to be associated with only emergency.
I could name so many but to start the 2 that made me roll my eyes and say Seriously??
Pt came in with a complaint of "excessive anal sweating" stated that his butt crack had profuse sweating and it was impeding his life. Even after D/C came back hours later for same thing. I can not tell you how hard it was to keep a straight face during that triage.
Another patient came in OFTEN with complaints of feeling faint after excessive masturbation. :| His last D/C he was instructed to cut back on masturbation but apparently it was still an issue and he would come in for near syncope.
didn't realize that putting things in one's lady parts for safe-keeping was such a big thing. We did have a woman that "kept" her Fentanyl patches there so no one would steal them from her while she was sleeping (she lived in a group home)
Not to mention my first experience with a pessary (I was a fairly new grad and had not had any experience with them). I had an older woman who needed to be dis-impacted. She shot that thing out of her lady parts all the way across the room. After that happened 2 more times, I told her maybe we should wait until we were done getting the feces out of her rectum.
Must have been a .457 Magnum caliber lady parts with a hair trigger!
Specializes in Hospice, corrections, psychiatry, rehab, LTC.
About 40+ years ago, a teenage me, working as an orderly, gets called to a male patient's room to assist him. I walk into the bathroom, where there is blood everywhere. He had pulled out his foley - with the balloon still inflated - because "I thought that I had to take it out before taking a bath."
My sister, ER RN in a major metropolitan teaching hospital, sees a single mother with her nine (yes, you read that correctly) children.
"Which one do you want to have seen?"
"All of them." Colds and such.
Many years after the first story, an RN me (with the teen years so long ago that they almost didn't happen), hospital adult mental health unit. Young male patient, allegedly homeless, but constantly on the phone. I remember thinking that this guy certainly had a lot of people to call for someone who supposedly lived on the streets. First day of the month, chatting with one of his buddies. "I will tell them that I'm still suicidal for a couple more days, and by then my welfare check should be in." Immediately called the psychiatrist, and our young friend hit the streets a couple of days earlier than he had planned on.
Specializes in Emergency Dept. Trauma. Pediatrics.
Another posters question reminded me of another one. Ties into the topic of lady partss that seems so popular as well. and this was another case of the patient being legit.
I was a brand new little baby nurse, so much to learn. Patient came in with a migraine and we gave the migraine cocktail. Still having issues so go to give her another med. Within about a minute the patient starts squirming around her bed and starts saying "my lady parts" "oh sweet jesus my lady parts is on FIRE", I am looking at this patient with my eyebrow cocked with I am sure my best WTF expression on my face and she just keeps repeating it. Then about a minute later she says it's subsiding and takes a deep breath and calms down. She said she was better now.
I go out to my preceptor and was like "my patient just lost her mind" and I told her what happened. Her and the other nurse start laughing and she was like "I am so sorry, I forgot to tell you to be careful and warn the patient because if they aren't prepared that is a common side effect"
FYI it happens to males as well I later found out.
Second FYI, if you give it to a teenager you can use it as a learning opportunity to give them a heads up that unsafe sex can often lead to similar sensation and the parents might even smile and high five you. So I heard.
I am not going to post the name of the medication because I have no doubt someone eagerly will. lol
Of knowing what the med is? I am surprised no one has named it yet. lol
I just went to google to see if it would show up and sure enough. Google "IV medication that makes your lady parts feel on fire" :p
Decadron?? Really?? I've given IVP/IVPB decadron since I first started nursing. Usually prior to chemo and mixed with anti emetic like Aloxi, but I never knew this! I don't recall a pt saying anything about perineal burning, but I really hope I pushed it slow enough!
Specializes in Emergency Dept. Trauma. Pediatrics.
Decadron?? Really?? I've given IVP/IVPB decadron since I first started nursing. Usually prior to chemo and mixed with anti emetic like Aloxi, but I never knew this! I don't recall a pt saying anything about perineal burning, but I really hope I pushed it slow enough!
It has never mattered how slow it was pushed (always IVP never IVPB or if it was diluted down a bit, it has happened 99% of the time I have given it and happens with my co-workers. LOL
I was on the receiving end once actually twice for migraines and I experienced it first hand and another co-worker of mine just experienced her first time too after getting it for headache. Thankfully I knew what to expect. HAHAHA
I wonder if your patients undergoing other serious meds and ailments changes the effects a bit?? Not sure, but I know at least from my experience in the ER and most of my co-workers it's common. Thankfully it doesn't last long. Like 45 seconds to a min.
I have given it pre-chemo many times also (worked oncology for 23 years) and never had a patient say anything about burning. Must be context, or perhaps amount of Decadron given.
It has never mattered how slow it was pushed (always IVP never IVPB or if it was diluted down a bit, it has happened 99% of the time I have given it and happens with my co-workers. LOL
I was on the receiving end once actually twice for migraines and I experienced it first hand and another co-worker of mine just experienced her first time too after getting it for headache. Thankfully I knew what to expect. HAHAHA
I wonder if your patients undergoing other serious meds and ailments changes the effects a bit?? Not sure, but I know at least from my experience in the ER and most of my co-workers it's common. Thankfully it doesn't last long. Like 45 seconds to a min.
Most of my pts are neuro crit care, probably on sedation and/or intubated so I'm sure that can change some things lol. I typically give 4mg IVP and I think the most is 8mg. I gave up to 20 mg IVPB though. Glad I know this now!!
Specializes in Emergency Dept. Trauma. Pediatrics.
Most of my pts are neuro crit care, probably on sedation and/or intubated so I'm sure that can change some things lol. I typically give 4mg IVP and I think the most is 8mg. I gave up to 20 mg IVPB though. Glad I know this now!!
I am guessing that's got to be what is playing a roll in things, especially since the other poster said the same. In my experience we usually give 10mg IVP and my patients have migraines, but outside of that although they may have co morbidities, they are function and walking and talking. Usually we have already done the saline, benadryl and toradol combo and this is given after if no relief. It was the same when I first received it.
Toradol has always been a life saver for me if I get a migraine severe enough to take me to urgent care. But the time I got decadron I had to go to the ER and it turned out I needed a blood patch from a LP i had gotten a couple days prior. That headache was the only 10/10 pain I have ever had in my life, worse than all 4 of my kids, worse than any of my surgeries.
I hope I've pushed that slowly enough. I had a patient at the rehab who was getting this on a regular basis and never complained. I guess in the future I'll slow down when pushing this med just in case.
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:p 
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Had a one leg woman with severe crabs and no teeth come in. She was 8 months pregnant. Yet I can't even get a date. :|
How could you tell the crabs had no teeth?