What was the MOST ridiculous thing a patient came to the ER for?

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 ?

Specializes in Emergency Medicine.

Pt. presents to sign in for the Emergency Deparment.

Pt. offers complaint

"I think my hand is broken" How did this happen? "I punched a wall" :rolleyes: Hmmm!

Pt. presents to the Emergency Deparment

Pt. offers complaint

"I've had a broken tooth for 3 years"

Would like to reply, it's 0300 in the morning, why is this a problem now?

25 YO W/F presents to the emergency department via BLS

Pt. offers complaint

"My boyfriend and I were messing around, now my Cell Phone is inside me!"

Dr. states "What's the number, we'll call and see if it's still on" :eek: I couldn't believe my ears, the rest of the staff couldn't stop laughing for days!!!! :yeah:

Pt. presents to sign in for the Emergency Deparment.

25 YO W/F presents to the emergency department via BLS

Pt. offers complaint

"My boyfriend and I were messing around, now my Cell Phone is inside me!"

Dr. states "What's the number, we'll call and see if it's still on" :eek: I couldn't believe my ears, the rest of the staff couldn't stop laughing for days!!!! :yeah:

As a student I used to think this stuff was urban legend! How innocent was I?

Specializes in Retired OR nurse/Tissue bank technician.

When I was a student (early 90s) we took a 10 year old to the OR with suspected appendicitis. Labs were in with elevated white count and she had the rebound tenderness, so off she went to be relieved of her appendix.

Next day the pathology came back-normal appendix. I'm wondering now if she had strep instead.

Woman came in with a condom "lost"..but the topper was a tv remote fully "lost" in the...hmm...lower gi tract! Surgeon had to be called out.

Specializes in LTC, SNF, PSYCH, MEDSURG, MR/DD.

i was the nurse on duty at a ltc facility. one of my staff was filing papers. she scratched her finger on the staple. one drop blood.

she filled out incident report, went to the er and called off for the next 2 days.

true story, i am still shaking my head........

Specializes in ED.

My most favorite was the mother who wanted her child checked because they drove through Cleveland and a child in a suburb of Cleveland had menningitis. They did not stop in Cleveland, did not know the child but they did drive through there.

Specializes in ER, ICU.

"fiberoptic cysts"

I had a guy who had some form of dementia where everytime he closed his eyes, he thought robots would perform abdominal surgery on him. So the guy hadn't slept in days and if he drifted off to sleep he'd wake up screaming. It was INSANE!

Not really ridiculous...but crazy.

Specializes in ortho, hospice volunteer, psych,.
i was the nurse on duty at a ltc facility. one of my staff was filing papers. she scratched her finger on the staple. one drop blood.

she filled out incident report, went to the er and called off for the next 2 days.

true story, i am still shaking my head........

yikes! ... and i went to work with buddy wrapped broken fingers (psych) when i could have taken, oh, say a month or so, off?!

sharpeimom:paw::paw:

gets better and better.......

--dentures in the rectum.......surgery, temp colostomy

--GULDENS spicy brown mustard jar up the, you guessed it,.....another surgery consult

--a harmonica, assorted bottles, jars, and i just now remembered TIC TACS!!!

I COULD GO ON AND ON..............

LOL!!! When my sister was little (like 3-4), she was obssessed with sticking things up her nose....Tic Tacs, peas, Trix, Cheerios....you name it she stuck it up her nose. I remember many a trip to the Dr.'s office to have things removed. She would get them stuck up there but good...:lol2:

Specializes in ortho, hospice volunteer, psych,.
lol!!! when my sister was little (like 3-4), she was obssessed with sticking things up her nose....tic tacs, peas, trix, cheerios....you name it she stuck it up her nose. i remember many a trip to the dr.'s office to have things removed. she would get them stuck up there but good...:lol2:

while we're on the subject of things getting stuck, i have a submission for the weirdest or dumbest category... when i was eight and a tomboy, i fell out of a tree i had been climbing and sustained a fx of my elbow. it was casted in the er and i was absolutely crushed:crying2: to find out i couldn't take showers for the duration. fast forward about five weeks and as we were being led into the sanctuary from the sunday school rooms, a friend slipped me some m & m s and just then, our teacher who was elderly and very firm reminded us that there was to be no eating or gum chewing during the service.

caught! ... no pockets either...:idea: i slipped them down the inner arm of my cast :eek: and promptly forgot about them. when i did remember, i was afraid to tell my mom what i'd done because i knew i'd end up in the er again. a week later, the smell was awful and i did end up back in the er, where my cast was removed. when the staff and my parents discovered melted gross stinky m & m s and not something worse, they all began to laugh... hard. i was recasted and sent home. my parents were so relieved that it was only a pile of melted chocolate, that i never was punished.

sharpeimom:paw::paw:

Specializes in ER/Trauma.

"My legs hurt"

"How long have they been hurting?"

"Since now, D-uh!"

"What were you doing earlier today?"

"I walked from TheOtherTown over here"

"You walked 10 miles by yourself?!"

"Yeah. Now my legs are killing me!"

Young adult female.

At 0435 in the morning.

You know what was even better?

The ED doc ordered blood work (BMP, CK, CK-MB) on her before discharging her.... :banghead:

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