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

Specialties Emergency Nursing Q/A

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 ?

Pt came in wanting to be circumcised at 2 in the morning.... Dead serious....:yeah:

Specializes in ortho, hospice volunteer, psych,.
pt came in wanting to be circumcised at 2 in the morning.... dead serious....:yeah:

i just read this post aloud to my husband and he said, "yikes!":eek: and crossed his legs -- tightly.:sofahider

sharpeimom:paw::paw:

I'm not a nurse yet. But the funniest hing I saw in ER was when we took in my daughter who had vomiting, and 105 degree temp. The lady sharing the room wanted the lights turned off and kept moaning about a migraine. When the doctor wouldn't give a prescription for the pain medicine she wanted, she got up and started screaming at the top of her lungs about how wrong it was. I turned to my husband and said "That lady does NOT have a migraine." I've had them, I know. I can barely talk, much less scream.

Specializes in ER, ICU/CCU, Public Health.

A chapped lip. One. This was a healthy, 18 year old football player. His mommy brought him in and was upset that the doctor didn't do more for the young lads pain.

A zit! It was a big zit.. but a zit none the less. He wanted us to lance it.

And the kicker... the patient was a CRNA at another hospital. Wonder why he didn't go to the hospital he practiced at? : )

I was talking to one of my coworkers (I have an office job) and she is one of these people. She used to me in her docs office 2 times a month untill they told her she could not be in there all the time she had "hemophilia" (I corrected her do you mean hypocondria she was like ya that) they now have appointments every other month where she brings her concerns. She had wanted to be tested for h1n1 but they said we are only testing people who have symptoms her response "well I have them I have the symptoms what ever they are" they refused. And 2 days ago she had a bug bite that puffed up "real big and had fluid in it" so she went to the er. she was upset the nurses and docs did not care about it more because "there was obviously something wrong wiht it, like it was infected or something"

a stretch mark............ by ambulance too...........don't need to say anymore!

Specializes in NICU.
a stretch mark............ by ambulance too...........don't need to say anymore!

I hope you gave her a note to miss work...:rolleyes:.

Specializes in Emergency/Trauma/Critical Care Nursing.

This happened a couple of weeks ago... homeless woman (or really poor hygiene) comes in by EMS because she had hid money, no joke, in her lady parts on new years eve and she wanted us to get it out so she could spend it now. i wonder if she thought it would gain interest in there? lol

I hope you gave her a note to miss work...:rolleyes:.

No need for one, she was on disability. 26 and on disability because she "would get tired when she worked" ***!!!!!!! Then she wips out a blackberry and calls her frined to come pick her up!!! And of course one guess what type of insurance she has.....................................MEDICAID!!!

Specializes in ortho, hospice volunteer, psych,.
this happened a couple of weeks ago... homeless woman (or really poor hygiene) comes in by ems because she had hid money, no joke, in her lady parts on new years eve and she wanted us to get it out so she could spend it now. i wonder if she thought it would gain interest in there? lol

this submission reminded me of an experience my mom had when i was about 6 weeks old and she was on maternity leave. she received a frantic phone call from the state police asking if she could please go with them on an emergency call since they couldn't track down anyone else (by law, it had to be a woman)

to go on such short notice since it was the week of christmas. she was a young attorney and, while she had no medical experience, she was an officer of the court. the police, my mom, and a young physician traveled to the remote mountain top where the little old lady was. they found her living in an unheated shack, no electricity or running water, lying on a bare, stained grey mattress. when the men tried to lift her up, they discovered the mattress ticking had grown into an open and festering decubitus on her sacrum. there she lay, trapped, in her own filth. she went to the er mattress and all, where because of the holiday, they were shorthanded and my mom ended up helping clean her up and documenting findings. she had a wad of ancient bills stuffed in her lady parts, more under one breast, a dried out biscuit under the other breast, and what had been a slice of bread, between her thigh and body. the mattress had to be debrided, as though it had been flesh, in the or. i don't think my mom ever totally recovered from that experience although she did help prosecute the son and his wife. not ridiculous perhaps, but horrible and inhumane. she deserves to be remembered for her endurance.

kathy

sharpeimom:paw::paw:

After patients walk in or come by EMS we have an offload area/room right next to triage. We call a doc in for an RME (rapid medical exam). Usually they do 3 or 4 of these at once. They order basic stuff and decide if the patient is stable enough to go back into the waiting room pending labs/tests or needs immediate bedding. The hangnail guy would have been discharged immediately with our RME. Someone with abdominal pain, for example who is stable would be given a vomit bag, told to go the waiting room and not eat or drink anything and wait for tests. Lab, etc would then go out into the waiting room and grab them, bring them in for draws, etc. then back out the the waiting room. We have patients who never see the inside of the ER. Its fairly efficient. We have an RN and security stationed in the waiting room to keep an eye on people.

This is a fantastic idea.

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