Stupidest reason to go to ER

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ER Nurses/MD's etc.

I am currently writing a "paper" on stupidest reason for someone to come to ER.

ANY input you can send me would be much appreciated. IF you'd like a copy of the FINAL draft, let me know.

THANKS in advance!

PS. My winning entry so far is:

A woman who brought 1 month old baby in at 2:30 (AM of course) because "it won't look me in the eye, It doesn't recognize me!"

Not kidding

Specializes in ER, ICU, Infusion, peds, informatics.
from these last few posts (er sono), by purposely not showing/divulging results, i gather that the hospitals (read: docs, nurses, at al) are waving a giant "no-no" finger at these (soon to be) moms...

seems like it's a control/punishment issue for a lot of nurses...

it seems like an er game i quit playing a long time ago...

two things i learned long ago:

1)er patients are untrainable

2) no matter what we do (or don't do) they will always come back...

oh, i disagree....er patients are trainable.

they have learned:

  • complaints of chest pain will get you seen faster (though not so true any more)
  • complaints of abdominal pain will get you a pregnancy test
  • complaints of lady partsl bleeding/pregnancy will get you an ultrasound (at least where i work)
  • complaints of n/v will get you a work excuse (except i'm mean... if you c/o n/v, have normal labs, and ask for a meal tray, you get to return to work on your next regularly scheduled shift. i do this for many other bs complaints.)
  • fake seizures will get you brought to the back faster.
  • you don't have to pay for an er visit. sure, you'll get a bill. but it isn't like you actually have to pay it. i mean, what is the hospital going to do? repossess the stitches?

one of the hospitals in my area does not routinely ultrasound early-pregnancy ob patients with c/o vag bleeding that come into the er. they run labs and send them to f/u with their ob if the exam/lab work is ok (they do get an us if indicated). guess which hospital those patients come to, even though their ob doesn't?

on a different note, i wanted to mention that some of the pcps out there are the problem, too. and i'm not just talking about referring someone to the er in the middle of the night to cover themselves.

two incidents spring to mind: one patient had an abscess that needed lanced, and went to see her pcp. her pcp told her that she (the doc) doesn't lance boils, and she'd have to go to the er.

the second was very recent, and elderly lady (80s) with some rectal bleeding, went to see her pcp, where she was told by her physician that she (the doc) only takes care of patients from the waist up. she came to the er becasue it was taking too long to get into the gi, and she was worried.

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Specializes in Hospice, ER.

the second was very recent, and elderly lady (80s) with some rectal bleeding, went to see her pcp, where she was told by her physician that she (the doc) only takes care of patients from the waist up. she came to the er becasue it was taking too long to get into the gi, and she was worried.

this is just flat out sad. the doc needs a slap. she could have at least ordered labs/stool sample.

this is the real reason we are in the er - despite all the drug-seekers, psychos, junkies, users, drunks and so forth, there are folks that really need us. granted, her doc should have seen her, but at least she had a legit complaint.

of course, i just spent yesterday w/a bunch-o-junkies, a drunk (409 blood etoh level) in 4-pt restraints, a whole lotta suicidal ideations, and one really sick 500lb man. and i was just working psych overflow!

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A 17 year-old who arrived by ambulance for a pimple. Not a boil or anything, a pimple.

Pregnancy tests.

Man came in by ambulance claiming chest pain. Once he was tucked in a cardiac bed, had blood drawn and EKG done, he admitted he'd had a bowel movement that morning but it wasn't enough so he wanted a laxative.

Last time I looked, the drugstore is still selling laxatives, and they can be found at the dollar store. They ought to send him a bill.

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Specializes in ED.

Don't know what this guy's deal was on Friday. 14yoM came in with mother and father in tow, of course bent over as he walked past. The tech brings the chart after placing him in a room and I take a look-see. Reason for Visit: have not had BM since June

I mean come on, I had to pass that one around if anyone had ever seen something like this before. We all got a good chuckle. So I went back with the poker face on. Now you can smell it before you open the curtain, he definatly has had a BM since June and its still hanging with him for some reason. As soon as I open the curtain the smell knocks you off your feet almost and then the mother almost does the same thing by going "the first thing I want is an ultrasound, this scan, that scan, tests and more tests". Unfortunatly I had to hand this one off to the next nurse who stated he did indeed have a BM since June and its caked onto his skin. Why do people do this to themselves?

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Specializes in ER, ICU, Infection Control.

My daughter had a "seeziuzre" and now won't talk to me. Girl age 13 - 17. Get the mom out of the room and she comes to life - it's a miracle! No, she thinks she's pregnant and feels if she did this she wouldn't get in trouble with her mom. Now, on these cases I HATED to work with one doctor - he'd get 2 ammonia capsules and stick them in her nose and cover her mouth then break the ammonia - what a reaction!!! After seeing this about 3 times I told the doctor if he EVER did that again in my presence I was "telling" AND I was gonna HURT him B-A-D!!!! And did he want a doctor doing THAT to his 2 girls?

:angryfire:angryfire:angryfire:angryfire

PS: He was a real "card" and a "joy" to work with - he curse about the patient in the hall at the top of his lungs - then go in the room and be just as sweet as pie. Now you KNOW those patients heard him say GTPOSOOMER! Most ER nurses will know what that stands for!

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Specializes in ER, ICU, Infection Control.
I guess I should have clarified between going to the ED vs. the doctor's office. I was also thinking about those who go to the ED at 11PM wanting a pregnancy test RIGHT NOW because they didn't want to wait for an appointment in the office.

I worked in a crisis pregnancy center eons of years ago. I can understand the frustration of those working in ED because we had women who used us for a "testing station" once a month. We did free pregnancy testing on a walk-in basis and there were some who didn't want to wait for an appointment to see their PCP. They'd come in every month requesting their pregnancy test. Once it was negative, they'd run out and we'd see them the next month. It's sad because we, too, had limited resources that had to be shared between two groups: those who really wanted help, and those who wanted to know if they could go out and drink over the weekend. This has got to sound familiar to those working ED.

Amen!

About your baby's name, may I sugesst SyPhillus?;)

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Amen!

About your baby's name, may I sugesst SyPhillus?;)

:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl: Thanks buggal! I'll have to remember that. However, lately I've had one of babynurselsa's patients on my mind. She mentioned it in the OB forum under "Craziest Names a Patient has Named Her Baby." The name is "Vinita", and it's the name of the state hospital in the NE part of the state. I guess I'm thinking of it because recently I saw a commercial for a technical school using "real life" people. One of the students' name is Vinita, and I'm wonder if she was babynurselsa's patient. ;)

Wow. Time's really running down. Less than 8 weeks. Still taking suggestions. ;) Sorry to be off-topic.

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Specializes in ER, ICU, Infusion, peds, informatics.
this is just flat out sad. the doc needs a slap. she could have at least ordered labs/stool sample.

this is the real reason we are in the er - despite all the drug-seekers, psychos, junkies, users, drunks and so forth, there are folks that really need us. granted, her doc should have seen her, but at least she had a legit complaint.

of course, i just spent yesterday w/a bunch-o-junkies, a drunk (409 blood etoh level) in 4-pt restraints, a whole lotta suicidal ideations, and one really sick 500lb man. and i was just working psych overflow!

yeah, i agree in that she definitely had a legitimate reason to come to the er.

however, a simple rectal exam by her pcp would have probably negated the need for the visit (and kept her from interrupting her labor day picnic) -- she had hemorrhoids (and a simple case, at that -- no need for surgery).

she was (quite understandably) very upset with her doctor, and actively looking for a new one.

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Specializes in ER/PICU.

lets see....

911 Call- To the ER for a toothache

911 call- Pt sked for a colonoscopy at 10am, "Abdominal cramping" at 0930 (needed a ride-lives 3 blocks from the hospital where the coloscopy was sked!!!!

911 Call- Abdominal pain for one week, Nausea, vomiting LMP-"I don't remember" hmmmmmm (By the way Positive PG test!)

911 Call- Hip Pain (Very large FB in rectum)

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Specializes in ER, NICU, NSY and some other stuff.

LOL Babyrn2b, my pt would only be 6-7 now, maybe it was her mom.

Now that hip pain probably needed to call ems cause he couldn't sit really well to drive himself to the ER.

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we have a lot of toothache directed to TRAUMA ER instead of the EZ care

and one time, our notification phone rang, the operator was actually just asking if we have a dentist on duty at 0400!!!

that's the NOTIFICATION PHONE... we're usually a sec call from overhead paging for anesthesia and respiratory

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Stabbing pain to right breast (not chest) lasting 10-15 seconds. Did not recur. That one came in by ambulance.

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